I really love jelly beans - almost as much as I love reading one of Verity Bright’s installments of her 1920’s cozy murders. Despite people falling over dead, this is still a bright, sparkling, slightly hilarious romp at the royal boat race. All of Bright’s great characters make an appearance and the addition of a few new questionable as well as curmudgeonly characters add to the mystery and fun.

Imagine having a Butler who leaves hot Ovaltine with a note written in Latin and who is willing to plunge “into the first of Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell.” Bright has drawn all of her characters with a full box of crayons, but has paid very special attention to her protagonist, Lady Eleanor Swift. She is defined with the greatest care to encompass, grit, determination, an incredible moral compass, a dry wit and false comeback and a most extraordinary sense of humor. She finds herself in the most outlandish situations and mostly hurdles the social constraints with intelligence - truly a woman who manages to outthink and outmaneuver any number of idiots and chauvinists. Such fun. And about that’s bulldog, Gladstone - he really needs a bigger part.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookoutre for another great installment in The Lady Eleanor Swift Cozy Murders. ( )

Perhaps the best praise is that fact that I eagerly await each new book in the series, and they never disappoint. Perfectly crafted, the books are wonderfully and unashamedly light in tone, Ellie and her entourage always allow me to escape the real world for a while.

This time a minor royal is poisoned at Henley Regatta, and whilst Hugh Seldon is caught in a minor battle for authority with the Royal Police, Ellie is recruited to work undercover to solve the case. Needless to say, there are lots of swipes at male chauvinism, high society and the rest, as Ellie, Clifford and Seldon try to catch the killer.

If you haven't found this series yet you should try it. The easiest 4 stars to give. ( )

cosy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, family-dynamics, friendship, friction, red-herrings, relationships, murder, murder-investigation, dog, England*****

Being very diligent in sleuthing out the murderer is always a good thing, but this series has the very best and interesting characters (good, bad, and absolutely silly). The one murdered is poisoned in full view of a crowd (poison), but his personal life proves to be appalling and the list of suspects keeps growing. Great read for a snowy afternoon!
The series began as a farce: presumed orphan from South Africa (and world traveler on the cheap) comes to rural England and finds that she has inherited the title and all that from uncle who is recently deceased. She has little idea of how people are expected to behave in this milieu and is a klutz, to boot. The best part of it all is The Butler Who Knows Everything who helps her with anything, and never treats her like a ninny.
The publisher's blurb is a really good hook and I loved this read!
I requested and received a temporary digital ARC of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ( )