Murder at an English séance

In this eighth installment of Ellicott's "A Beryl and Edwina Mystery" series (following Murder at a London Finishing School), private enquiry agents Beryl and Edwina are asked to help stop the church organist from playing music at a local medium's séances. Then the organist is found dead in the medium's sarcophagus, and adventurous Beryl and always-composed Edwina dive into a full-blown investigation. As listeners might expect, much of the novel's charm this late in the series comes from Beryl and Edwina's interactions with the townspeople and their own deepening friendship rather than the investigation. New listeners will not feel lost, but without knowledge of the characters' backstories, they may be less invested in their journey. Narrator Barbara Rosenblat is, as always, a skilled performer, switching between multiple English accents and an American one with seeming ease. The maturity she lends to Edwina's voice encourages listeners to remember that sometimes the best adventures come with age and that it's never too late to take a new path. The remaining cast is easily distinguishable by voice, which is especially appreciated in this novel with many suspects and red herrings. VERDICT Fans of cozies involving English villages with high fatality rates will enjoy this.--Matthew Galloway

The medium is definitely not the message when private enquiry agents Edwina Davenport and Beryl Helliwell probe a murder at a séance in post--World War I England. Looking back over the past year, Edwina can hardly believe all the changes to her life since she reluctantly invited American adventurer Beryl to share her home at The Beeches, a gracious but costly Victorian house in the small village of Walmsley Parva. Never would she have imagined that she'd learn to drive, write a book, open her home to her former gardener, or start a detective agency with her brave but impulsive housemate. Even police constable Doris Gibbs admits that the pair have a knack for resolving their fellow villagers' dilemmas. When Muriel Lowethorpe, the vicar's wife, asks them to persuade organist Hazel Moffat to stop providing music at Maude Dinsdale's séances, they agree that working with a medium is not an appropriate side hustle for a church musician. But when Hazel turns up dead in Maude's spirit guide's sarcophagus, it's PC Gibbs who solicits the private investigators' help. Gibbs knows that together, conventional Ed and unconventional Beryl have their fingers squarely on Walmsley Parva's collective pulse. Not even Maude's second sight can predict the ways their foray into the world beyond will rock their own world, leading to an even greater expansion of The Beeches' bespoke extended family. Ellicott helps her characters grow as they become ever more their true and endearing selves. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.