Mrs. Jeffries Sweeps the Chimney

Rating:
Summary: Inspector Witherspoon's secret assets
Review: Behind many a great man there was a woman. Behind kindly - and clueless - Inspector Witherspoon is a household staff which would be a credit to any intelligence agency. But he doesn't know it.

His housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries, a policeman's widow who learned a lot from her late mate's shop talk, marshals the investigative talents of cook Mrs. Goodge, coachman Smythe, housemaid Betsy, young Wiggins the footman - and the eccentric wealthy Lutybelle and her butler - to work the Inspector's cases and adroitly engineer results which reflect credit only on the Inspector. This case begins with the murder of a clergyman and moves on to the discovery of a woman's skeleton in an abandoned cottage. Working behind the scenes on Inspector Witherspoon's murder cases is becoming such good sport that Mrs. Jeffries worries that too many people know how much help the oblivious Inspector is getting from his household staff and friends. If word got out it would damage the Inspector's professional reputation as a crack crime-solving detective.

This is good fun reading. The plot thickens nicely as it goes along: a family factory, two very different sisters, the disposition of controlling interest in the family firm, mysterious assignations in a condemned and vacant house, tensions between half-brothers.

We glimpse young Wiggins' family background as he is summoned to his estranged and very ill grandfather's bedside. However, we learn nothing new about the Inspector's nascent romance with a lovely neighbor lady which began in some of the earlier books in the series.

I do enjoy whiling away a few hours with the latest Mrs. Jeffries novel. This is a strong entry in the series.



Rating:
Summary: Mrs Jeffries does it again
Review: Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard is a nice man, but not a particularly good detective. So his devoted housekeeper, Mrs Jeffries, and the rest of his equally devoted staff, help him to solve his crimes without him knowing. The information they gather is passed on to the Inspector via hints and suggestions from Mrs Jeffries, and he ends up thinking he has solved the cases himself. Once you can accept this wildly improbable premise, you can relax and enjoy the series. In this one,a clergyman has been shot dead and the skeleton of a young woman found in a chimney. Can the Inspector's devoted staff solve these crimes? Of course they can! Mrs Goodge the Cook, Betsy the maid, Wiggins the footman, Smythe the coachman, who is secretly engaged to Betsy (why secretly, I've no idea), and of course Mrs Jeffries herself, are all engaging characters, and their delight whenever there is a murder to solve is quite understandable, after all it's a lot more fun than housework. My favourite characters are feisty American widow Luty Belle Cruickshank, and her argumentative butler Hatchett, who help the Inspector's staff to solve their cases. Never mind the improbability of the premise, suspend disbelief and just enjoy the latest episode in this amusing series.

Rating:
Summary: Mrs Jeffries does it again
Review: Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard is a nice man, but not a particularly good detective. So his devoted housekeeper, Mrs Jeffries, and the rest of his equally devoted staff, help him to solve his crimes without him knowing. The information they gather is passed on to the Inspector via hints and suggestions from Mrs Jeffries, and he ends up thinking he has solved the cases himself. Once you can accept this wildly improbable premise, you can relax and enjoy the series. In this one,a clergyman has been shot dead and the skeleton of a young woman found in a chimney. Can the Inspector's devoted staff solve these crimes? Of course they can! Mrs Goodge the Cook, Betsy the maid, Wiggins the footman, Smythe the coachman, who is secretly engaged to Betsy (why secretly, I've no idea), and of course Mrs Jeffries herself, are all engaging characters, and their delight whenever there is a murder to solve is quite understandable, after all it's a lot more fun than housework. My favourite characters are feisty American widow Luty Belle Cruickshank, and her argumentative butler Hatchett, who help the Inspector's staff to solve their cases. Never mind the improbability of the premise, suspend disbelief and just enjoy the latest episode in this amusing series.

Rating:
Summary: Delightful and refreshing
Review: Scotland Yard's Inspector Witherspoon is wealthy; lives in a luxurious townhouse in London, and his peers respect him and are in awe of his talent of always solving homicide cases assigned to him. People, including the inspector don't realize that his household staff, who care and love him and love being in on the chase, help him find the clues that will lead him to the killer.

His latest case is very perplexing. The Reverend Jasper Claypool who has been in India for ten years has returned to England only to be killed the very same day. None of his heirs claim they have heard from him and a note in the Vicar's handwriting leads them to an abandoned cottage where the body of a woman was been placed in the chimney ten years ago. Both Witherspoon and his house staff are convinced the two are related but to solve this case will take all the resources they can muster and then some.

MRS. JEFFRIES SWEEPS THE CHIMNEY is a delightful and refreshing amateur sleuth tale that relies on cerebral reasoning to solve the case. Witherspoon's staff acts like a tightly knit family who will go to any lengths to see their employer recognized as a hero in the eyes of his supervisors. Emily Brightwell can always be counted on to keep her audience entertained with her witty and upbeat mysteries.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Delightful and refreshing
Review: Scotland Yard's Inspector Witherspoon is wealthy; lives in a luxurious townhouse in London, and his peers respect him and are in awe of his talent of always solving homicide cases assigned to him. People, including the inspector don't realize that his household staff, who care and love him and love being in on the chase, help him find the clues that will lead him to the killer.

His latest case is very perplexing. The Reverend Jasper Claypool who has been in India for ten years has returned to England only to be killed the very same day. None of his heirs claim they have heard from him and a note in the Vicar's handwriting leads them to an abandoned cottage where the body of a woman was been placed in the chimney ten years ago. Both Witherspoon and his house staff are convinced the two are related but to solve this case will take all the resources they can muster and then some.

MRS. JEFFRIES SWEEPS THE CHIMNEY is a delightful and refreshing amateur sleuth tale that relies on cerebral reasoning to solve the case. Witherspoon's staff acts like a tightly knit family who will go to any lengths to see their employer recognized as a hero in the eyes of his supervisors. Emily Brightwell can always be counted on to keep her audience entertained with her witty and upbeat mysteries.

Harriet Klausner