Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize by Emily Brightwell

Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize by Emily Brightwell ISBN-13: 9780425268117 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: March 1, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description from Back Cover:
The ladies of the Mayfair Orchid and Exotic Plant Society are known for a bit of friendly rivalry, but the backstabbing has never been literal—until now. When Hiram Filmore, an orchid hunter and supplier, is found dead in Mrs. Helena Rayburn’s conservatory, Inspector Witherspoon is called in to weed out a murderer.

When it comes out that Mrs. Rayburn and her flowery friends knew each other from long ago, Mrs. Jeffries begins to suspect that there’s more to unearth about this case than meets the eye. Now she, along with the rest of Inspector Witherspoon’s household and friends, will have to dig up the past to figure out which gardening gentlewoman had a grudge worth killing for...


My Review:
Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize is a historical mystery set in England in the late 1800's. It's the thirty-fourth in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the mysteries of the previous books.

It's a clue-based puzzle mystery. I was certain of whodunit and why by about halfway through. However, there was enough evidence pointing in other directions that I wasn't 100% certain that my whodunit would be the actual solution. The story wasn't heavily historical, though there were enough details to provide a historical feel. This included some information about what life was like for the British in India around that time. The characters were engaging and realistic, though not highly complex.

There was no sex. There was a very minor amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.