A Very English Murder (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery, #1… (2024)

I loved this first entry in what will hopefully become a long series. Do not listen to the blurb. It is nothing like an Agatha Christie novel apart from being set at a similar time.

Lady Eleanor, who is supposedly an intrepid traveller, has inherited her uncle's estate and returns to England to sort out her affairs. She sees a murder take place but because the body disappears the police refuse to investigate. So of course Eleanor has to try and solve the mystery herself. She is assisted by her absolutely wonderful butler and her staff. It seems there has been much more going on in her Uncle's house than meets the eye!

I thought the story was clever, the characters were great and the whole thing was a really good read. There is so much going on that there has to be a book 2 very soon so we can find out what happens next.

My thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

Lady Eleanor Swift has returned from her adventurous travels around the world to take possession of Henley Hall, her family estate after the death of her Uncle, Lord henley. Although her unmarried Uncle was her guardian after the disappearance of her parents, he packed her off to boarding school and she never got to know him very well.

On her first night at Henley Hall, Eleanor decides to head off for a walk with her Uncle's bulldog, Gladstone in tow. At the edge of the quarry abutting her land she sees a man through the window of a workman's hut and moments later he is murdered. When the police arrive the next day, the gates to the quarry are locked and there is no body to be seen. Frustrated at being ignored by the police, Eleanor makes a list of suspects and decides to investigate herself.

This is a fun cosy mystery set in the 1920s. Eleanor is a very modern and independent young woman who makes a good investigator. Her Uncle's butler Clifford, becomes her aide and confidant and has hidden depths, which it seems her Uncle also employed. I suspect there is a lot more to learn about Eleanor's Uncle and parents later in the series. The writing has a light and humorous touch and makes for a great introduction to a new series.

4★
“Eleanor and bureaucracy went together as comfortably as a munitions store and a lit match, so it wasn’t long before fiery words were flying round the reception area.”

Lady Eleanor Swift has inherited her late uncle’s country estate, which she used to visit as an orphan during her holidays from boarding school. She has just moved in and almost immediately, she and her uncle’s solid bulldog, Gladstone, stumble across a murder taking place. Peering through the fence around a building at the quarry, she sees a man shot.

Welcome to the neighbourhood, Lady Swift! This is an entertaining cosy mystery with the engaging characters readers expect to meet in an English village. Eleanor is an attractive (of course) twenty-nine-year old, “a slender woman with flame-red curls and world-weary green eyes, dressed in hopelessly unfashionable clothing” when she arrives.

The world-weariness comes from having had a wild young life travelling through remote parts of the world, marrying on impulse, and being widowed after only four months when her husband was caught and shot in South Africa for selling arms to the enemy. Splendid chap, what?

She isn’t interested in society, but she recognises she has a responsibility to uphold her uncle’s reputation, and who better to advise her than her uncle’s “inscrutable butler, Clifford.”

Clifford, the cook, the maid, and other staff are what you’d expect, as is Lady Swift, who enjoys messing about in the kitchen with the women. It’s all good-natured fun. She frequently talks to herself or uses the dog as a sounding board.

“‘Oh stuff it, Gladstone. Why did I agree to go for this hideous luncheon? It will be a nightmare of etiquette and formalities.’ Brought up abroad by bohemian parents, she was more at home at a Uyghur wedding parade or a Zulu reed dance than a stuffy English society ball.”

Ah, but there is a drawcard. The luncheon hostess is Lady Fenwick-Langham, who happens to be the mother of Lancelot, a handsome, brash young pilot she meets in a paddock when she’s snooping at a neighbour’s. She tells him of her suspicions – before she adds him to her list of suspects.

First one murder, then another, then attacks on herself make for some tense scenes, but nothing we think she won’t overcome – somehow. She and Clifford (and Gladstone, the hefty, slobbery bulldog), follow up all kinds of clues. I can’t imagine her uncle would have approved of their tracking methods.

“Clifford drove a few hundred yards past the gates until he found a gap in the overgrown hawthorn hedge. The Rolls passed through with only minor scratching to its gleaming paintwork.”

MINOR SCRATCHING ON THE ROLLS?! What are they? Savages? Then again, Clifford and her uncle apparently got into all kinds of dicey situations themselves and were more co-adventurers, comrades-in-arms, than master and servant.

She keeps bumping heads with the police and the bureaucracy, and adds some of them to her list of suspects.

It’s good, light fun, watching Lady Swift livening up the countryside and knocking the stuffing out of the stuffed shirts.

When Eleanor Swift arrived at Henley Hall, the home of her uncle, Lord Henley, recently deceased, she wasn’t sure how she felt about her old home. Met by Clifford, the butler, who was as stiff and upright as she remembered him, even though it was many years since she’d seen him or her uncle, Eleanor determined that the sooner she left the place behind her, the happier she’d be. Now she was Lady Swift, owner of the old manor and in charge of the staff, her immediate connection to Gladstone, her uncle’s dog, found her a friend.

Taking Gladstone for a walk through the countryside around the manor, she took no notice of the brewing storm until she became aware of the heavy rain, thunder and lightning. It was when she was looking for shelter that she saw in the distance what looked like a man being shot. That was the beginning of an in-depth investigation by Lady Swift after the local police declared, because there was no body, obviously there was no murder. Was Eleanor Swift in danger? Of course she was. But would that stop her?

A Very English Murder is the first in A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery by Verity Bright and I loved it. Set in England in 1920, Lady Swift’s witty dialogue had me laughing out loud on many occasions. Clifford, stiff and upper lipped as he was, was fabulous! He and Ellie made an excellent team. It reminded me a little of T.E. Kinsey’s Lady Hardcastle mysteries. I’m really looking forward to more in this fun and entertaining series and highly recommend this one.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

I'd like to apologise for this long overdue review. I was sent this e-ARC a while before lockdown began. A busy few weeks at work pre-lockdown and the initial lockdown blues of being unable to concentrate enough to read have prevented me from reading and reviewing this book. I did manage to read this in its publication week and I'm happy to be finally sharing my thoughts.

Plot
Our protagonist, Lady Eleanor, witnesses a murder. Except the body vanishes, and the police seem to have no desire to investigate. So Ellie begins sleuthing around the village to solve the murder herself. On the surface this is my perfect book. This concept is so intriguing and I thought this would be a real brain teaser of a novel. Unfortunately not.

The plot began painfully slowly and didn't really start getting anywhere until around half way through. Honestly I thought the whole first half of the novel could have been cut and it wouldn't have impacted the story. There was one small side character introduced in the first few chapters that popped up again later in the novel to be useful in ultimately solving the crime, but otherwise there was nothing remotely useful or entertaining in the first half of the novel. Once the plot finally got a move on, everything was very predictable. I felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities for real red herrings and twists to really get the reader going. Unfortunately, I felt the plot was severely lacking in this area.

There was a lot of effort made to drip feed Eleanor's backstory into the novel. This was the main thing that kept me interested in the book. All I wanted to know was what happened to Ellie's parents and more about her global travels. *Spoiler alert* we don't find out what happened to Ellie's parents. I can only assume this is planting seeds for later books in the series however the mystery element of this mystery novel was not executed well enough for me to read another book in this series.

Characters
Ellie is a confusing character. She spends the first 20 chapters doing absolutely nothing except despising other characters in the book for not taking her seriously because she's a woman. Bright uses Ellie's every line of thought or dialogue to express that the police in the little village Ellie now lives in is backwards as there are no female officers. She constantly provides social commentary that the men around her are underestimating her before she even opens her mouth based on the fact she's a woman. She even goes as far as to suspect characters of murder based on how they treated her as a woman and not a shred of motive or anything remotely relevant. The first couple of times it's brought up, fine, that's setting the scene. But after that? Honestly, Jesus Christ I get it. The novel is set in 1920s England. We know the social position of women in this time. I felt it was irrelevant to the plot or the character development, especially considering no semblance of a plot was taking place. The second the plot began heading somewhere, the ridiculous commentary stopped clearly showing it served no purpose.

So Ellie was set up as being very pro-women's rights and very forward thinking for her era, so I thought 'great'! Surely this means Bright is going to use her protagonist to shut down irritating tropes of women in the 1920s right? HAHAHAHA WRONG. Every time an attractive man enters her field of view she suddenly can't function and goes weak at the knees. It's all blushing and feeling faint when an attractive man strays too close. Very cliché.

So which is it? Fainting flapper girl and a hopeless romantic, or trailblazing modern roaring 20s woman (who FYI could have romance without the stereotypical weak, woozy, fainting cr*p).

Clifford, the butler, is a pain in the rear. One of his personality quirks is he is very pedantic. Fine, that's established early on. But sometimes it feels like this gets in the way of meaningful dialogue and it SERVES NO PURPOSE. Honestly so infuriating.

I did however love the rest of the cast of household staff who each had distinct personalities, really contributed to Ellie's character development and felt like tangible people.

Final Thoughts
Unfortunately this book just left me feeling kind of meh. For the most part it felt like I was reading FanFiction of something, and I'd like to point out I've read novel-quality FanFic, but this is more an inexperienced author who hasn't found a voice. The voice is confused, the third person narrative doesn't work when Eleanor spends so much time inside her own head and voices dialogue to the dog instead of having the novel written in first person...but maybe that's just me?

I'm really upset that I didn't enjoy this book as the blurb sounds like everything I adore in a novel. I really expected so much more from this book...

I'd like to thank NetGalley again for sending this e-Arc to me in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quotes:

She was convinced that all butlers were born a certain age at which they stayed until they disappeared in a puff of discreet smoke. For a good servant would never die on his employer, that would be just too inconvenient.

The thought of childbirth made Eleanor shudder. Bringing a new life into this world might be the work of God, but the mechanics of childbirth were surely the work of the devil. And triplets! What had the poor woman done to deserve that?

I should have banished him to roam the fields with his favourite hunting gun, rather than pouring him into a morning suit and inflicting him on our guests…

Now he was standing in front of her, she couldn’t help thinking whoever had moulded this man’s features had done the bulk of it with a boxing glove. And finessed the edges with a heavy plank of wood.

Their eyes widened. ‘Are those meat pies, miss?’ … She’d guessed that some of the young lads’ families would rarely be able to afford such luxuries. ‘Whatever it is, we’re your men!’ Alfie cried. They stood to attention and saluted.

I say gang, what a wheeze!

My Review:

Though far from my usual fare, I adored this cleverly amusing cozy mystery set in the 1920s, it was an enjoyable and pleasantly entertaining read and good fun from beginning to end. I definitely need to add more such cozy tales into my reading rotation. I relished the author’s smooth and easy flow, colorfully quirky cast of characters, and delightfully detailed scenes with oddly curious observations and amusing descriptions.

I was particularly captivated by the enigmatic and sublimely complex character of the ever-efficient butler. Clifford was multi-layered and prone to imparting lesser-known facts, UBIs, and timely quotes from an unusual variety of sources ranging from Sir Isaac Newton to Oscar Wilde. Eleanor was also a treat and I reveled in her tendency to indulge, anthropomorphize, and talk things through with her departed uncle’s old bulldog, as I tend to behave in a similar manner with my precocious fur babies.

The crafty writing duo of Verity Bright was an instant addition to my favorites list. I was so taken by this one I already have their next missive locked and loaded on my beloved Kindle.

3.5 / 5.0 stars

This was such a charming and witty start to a wonderful new cozy mystery series. The year is 1920; the place: somewhere in England's countryside. Young Eleanor Swift, has suddenly become Lady Swift upon the demise of her uncle, Lord Henley. She had been orphaned in her early teens after the death of her bohemian parents and became the ward of her titled uncle, who then quickly packed her off to boarding school.We are introduced to her twenty-something self as she arrives at Henley Estate, her new home, replete with servants of much character. Not the least among them is the butler, Mr. Clifford, who soon becomes the sleuthing sidekick of Lady Eleanor. Eleanor, observes what appears to be a murder. Yet upon closer scrutiny, there is no body and when the constabulary finally shows up, there's no evidence of any foul play. Eleanor is soon dismissed and warned not to put her nose where it doesn't belong, i.e., police investigations. Of course, the police do nothing which rankles the young heiress and she takes on the sleuthing duties with the assistance of her able butler (who frankly, has a lot more to him than his C.V. might lead one to believe).

So who is, "Verity Bright"? Why is there no photo of this gifted author on "her" Facebook page? Well as it turns out, "Verity" is a husband and wife writing team who have been writing together for eons, (well 25 years at least). It is rather clever how the identities of their writing team members remains a mystery while they write mysteries. None the less, the writing is charming, witty and smart. If you are a fan of the cozy genre which features British dry wit, then this is definitely a book for you.

I am grateful to Verity Bright and "her" publishing team at Bookouture for having provided a free e-copy of this book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Verify Bright, A Very English Murder, Bookoutre, April 7, 2020.

The sprightly debut featuring Lady Eleanor Swift will keep cozy readers on the edge of their seats. Lady Eleanor has inherited Henley Hall from her uncle. She has also inherited her uncle's butler, Clifford, and his elderly bulldog, Gladstone. She and Gladstone go for a walk on the night she arrives at the Hall, get lost in the pouring rain, and see a man shot dead in a worker's hut on the estate. But when she gets to the hut, she finds that the body has dissappered. Joined by Clifford and other members of the household, she tries to identify the body, solve the murder, and convince the authorities that it even took place.

Bright writes with verve, and Lady Eleanor is an engaging herione. Previously an independent world traveler, she must negotiate the more circ*mscribed reality of life at the Hall. The supporting characters are cleverly drawn, as well. Will you be able to sort the evildoers from the saints? Is romance in the air for Lady Eleanor? Bright also demonstrates a growing mastery of pacing that keeps the reader guessing in this fun whodunnit. Highly recommended for cozy readers.

Thank you to Verify Bright, Bookoutre, and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

I had really looked forward to this book, but it didn't capture my attention at all. I kept putting it down only minutes after picking it up because it just didn't appeal to me.

1920's light hearted murder mystery featuring Lady Eleanor who returns to England after world travels to inherit her uncle's estate where murder is afoot. Lady Eleanor soon proves herself able to put her foot into it!

Kindle Unlimitted

Cozy mysteries and I do not always have the best relationship. While I enjoy mysteries, especially historical set in specific decades like the 1920s-40s, I often find this subgenre a little too ‘light’ for my own person tastes. However, I was reading a fictional book about a supervirus and although it was a good story it didn’t take too many chapters in to know I needed to take a break and what better way than a new cozy mysteries series set in England in the early 1920s.

In A Very English Murder Lady Eleanor Swift has recently inherited Henley Hall left to her by her uncle. Many years have passed she was last there and soon after arriving she finds herself exhausted and a little overwhelmed by it all and decides she needs to take a long walk. However, it is during this walk, which turns into a rain storm, that she sees a man being shot. Then, his body disappears.

While I enjoyed this book and loved having a light read available, the story and pacing itself felt a little uneven at times, especially shortly after the beginning. It opens up strong – introducing us to Lady Eleanor and what brings her into the murder story. But soon after informing the police, who don’t take her seriously, she finds she will have to do the investigation herself. It is at this point we meet several characters right in a row and to be honest it is here where it starts to feel like a plot checklist and didn’t come across as naturally as I would have liked. Meet this person – check, meet this next person – check. While I understand her desire to prove to everyone there was a murder, I did wonder if this was the immediate thing that would take place when moving into a new home, a new town, and a new life. It just felt a little forced.

But directly after these new character meetings, the story began feeling a little more natural when Lady Eleanor and Clifford, the butler, start having an actual conversation followed by a dinner party she is invited to where we begin to learn even more about her and her background as well as her neighbors. I soon started snuggling in and found myself engaged the rest of the way through.

There is a lot to enjoy – walks with the Gladstone, the dog, who sometimes plays the role of her “Watson”, Clifford who is used to doing things a certain way, two potential love interests (I already have a preference) as well as other interesting characters. Plus, it has a heroine who has cycled part of the subcontinent to follow in the footsteps of Annie Londonderry, who was the first woman who cycled around the world. So, if you are looking for a new cozy mystery you may want to check this one out.

Rating: 4 stars

This story irritated me on many levels. I read a lot of cosy mysteries so precocious amateur detectives are nothing new. Alas, however, I read a lot of 1920-era set cosy mysteries and if there is a race amongst the popular series set in the 1920s, this story tripped at the first hurdle: historical accuracy.

If you are going to write a 1920's era story, make sure you do enough research such that your characters speak in an era-appropriate manner. Refer to items and objects of the era with the right terminology. Quite a few series trip occasionally on this hurdle, but by golly, they get it right 99% of the time. AVEM did not even try all that hard.

Any cosy mystery needs an engaging hero and this was the second hurdle AVEM stumbled into and face-planted on. Eleanor is not endearing, she's irritating. Positioned as a world-weary, extensively experienced traveller and star of many a derring-do adventure, why is she portrayed as a whiny, insecure ditherer who is also brash and impulsive. An outspoken feminist who distrusts men but falls at the feet of the first dashing Lancelot who appears. Who flip flops between opinions and plans and views. But most importantly, critically, how can your hero detective be awful at figuring out any of the mystery. If the deus ex-machina Butler Clifford hadn't been in the story Eleanor would have figured out nothing and would have disappeared mid-plot (a victim, not the hero).

Overall the writing style of the book is quite pleasant and the set-up of the series sounds great. Eccentric Lord leaves manor to eccentric heir, who inherits his eccentric staff and mission to deal with social injustice. But honestly, I'd rather read TE Kinsey's Lady Hardcastle series. Because those eccentric characters are both well-written and likeable.

In summation, two authors do not make a story doubly great. In fact, it suffers from an inconsistent approach, style and characterisation. The story was weak, but saveable if the editor had taken a red-pen to half of it and Eleanor was shaped as someone interesting rather than cliche.

This delightful cozy mystery is set in 1920 England. This story introduces Lady Eleanor Swift - however, she is anything but a Lady. She has lived a full life, one with no restrictions and has traveled the world over, and has had unique experiences. Suddenly, however, she finds her self in a town called Chipstone and is shocked to discover that she now has a title of Lady, along with a staff ready to wait on her hand and foot.

This is hardly something that Eleanor wanted or expected. She is now a woman with responsibilities and that means, at the very least, that her travels have come to an end. When Eleanor arrives at her uncle's home, she learn of his death and how this will affect her life. Eleanor has a lot to think about. After all, she has not seen her uncle in years, and to have this new life he left her is a cause for confusion and concern.

While taking a walk with a dog who is a part of the manor, Gladstone, she witnesses a murder. However, not only does the killer get away, but the body disappears. Who is going to believe her when she has no proof? So, Eleanor fearlessly decides to solve this mystery on her own. She has a bit of help, her late uncle's butler, Clifford - as she goes about the town seeking clues. So, Eleanor, Clifford and the trusty dog Gladstone leave no stone unturned to prove the murder and to find the killer.

A Very English Murder is a cute cozy mystery and is the first book in a new series. I love Eleanor, especially as she acts like anything but a Lady. I also enjoyed learning about her past. With Clifford acting as her sidekick gave a nice element to the story. Also the setting was nice as well, both the time period and the beauty of the town. The story was a quick read with enough twists to keep me riveted and I love how the conclusion wrapped things up. As someone who reads quite a few cozy mysteries, I am glad to add this to my collection of series to follow.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Oooh I loved this book. There was something quaint and loving about the entire atmosphere of the story. And yes, there was a murder. Our Lady Eleanor Swift did witness it in shadows but no body. Whatever did happen to it? Ellie started investigating with her trusted Man Friday Clifford.

My first book by author Verity Bright, don't you love a book with has a feel of the times gone past? I was quite naughty in imagining myself to be Lady Swift. (Lady Shalini does have a nice ring to it 😂😂) Eleanor as the lead investigator was quite determined with a great sense of humor. Clifford too supported her ably.

Their conversations had the right amount of bite to it which made it quite entertaining. Romance and love interests didn't really pull me in. I skim read that. Mystery and suspense were low, but I honestly didn't mind that. I wanted a book which would be absolutely soothing to read with a murder in it and this was it.

The entire spotlight was on Ellie, and I was completely drawn to that little group of Ellie, Clifford, and their bulldog Gladstone. The book was everything I wanted in these troubling times. I loved it. Lady Shalini recommended. 😂😂

I have absolutely no idea why anyone would give this complete and utter tosh good reviews. Certainly it is not a “move over Miss Marple” as reviews unbelievably said. Agatha Christie wrote well for a start - and her characters and plots were engaging and clever. I honestly thought this was going to be a pastiche at the start as it was so bad, however, it is neither clever or witty. ( Read James Anderson for a very clever, well written pastiche).

Lady Whatsherface has got to be one of the most irritating characters ever - lots of early bumph about her amazing independent adventures but giggles at any vaguely good looking man whilst blundering around while the author bangs on frequently about how much she eats/ being late for meals/ blah blah blah.

And then the completely unconvincing relationship between Lady Thing and the Butler.

This is done so so much better in the Lady Hardcastle books by TE Kinsey. Who writes well and with humour.

There are many authors who set their books around this time in history. Some do it very well - and obviously the authors such as Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Patricia Wentworth, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Georgette Heyer are some of the originals, where well written books were valued and language, erudition etc counted.

Since then, there has been many well written “lady detective” books by modern authors set during this time ( 1920’s etc) - sadly this is not one of them. It’s total and utter pap.

Lady Eleanor Swift returns from her peripatetic world wide adventures in 1920 to claim her inheritance of Henley Hall, her family seat.Orphaned in her teens,she had a distant relationship with her now deceased guardian uncle.She is uncertain if she wants to make Henley Hall her permanent home.Mulling over her dilemma, she takes a late night walk and witnesses a murder at a nearby quarry and reports the crime to the police. When the police arrive the next morning, there is no body, no blood and no signs of struggle. Eleanor’s report is dismissed as a product of an overactive female imagination. Incensed but undeterred by this dismissal, Eleanor enlists the aid of her uncle’s butler Clifford to inquire further. Accompanied by the bulldog Gladstone, they ferret out connections heretofore undiscovered in the village.

This is a cozy mystery that is written with a dash of wit and a sprinkling of entertaining banter.I would have liked Eleanor’s character to have been written more consistently. She was a worldwide traveler who encountered some perilous situations on her own in foreign lands. In the course of her village investigation, there are times that she appears to be a helpless female. This contradiction struck a discordant note for me.On the other hand, there is an element of the book that pokes fun at the archaic and changing social structure. When forming her alliance with Clifford, Eleanor notes that they are” a mere woman and a mere servant.Two classes undervalued and underestimated for generations, forming together to make a formidable team.” Such sentiments bode well for the development of this series as it moves forward.Rounded up from3.5 stars to 4 stars.

I have always been intrigued by cosy mysteries. When I saw "Move over Miss Marple, there’s a new sleuth in town!" in the blurb, I was really excited. This was super fun!
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy

“Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” Oscar Wilde. England, 1920. Verity Bright’s A Very English Murder (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery, #1) begins with Lady Eleanor Swift inheriting her late uncle’s country pile, Henley Hall and two hundred acres of “formal “ gardens. The last visit Ellie had made to Henley Hall was in 1904 when she was 13 years old. She loved her uncle, but she felt that she did not know him very well, and she wondered if he had actually loved her. Ellie also inherited Gladstone, her uncle’s ‘elderly’ bulldog. Ellie had been traveling around the world as a widow following the Silk Road, mapping new routes for safaris, and sampling the local foods such as buffalo kangaroo, and alligator depending on where she was staying at that particular moment. Now, she is Lady Swift of Henley Hall. Would she be able to call this home? She had hopes that she could because her ‘exotic’ travels had begun to grow old. Would Clifford, her uncle’s butler, still be in residence? Ellie pulled the doorbell, and she eventually had her answer. Clifford opened the door. As Ellie attempted to settle in, she still felt that she did not belong. And as the English are wont to do, Ellie decided to take a walk with Gladstone, and she clearly sees a murder. She tries to report it to the local law officials, but it seems to take forever. Finally, a local policeman show up at Henley Hall the next morning, and they are off to the quarry where Ellie saw the murder. They locate the hut, but there is no body and no evidence that a murder has occurred. The local police begin to believe that Lady Swift is just a troublemaker, but Ellie knows what she saw.

As the story continues, I found certain details thar did not coordinate. There appeared to be scenes or parts of the story that did not belong, and frankly, the book was too long or the author tried to cover too much material for the first book of a series. I thought the quotations by English writers is great fun, but on the whole, I kept putting the book down and reading another one. 3 stars.

This mystery was a slow starter for me. For whatever reason, it took me a while to get a sense for the main characters and to care about the mystery. I think maybe part of this was that the main character, Eleanor Swift, inherits an estate and a title from her uncle. I know a woman can inherit an estate, but a title? I would think she would have to be in the direct line, so that threw me off a bit. I also totally guessed the villain the first time this person was on the page. I even flipped ahead to check, and I was right! This never happens to me. There was still a lot I didn't know about the mystery, though, so it was fun to see how all the dots were connected.

Once we get more background on the characters, I felt more and more invested. Eleanor has a fascinating background with her worldwide travels, the mysterious disappearance of her parents, and more, so there is a lot to explore in later books in the series. Her butler/partner in sleuthing, Clifford, is awesome! He's totally a Jeeves type character and there are lots of hints that Clifford and Eleanor's uncle, Lord Henley, were involved in some high stakes type of work. (No clue what yet!) Eleanor's other staff (the housekeeper, cook, and maid) are also awesome. Eleanor has such a great relationship with them by the end with lots of room for development.

There are also several potential love interests, and I have an obvious favorite already. I definitely look forward to reading more in this series.

This was a difficult book to get through. Apart from a distinctly unlikeable protagonist, the whole story was boring. By the time I reached the end, and the mystery was being recounted, I had forgotten many of the plot points. I am not investing further time into this series.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I'm a total sucker for books set in the 1920s and I quickly fell for Lady Eleanor Swift and the rest of the quirky cast of characters living at Henley Hall. I most thoroughly enjoyed this cozy murder mystery set in Chipstone.

On the night of her arrival at the Hall she hadn't visited since age 13, Ellie is walking near the estate when she witnesses what appears to be the shooting death of a man inside a workman's hut. Concerned that it was murder, she contacts the local constabulary but is met with resistance when they investigate and no body and no evidence of any homicie can be found. A very independent adventuress, Lady Eleanor won't be dismissed and decides to begin her own inquiries with the help of her deceased uncle's butler, Clifford. Is she just a nosy newcomer or is there something nefarious going on in the little town. NO SPOILERS.

The further I read, the more I enjoyed this first installment in a new series featuring this strong female protagonist. I liked the interaction and banter between the characters and the mystery was complicated enough to present all sorts of possible outcomes. I liked the relationships between those who lived at the Hall and very much look forward to the next book in the series. The only drawback, to me (and I realize I'm going to be the exception here) is Eleanor's dog, Gladstone. I'm sure many dog lovers will disagree, but there was way too much focus on him at times and her conversations to him annoyed me. OK, that said, I am eager to see what Eleanor does next as she gets more comfortable in her new home. This was easily a one sitting read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.

TLDR: The plot is incredibly thin and shaky, there’s no mystery at all… As perfectly obvious who the culprit is within the first few chapters of the book as soon as they are introduced. Attempted red herrings are so completely transparent has to be ridiculous. This person really need to take some writing classes and it does not astonish made all that this was self-published on Amazon. Poorly written on every level. If you want to read about a 29-year-old that acts like an incredibly spoiled eight-year-old-(and is incredibly stupid but convinced of her own superiority)-this is the book for you.

So first off-women can’t inherit titles because their family decides they should. Sorry…there’s no ‘provision’ one can take to change that. It’s set up by law, either they can, or they can’t. Period.

Oh, and a country house would have a chauffeur. You are NOT chauffeured by your butler…..🙄good lord. Sorry but not having the appropriate number of servants in a country house doesn’t make you ‘independent’. It makes the few servants you have work 4X as much.

And not meeting the staff shows great disrespect to the house, title, her family, and the staff. So does ‘doing the housekeeper’s town errands’. The staff would be mortified, who often had great pride in the houses they served.

While the scene with her mothers’ dresses was touching…she couldn’t wear them. They were over twenty years’ out of date. And if the story is set in 1920…those dresses would be…Edwardian. Practically Victorian in style, cut, etc. You’d need corsets, and other structured undergarments just to get them on. There’s a HUGE difference in fashion-unlike today where 2000 and 2020 clothing are almost interchangeable. And noooooo….you don’t wear a silk evening dress to a garden luncheon.🙄🤦🏻‍♀️

And an aristocratic hostess being belligerent and rude to a guest? Or…ANY British person acting like that? As a GUEST?!? It’s a completely modern American attitude. Not even an upper class Brit in this day would act like that.
Another American writing a British mystery series? Seems to be. (Clarification: yup, it is.)

The main character is ‘supposed’ to be (by the authors) intelligent, capable, and highly feminist. What she comes off as is utterly annoying, selfish, and juvenile.
She spends the first third of the book whining and hating on every other character-including the sergeant that (gasp) doesn’t want to leave his wife who has JUST GIVEN BIRTH to triplets. WHAT A HORRIBLE MAN!
Clearly he hates women. (As does apparently everyone, at least according to the protagonist).

She also falls all over herself whenever a good looking male appears 🙄, and goes on…and on…and on…and…..on………….about women’s social status in 1920’s England. We. Get. It. Now could we have some plot, please?

She proceeds to boss around the police (because….reasons….) And calling them lazy, inept, etc.
She then demands police information, after threatening the sergeant, and feels no remorse or issue with it. Frankly- she acts like an entitled privileged brat that….we’re supposed to sympathize with? Hell no. Why should the police give out information to a strange woman who made unsubstantiated claims?
And yeah-they ARE UNSUBSTANTIATED, no matter how pissy and flouncey she gets whenever ANYONE points that out.
“Have you determined the time of death? Or the murder weapon?”
Um. No. There’s…no body. There’s no indication anything happened.
At all.
"Oh well then if you want to get out of the dark ages you need to employ women” What the….what does that have to do with ANYTHING she was just talking about? Other than the author shoehorning in more plotless whinging to try and make the protagonist ‘modern’….

She’s actually flat out rude to the sergeant, and to most people in general ….. unless they’re women. (Or super hot).
The ‘hot blonde guy with chisled jaw’ is named…Lancelot.
Oh ffs.
No.
Just….no.
And his gross, creepy, suuuper patronizing attitude is….ignored or forgiven by the author/protagonist. Because….. hot.
And loses her mind whenever he’s around….the author spends quite a bit of time on this. And he’s vapid, rude, ignorant, and idle. Perfect match.
And ‘giggles’ constantly around him when he’s being idiotic and patronizing. Has absolutely no self control whatsoever, in anything.
The “hot” detective, who questions her statement just as much as the constable is given a free pass too. Because hot.

She also suspects ppl of being murderers simply based on their lack of feminist enlightenment. Or …for random unfathomable reasons.
And she says “women are naturally good at being detectives”.
Um. No. That’s…not a thing. No actual feminist would spout such utter BS.
Equality? Yes.
Being better because of genitalia? No. That’s just as bad as assuming they’re NOT good at it…because of gender and genitalia.

She’s increasingly biased, increeeedibly stupid, and arrogant. In the end, it’s actually the butler (the one she enjoys insulting) that figures everything out, and saves her ass, she just apparently gets all the credit for it from the author… Because… “Woman“.

Author also uses ‘random accident’ or ‘act of god’ as the ONLY way she finds anything.
Which is fairly hilarious considering how much she whinges on about how much better women are at detective work than men.

“I wanna break the laaaaw and trespass!” /whine whine. Um… maybe that���s why the owner is angry with you? (Stomps foot) Veruca Salt impersonation: “but I waaaaaant to!! And I’m a WOMAN, so clearly more able than any inept gross MEN police!!!!”

“And I’m TOTALLY able to take care of MYSELF” flounce flounce /rude remarks. (Except….she isn’t. Not even kind of capable. Not even a little bit).
In fact, it’s so completely, ridiculously opposite of any actual feminist ideals, one can only assume that it was written by someone who actually hates feminism, but was trying to portray a modern feminist character in order to sell books.

‘Strong, feminist women are rude, selfish, over the top caricatures’ seems to be the go to here. And the employ of the ‘not like other girls’ trope is actually spelled out🙄🙄

Oh, and the slapping native guides by spoiled white women in middle eastern countries as well as servants for becoming over-emotional is just fine, so you know. 🤬
It’s like the (cough cough…very modern American) author spent no time researching 1920’s Britain, much less spent any significant amount of time in this country.
It reads like poorly concepted and executed fanfic. I’m only glad it cost 1$ on Audible.
How this gets anything over a 2 stars tops is beyond me.

A Very English Murder by Verity Bright is the first in a historical cozy mystery series. I found the plot to be slow in the beginning but that's to be expected when it's the first book in a series and the cast of characters need to be introduced. The story is engaging and Lady Eleanor is a "very modern" woman in the English countryside. She does struggle some with trying to "fit in" after having been traveling around the globe for several years. The household staff are great secondary characters that add charm and a little intrigue throughout the story.

3.5 stars for a mystery that’s a light read, a cozy that’s not musty or particularly cozy. More than expected and worth continuing the series.

This is not a first book that (to me at least) showed promise. The protagonist was childish and just plain silly in a lot of cases. And whine! There seemed to be some kind of attempt at a “wink-wink” joke to the reader with the behaviour of the main characters...that just didn’t work.
But.
There’s promise there. And I that I read the second in the series - a much tighter plot with a better characterisation for Eleanor and Clifford. Book 3 is better still.
So I’d suggest giving the series a go, despite the rather rough take-off.

I have so far read and enjoyed eight Lady Eleanor Swift's crime solving adventures (books 3- 10) and have been meaning to catch up with her earlier and further adventures. Thanks to Bookouture, I got to listen to the audiobook of the very first book in the series when it popped up as a 'Listen Now' ALC on NetGalley a month ago. This is the first time I have listened to a book in this series and Karen Cass did an amazing job bringing the characters (that I have come to adore) to life!

Once again, a big thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and the author Verity Bright for the ALC.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It's book 1 in the Lady Eleanor Swift series and I've already got book 2, Death at the Dance on my TBR stack. Eleanor returns to her Uncle's estate that she inherited because she was bored and tired of her life of travel. The staff is the same as when she was a young girl and returned from boarding school. Set in 1920's England you get a glimpse of the class differences. When she is out walking with Gladstone, her Uncle's dog she witnesses a murder but police can find no body and think she is confused. A good story with wonderful characters. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sadly, I’m going to dnf this one. I’m really struggling to like the female lead and the writing style is hard for me to follow/hold my attention, so I’m starting to skim. I might come back to this series at a later time and give it another go.

I liked it!

It's a good mystery and has some interesting characters. Especially, Lady Swift is quite likable. The pace is a little slow for my taste but overall, I enjoyed reading it.

I like the Bulldog, Gladstone. 😊