Book Review: A Body on the Doorstep (London Ladies’ Murder Club Book 1) by Marty Wingate

A Body on the Doorstep
(London Ladies’ Murder Club Book 1)
by Marty Wingate

Amazon  / B&N  / BB

Fiercely independent Mabel Canning can’t wait to begin working for the Useful Women’s Agency. But when she discovers a body on her client’s doorstep, it’s time to add solving murders to her job description…

London, 1921: Mabel Canning is proud to be a modern woman working for the Useful Women’s Agency, carrying out tasks for gentlewomen from flower arranging to washing muddy dogs. But when she answers the door for wealthy widow Rosalind Despard, she almost chokes on her cucumber sandwich when she finds a soldier’s body on the doorstep.

As she offers tea to the policemen of Scotland Yard, Mabel can’t resist getting drawn into the investigation. Who was the mysterious dead man? And why was he holding a letter for Rosalind, written by her husband on the day he disappeared?

As Mabel hunts for clues, she joins forces with Rosalind’s handsome brother, former detective Park Winstone, and his adorable terrier, Gladys. But when Mabel suspects she is being followed, the detective duo know that time is running out before the killer strikes again.

As she investigates, Mabel discovers dusty old photographs that help her reveal the soldier’s true identity. But as she gets closer to uncovering the young man’s murderer, she knows she’s also one step closer to danger… Can she outsmart the killer and save Park and Rosalind before they also turn up dead as doornails?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

She agreed that the vicar needed a wife, but it certainly wouldn’t be her…

My Review:

 

I like to switch gears and genres to avoid feeling like I’m reading the same book over and over. With that in mind, I decided to dive into some cozy mysteries for a pleasant and fun diversion from the tense thrillers I have been submerged in of late. I was extremely lucky to fall into a new to me author who just happened to be starting a new series based in the 1920’s. What fun! The series features an earnest and plucky gal who is considerably ahead of her time and striking out on her own to be “an independent woman.” I just had to love this for the premise alone!

Mabel has hit her thirties and despite her papa’s misgivings, has finally made her way out of her small village to the Big Smoke of London. She has set her sites on becoming one of Miss Kerr’s main go-to gals at Miss Kerr’s Agency of Useful Women. And no, they aren’t escorts but they do run all manner of errands. Mabel is soon proving her worth and making friends with a diverse group who would most likely make her papa’s and the local vicar’s hair fall out.

The engaging writing style was easy to follow with interesting characters and unexpected conundrums. I enjoyed Mabel’s unusual escapades and am looking forward to the next installment, which is already idling on my Kindle. I expect Mabel is going to be one of those people with a high rate of individuals inexplicably dropping dead in her vicinity.

 

About the Author

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USA Today best-selling author Marty Wingate writes The First Edition Library series (Berkley) set in Bath, England, about the curator of a collection of books from the Golden Age of Mystery. Book one, The Bodies in the Library, concerns murder among an Agatha Christie fan-fiction writing group, and in book two, Murder Is a Must (October 2020), an exhibition manager is found dead at the bottom of a spiral staircase. Marty also writes historical fiction: Glamour Girls (Alcove Press, January 2021) follows Spitfire pilot Rosalie Wright through both the physical and emotional dangers of the Second World War. Marty writes two further mystery series: the Potting Shed books (Alibi) feature Pru Parke, a middle-aged American gardener transplanted from Texas to England, and the Birds of a Feather series (Alibi) follows Julia Lanchester, bird lover, who runs a tourist office in a Suffolk village.

Marty prefers on-the-ground research whenever possible, and so she and her husband regularly travel to England and Scotland, where she can be found tracing the steps of her characters, stopping for tea and a slice of Victoria sponge in a café, or enjoying a swift half in a pub.