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Jessica Ellicott

Auteur van Murder in an English Village

16 Werken 808 Leden 66 Besprekingen

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Werken van Jessica Ellicott

Murder in an English Village (2017) 185 exemplaren
Whispers Beyond the Veil (2016) 85 exemplaren
Drizzled With Death (2013) 78 exemplaren
Murder Flies the Coop (2018) 75 exemplaren
Live Free or Die (2010) 66 exemplaren
Murder Comes to Call (2020) 52 exemplaren
Maple Mayhem (2014) 45 exemplaren
Murder Cuts the Mustard (2019) 42 exemplaren
Murder in an English Glade (2021) 32 exemplaren
Murder Through the English Post (2022) 30 exemplaren
Death in a Blackout (2022) 25 exemplaren
A Sticky Situation (2015) 24 exemplaren
Murder on the Home Front (2023) 11 exemplaren

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Algemene kennis

Pseudoniemen en naamsvarianten
Estevao, Jessica (pseudonym)
Crockett, Jessie (pseudonym)
Geslacht
female
Agent
Jane Rotrosen Agency
Korte biografie
[from author's website]
Agatha award nominee Jessica Ellicott loves fountain pens, Mini Coopers and throwing parties. She lives in northern New England with her dark and mysterious husband, exuberant children and a precocious poodle named Sam. When away from her desk, she obsessively knits wool socks and enthusiastically speaks Portuguese with a shocking disregard for the rules of grammar. She indulges her passion for historical fiction and all things British by writing the Beryl and Edwina Mysteries.

Jessica's books have twice received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly as well as one from Library Journal. Her first novel won the Daphne du Maurier award for mystery.

As Jessica Estevao she wrote the Change of Fortune Mysteries. When inspiration strikes she writes contemporary mysteries as Jessie Crockett.

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I bumped up Murder at a London Finishing School in my TBR, the second runner up in August's poll, and am so happy I did. Although this was the 7th book in the series, it was my first introduction to Edwina and Beryl. Set just after World War I, the enquiry agent team of the prim and proper British Edwina Davenport and the American adventuress Beryl Halliwell, are hired by the headmistress of their former alma mater to uncover who is behind the mysterious happenings at Miss Dupont's Finishing School. Neither women really want to return to their old stomping grounds of the school, but they do not feel like they can refuse.

Someone appears to be sabotaging the school--there have been strange sounds at night and items are being misplaced, if not outright stolen. And in the midst of all that a former classmate of Edwina and Beryl's is found dead on the school's property. A murder at the school would be ruinous to its reputation.

The school has already been suffering business-wise, from having had to shut down during the war and then with the changing climate after as interest in schools like Dupont's Finishing School diminish all over. Author Jessica Ellicott adeptly weaves the shifting culture of the times within her story. Not to mention she has created a cast of characters with interesting backgrounds and possible motives, and a mystery that kept me guessing right up to the end.

Coming into the series late can be risky, but this was a great way to get to know the characters and their backgrounds, getting to see where they met and glimpsing some of their childhood memories. Edwina and Beryl are very capable and intelligent women, each with their own strengths. They work well together and make a great team. This was an easygoing mystery with plenty of intrigue. I hope to read more of this series in the future.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
LiteraryFeline | 2 andere besprekingen | Dec 31, 2023 |
What an interesting story! Wilhemina (Billie) has a screaming argument with her mother after wanting to sign up with the war effort and storms out of the house. She returns home to find her mother is out looking for her and is hit and killed by a car during a blackout. She visits her cousin in Hull to get away and stops at a café where sees a fashionable young woman and later that night during an air-raid siren finds her dead. She reports this and gets hired as a newly formed womens constabulary. She’s greeted with distain and prejudice but does solve the murder and get involved with the war effort.… (meer)
½
 
Gemarkeerd
Kathy89 | 2 andere besprekingen | Aug 9, 2023 |
Murder At A London Finishing School is the seventh book in the Beryl and Edwina Mystery series by Jessica Ellicott.

Beryl and Edwina have been engaged by Miss Dupont, the headmistress at Miss Dupont’s Finishing School for Young Ladies. They are asked to keep their visit a secret as to why they are there. Miss Dupont has suggested that Beryl has a goddaughter from overseas that she is interested in attending. Before the Great War, attendance had been declining, and since the end, there weren’t many young ladies wanting to attend finishing school. There are only about six young ladies presently enrolled. Add to that, and there seem to be items that belong to the young ladies that are going missing and personal possessions being damaged. Some of the students have reported hearing strange noises at night, and others suspect that there are ghosts around.

Many employees working when Beryl and Edwina were enrolled in the school are still around. Miss Glover, Miss Dupont’s assistant, can still intimidate them. Edwina was pleased to see that Mrs. Jenkins, the housekeeper, and her husband, Mr. Jenkins, the butler, were still working at the school. Mary, their friend from their school days, is now an art teacher at the Finishing school. In a mysterious event, Mary falls down the stairs from the second floor. Was she sleepwalking, or was she pushed?

Soon, another former student, Veronica, arrives with her daughter, who she plans to enroll. Edwina and Beryl are unhappy about seeing their nemesis from their school days. When Veronica’s body is found in a little pond on school property. The police are convinced that she simply slipped and hit her head on a stone, causing her death.

Beryl and Edwina disagree with the police and set out to investigate. Naturally, her husband is first on the list of suspects, but they soon find other suspects.

I love this series; Edwina is a sedate person, not wanting to anger anyone's feelings, Whereas Beryl tends to be a free spirit. The story is well-written, plotted, and wonderfully descriptive. The characters were all fascinating and believable. There were enough twists and turns that I kept guessing until the end of the book as to the killer's identity.

I’m anxiously awaiting the next book in this enjoyable historical series.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
FredYoder | 2 andere besprekingen | Jul 26, 2023 |
Well, the cover made me crave pancakes! Although my capacity is two, one in the morning and one in the afternoon with plenty of sugar-free maple syrup and close to butter substitute.

The main character, Dani Greene who is starting a green maple sugar business does not seem very interested in who killed the victim at the beginning. Of course, everyone hated the victim, Alanza Speedwell, a contestant at a pancake-eating contest. She flops face-first into a stack of pancakes. Well, the contaminated syrup was the murder weapon.

A wonderful romantic interest, Graham (like the cracker) Paterson shows up when panicked Dani sees a panther outside the window. He teases her about seeing a panther and teases her a lot throughout the book but with affectionate teases.

A goofy thing happened. some exotic animals got out and this New Hampshire, so people are worried about their survival-both animal and human survival. There is a wonderful scene with the main character and a sloth that had me laughing and picturing it. As the book when on the story develop and Dani tries to figure out who the murderer is. She cannot resume her green business until the contaminated syrup mystery is solved.

But all through the book, there are wonderful scenes with Dani or another local person and an escapee of the exotic animal collection. Last night, I was convulsed with laughter that my pet bird was worried about me. There is an excellent mystery too but I want to continue this series mainly for the gut-busting laughter.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
Carolee888 | 5 andere besprekingen | Jun 11, 2023 |

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Statistieken

Werken
16
Leden
808
Populariteit
#31,571
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
66
ISBNs
79
Talen
2

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