Mrs. Jeffries Demands Justice

November 23, 2020
In Brightwell’s energetic 39th Victorian mystery (after 2019’s Mrs. Jeffries and the Alms of the Angel), Mrs. Jeffries, the smart housekeeper of Insp. Gerald Witherspoon, is on the case when her employer’s well-born colleague, Insp. Nigel Nivens, is implicated in the fatal shooting of iceman Bert Santorini in Whitechapel, and Witherspoon’s superior, who’s eager to end press accusations that the Metropolitan Police will cover up a crime committed by one of their own, assigns the inspector to the investigation. Though the weaselly Nivens has double-crossed Witherspoon in the past to get ahead, Mrs. Jeffries believes that everyone deserves justice, and deploys her fellow servants and other associates to pump residents for information. They soon learn that Santorini had numerous enemies, was romancing his landlady as well as a barmaid, seemed quite friendly with a notorious pickpocket, had an unexplained cache of cash, and may have sent innocent men to prison through false testimony. But why is Nivens acting so suspiciously? Memorable characters resonate amid the unusual scenario of an unsympathetic prime suspect. Both longtime fans and readers new to the series will have a grand time. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Literary.