Mrs. Jeffries and the rest of Inspector Witherspoon’s staff are back helping to solve his latest murder case. Ably assisted by Constable Barnes and their friends they are out nosing out clues and background for Mrs. Jeffries to feed the Inspector with his dinner. Delightful cozy mystery set in Victorian time ( )

I found this book a bit confusing. There were far too many suspects for the murder of a local rare plant seller. The book seemed to descend into all-out cat fights among four very unlikeable women many times during the course of the story. Mrs. Jeffries and her crew manage to uncover all the old secrets and dirty dealings, but I have to admit that all the women involved were so unlikeable that I didn't care in the end who actually did the deed. I usually love these cozy Victorian mysteries and I like the returning characters. I still like the characters, but this stories certainly not my favourite from this series. ( )

One of the better mysteries in the series. But how many people can find out about her little investigation group without the Inspector learning about it? ( )

Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize is thirty-fourth book in A Victorian Mystery series. The ladies of The Mayfair Orchid and Exotic Plant Society are getting their plants ready for the annual competition. They are meeting at Helena Rayburn’s when they hear a scream. They all go running into the conservatory to find a dead body. Hiram Filmore, who supplies the plants for the ladies (the exotic and unusual), has a pair of shears in his chest. What was he doing in Mrs. Rayburn’s conservatory? Inspector Gerald Witherspoon is assigned the case (which thrills his housekeeper, Mrs. Jeffries). It looks like someone is setting up Mrs. Rayburn (who is not the nicest person) when all the evidence points to her. Mrs. Jeffries, Smythe, Betsy, Wiggins, and the gang are on the case. They work behind the scenes gathering clues to help Inspector Witherspoon solve the case.

Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize was not my type of book (I just found it lacking). I am afraid that I did not enjoy it. There was just too much going on in this book and the mystery was child's play to solve (It was so obvious). The author did provide great clues that the reader can follow (which I liked). However, there are too many characters, and I could not understand some of their accents (which is where I started skimming). I give Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize 3 out of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

When Hiram Filmore, an orchid dealer, is murdered, it is only natural that Inspector Gerald Witherspoon will get the case - after all he has quite the reputation for solving murders. Unknown to Witherspoon, his household staff and friends, including housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries, have been working behind the scenes for years to help him solve his cases. All murder cases are tough but this one is especially so as it may be tied to events that happened years earlier. As Witherspoon struggles to solve the case, so do his friends, but they too find the past getting in the way- for some of them their own past. Can the group solve the mystery or will the past interfere?

“Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize” is the very nicely done thirty-fourth book in Emily Brightwell's Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries cozy mystery series. I have read all the books in the series and I am continually amazed at how Brightwell manages to keep the series fresh after writing so many books. In this book there are a few things that make it so good - one is that the mystery hinges on events that happened quite some time ago in India. This is nicely done and, while there aren't a lot of suspects, this allows Brightwell to throw in plenty of twists and red herrings so readers will be kept guessing as to who the killer is. The other thing that I like about this book and what keeps the series fresh is the way the characters keep growing even after so many books. In this book, past events haunt a couple of members of Witherspoon's household staff and friends - I love the fact that we are still learning about these characters even after so many books. I also love the fact that, even after helping Witherspoon solve so many mysteries, some of his friends still have doubts about their usefulness - this is very well done and realistically written. The mystery itself is well plotted with plenty of clues to help readers solve the mystery - pay attention –just because the Inspector, Constable Barnes, are the household staff doesn't think a clue is important doesn't mean it isn't!

“Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize” is another nice cozy mystery by the always good Emily Brightwell. ( )