Review by Booklist Review
Well-known American adventurer Beryl Helliwell is in need of some peace and quiet when she sees an advertisement for a lodger in the tiny English village of Walmsley Parva. Coincidentally, it is the home of her former school friend, the prim Edwina Davenport, who has fallen on hard times following WWI and is happy to take in Beryl as a roommate. Then someone tries to strangle Edwina. Why? Edwina believes it might have something to do with the disappearance several years ago of a young woman, Agnes Rollins, who worked in the Women's Land Army during the war; naturally, the friends start snooping. When they find Polly Watkins, a former member of the Women's Land Army, dead in a field, they are convinced they're on the right track. Well-drawn women of a certain age, plot twists, and details of wartime and postwar Britain distinguish this historical cozy, which will appeal to fans of Frances Brody's Kate Shackleton and Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher.--O'Brien, Sue Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in 1920, Ellicott's spectacular series launch reunites two old schoolmates in the U.K. When forthright American Beryl Helliwell, who attributes her youthful appearance to a "love of quality gin and an adamant refusal to bear children to any of her ex-husbands," spots the ad for a lodger placed by her friend Edwina Davenport, a proper Englishwoman who has run short of funds, she can't believe her luck. Retiring to the quiet hamlet of Walmsley Parva is just the reprieve Beryl wants from her madcap life, as well as from Prohibition back in America. Beryl surprises Edwina by crashing her car into one of the stone pillars flanking the drive to Edwina's house. Soon after Beryl settles in, someone attacks Edwina while she's walking her dog in her garden. After the friends discover a young woman's body in a field, they take it upon themselves to fill the gaps left by the local constable's inadequate investigation. Reflections on the changes in post-WWI society lend substance to this light mystery. Ellicott is a pen name of Jessica Estevao, author of the Change of Fortune series (Whispers Beyond the Veil, etc.). Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In 1920, American adventuress Beryl -Helliwell, in need of some peace and quiet, reads an ad from "a well-bred lady" requesting a lodger. It leads her to her old schoolmate Edwina Davenport, who is down on her luck in the hamlet of Walmsley Parva. To defray local rumors about Edwina and her reduced finances, Beryl informs the village gossip that the two women are secret agents. The next evening Edwina is attacked in her garden, and the friends realize this quiet village holds some deadly secrets. They start questioning the wartime disappearance of a land girl who worked on the local estate. When another former land girl dies, only Beryl and Edwina consider her death murder. This new cozy launch from Ellicott (a pen name for Jessica Estevao, author of Whispers Beyond the Veil) introduces a pair of delightful odd-couple amateur sleuths, a confident American adventuress and a ladylike British spinster. VERDICT With its strong sense of place and time in post-World War I England, this will be welcomed by fans of Frances Brody's "Kate Shackleton" mysteries.-LH © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
