Like all good murder mysteries, this is a solid character study; in this case, the subjects are an English village ands its people after World War I. The effects of the war play an integral part in the plot—one character wears a tin mask to cover his horribly disfigured face; women and men are trying to return to the lives the lived before the war, but those lives are gone and that's not all bad; the central characters are both women who never did expect to follow the accepted path to the dismay and disapproval of the men who expect to run things. The unraveling of the crimes is clever, somewhat unexpected, and worth the read. The value of the book, though, is in its depiction of a time in history when people said "never again" to the idea of a war.

Adventurous and infamous American celebrity Beryl Helliwell has travelled the world for years in a non-stop round of escapades. Somehow, it has begun to bore her. Serendipitously, her old school friend Edwina Davenport has decided to take in a lodger. Beryl gets a quiet place to live and Edwina gets help for her straitened financial circumstances.

But it doesn't stay quiet in Edwina's charmingly sleepy village for long. Beryl and Edwina end up investigating the disappearance of a Land Girl during the recently ended World War. So Edwina gets a bit of adventure in her quiet life... and Beryl gets to know the pleasure of companionship as she and her old chum team up.

Readers who enjoy Golden Age mysteries will enjoy this cozy story. It's well written and convincingly 1920s, complete with sassy parlourmaids, plucky women, and a village full of saucy secrets.

Thanks Kensington Books and netgalley for this ARC.

Love the cozy murder mystery. Who said a english village has nothing going on? This novel is a great start to a series with many paths it can take.

Beryl and Edwina make a great new duo in the mystery genre. Edwina has some money troubles and to get the town to talk about something else, Beryl tell them they are detectives for the queen. That starts a series of inquiries and crimes. Looking forward to the next in the series.
Goodreads

This book is better than your average cosy mystery. It is firmly routed in the post world war 1 period, and has good descriptions of life at that time. The two heroines are warm, realistic characters, The plot moves along at a decent pace, with more twists than I'd anticipated towards the end. I did find it annoying though, that English characters spoke in Americanisms: saying 'gotten' frequently, and 'outside of'. These should have been corrected, I think. Overall, a good book, and I shall look out for the next adventure of our protagonists.

Jessica Ellicott has created a pair of delightfully twee amateur sleuths in her debut 'Murder in an English Village'. The very American and eccentric Beryl and the extremely English and proper Edwina, old school pals, meet up again following an advertisement Edwina places for a lodger. Set post war in the, seemingly peaceful, village of Walmsley Parva the duo soon discover sinister goings on. Are the pals really chalk and cheese?..Maybe...but their rapport is an absolute pleasure. They are a perfect pairing. Humour dances off the page, from the first to the last. I loved it. Eminently readable and I sincerely look forward to more escapades from Beryl and Edwina in the future - it's just my 'cup of Earl Grey'. Highly recommended.