A very post Edwardian Mystery!_______3.5

I enjoyed the characters in this new series who seem to have wandered out of a post Edwardian soap opera. More like a social justice version of Upstairs Downstairs.
Chief Inspector Beech is tasked by the Commissioner of Scotland Yard to bring together an elite group to meet the changing face of crime. Beech's team consists of intelligent women with special skills, a doctor, lawyer and eventually one other, to investigate situations where it's difficult for the Yard to conduct their inquiries, particularly if women are the central focus. The male members of the team have proven specialised skills of one sort or another.
WW1 is underway and that's bringing about its own special problems.
The group is operating secretly as an experiment. Women are not accepted in the police force as yet.
Beech's contacts lead to their operating out of a house in Mayfair with the telephone number 100 Mayfair.
As I said I'm enjoying the characters but something's not quite jelling yet.
Still, it's early days for the group and the series.
I do want to read more!

A NetGalley ARC

I'm sad that I wasn't able to read this book, because it was too much at the same time. I guess that his book was amazing and I would love to try and read it.
Now i will have to buy one!

A really interesting and well told story with wonderful writing. I found myself thinking about it when I was reading it and raced pack to pick it up. Brittney is a welcome presence in the world of murder mysteries.

Murder in Belgravia by Lynn Brittney Historical mystery set in England during WWI that makes the mistake so many genre writers make--trying to make the characters 21st century enough to satisfy modern readers while using a historic period to provide atmosphere, technical challenges to the art of detection, and a suitably exotic location and time. It's a good thing this was a quick read, because if it had not been, I'd have been tired of how egalitarian and politically correct (a term I hate but which is perfect for this situation) everyone in the book was and given up on it halfway. There is no one central character, but rather 4 main characters (a female doctor, a female lawyer, a male detective, and a male veteran now policeman) who join forces as an unorthodox and unofficial Scotland Yard team to deal with crime in a London overrun by working women of all kinds, injured soldiers, and gangs. Of course there is a love triangle (she loves him but he loves someone else, who turned him down to marry another who has died in the war). Of course no one bats an eye that these people, largely strangers, set up a house in which to live together and work out of, chaperoned by one's titled mother who is delighted to hobnob with charwomen and prostitutes and only faintly horrified when she learns of the existence of boy prostitutes and who is willing to clean dishes and act completely unlike a titled Lady. Sure. I'll probably pass on any future entries in this series; everyone is too modern in their mannerisms and outlooks, too pc--even the gang leaders. Unbelievable.

3.75 stars

An interesting and lively historical mystery set in London during World War 1. While the British suffragettes are agitating for the vote and equal rights, the police force and Scotland Yard are resistant. But the war has left them short of able-bodied male policeman, so it is agreed to quietly assemble a special unit including women to deal with certain crimes.

A retired inspector, a female doctor, a female lawyer, an active inspector and a war-wounded copper are working together to solve a confusing and sensitive crime. A posh lord has been found stabbed to death with a pair of scissors and his severely injured wife has confessed to the crime. No one thinks the wife is guilty, and she is near death from a brutal beating administered by the husband before his death. A female servant has disappeared, and the butler is discovered to have very unsavory underworld connections.

The new crime unit uncovers all kinds of unpleasantness in London: drugs, brothels, unscrupulous doctors, and spousal abuse. The personalities are interesting and the action moves right along. The book does a nice job of bringing London in that era alive and having some good interactions between characters. I would certainly pick up another mystery in this series.

Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my review.

This is a promising start to a new historical murder mystery series, Mayfair 100 (named after the telephone number of the headquarters of the investigative team featured in the novel). This first instalment introduces an interesting bunch of characters brought together to investigate crimes of a potentially sensitive nature. These include policemen, a female doctor, a female law expert and a host of other characters who you just hope will feature more in future books: Billy's mum and aunt are great and so is Mabel the pharmacist. The team get their first case when Lord Murchison is murdered and his wife badly wounded in their Belgravia mansion.

There was lots in this to like. As well as (most of) the characters, the 1915 setting was also engaging. Against a backdrop of war, the writer incorporated many contemporary issues such as the new role of women in the workforce, the danger of the munitions factories, zeppelin raids on London and the corruption of those with high social status.

What I did struggle with a bit was two of the main male characters, Beech and Tollman. Despite their back stories being given, they kind of blended into one in my head because they seemed so similar. The women were really distinctive, but the male characters less so. I would also suggest that this shouldn't be marketed as cosy crime as was suggested by the blurb - there were some quite unpleasant and graphic elements incorporated (e.g. rape, abortion, prostitution) which, while they did not bother me particularly, might deter readers expecting something more gentle.

Overall, this is a good start to the series and I will look out for future instalments. Recommended for fans of historical crime, especially those with a focus on gender issues.

Murder in Belgravia
A Mayfair 100 Murder Mystery
by Lynn Brittney
Mirror Books


General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 15 Mar 2018


I am reviewing a copy of Murder in Belgravia through Mirror Books and Netgalley:


This book is set against the backdrop of World War 1. Mayfair 100 is the number for a specialized crime busting team who is based in the house of Mayfair, in London 1915. Only ten months into the First World War and already the city has become flooded with women taking over the work of the men who had gone into the armed forces many of whom went into war.




Chief Inspector Peter Breech was a young man who had been invalided out of the war, in one of the first battles. He finds himself having to investigate the murder of an aristocrat. The mans wife is both a key witness and suspect and she will not speak to anyone but another woman about the unpleasant details of the case. Chief Inspector Peter Breech sets up a clandestine team to deal with such situations after convincing the Chief Commissioner. Beech is able to put a small crew of well educated women and professional policemen.


As the group Beech, Victoria, Caroline, Rigsby and Tollman investigate the murder they find themselves having to delve into the seedier side of London during the First World War, they visit everything from Criminal Gangs to brothels and underground drug rings supplying heroin to the wealthy in search of a killer?


Will the Mayfair 100 be able to solve the murder? If they do will they be allowed to continue working as a team?


I give Murder in Belgravia five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

After an unpromising start, this is delightfully complex mystery taking place in London during World War I. It features interesting characters, plenty of folks breaking or skirting the law and a great plot.

I'm looking forward to more in this series.

This novel is the first in an upcoming series of “Mayfair 100” murder mysteries, which takes place amid the Great War (i.e., WW1), where two civilian women join with police officers to make up a special team, tasked with investigating crimes involving women. On Goodreads, the blurb says “London, 1915. Just 10 months into the First World War, the City is flooded with women taking over the work vacated by men in the Armed Services. Chief Inspector Peter Beech, a young man invalided out of the war in one of the first battles, is faced with investigating the murder of an aristocrat and the man’s wife, a key witness and suspect, will only speak to a woman about the unpleasant details of the case. After persuading the Chief Commissioner to allow him to set up a clandestine team to deal with such situations, Beech puts together a small motley crew of well-educated women and professional policemen. As Beech, Victoria, Caroline, Rigsby and Tollman investigate the murder, they delve into the seedier parts of WWI London, taking them from criminal gangs to brothels and underground drug rings supplying heroin to the upper classes.”

My regular readers probably will recall that not long ago I read a Kerry Greenwood novel, in hopes of finding my next Agatha Christie. Unfortunately, Greenwood’s book didn’t live up to my expectations. When I saw this book available, I decided I’d give Brittany a chance to try to win me over. What made me think this could fit the bill was mostly the idea of civilian women turning to investigating crimes, which had a “Marple-esque” undertone. Of course, the iconic Miss Marple was more of a busybody, and had to prove to the professionals that she knew more than they did, and thereby pointed them to properly solving the crime. Here Brittany gives us two women chosen by the police to work with this team, Victoria and Caroline. Beech chooses Victoria because she studied the law, but because she was a woman ahead of her time, she wasn’t allowed to practice the law. On the other hand, Caroline is a practicing physician, and we all know how the medical profession can provide forensics that can be invaluable in discovering the truth behind a murder. For me, having these two main protagonists boded very well for this novel, but I was hoping they'd get more central roles in the story than they ended up having.

Of course, any good mystery novel worth its salt, needs to have plot twists, and Brittany doesn’t disappoint in this matter. Usually I can figure out who “done it” quite early in a novel; that Brittany had me guessing through easily two-thirds of the book was certainly in her favor here. That said, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and sometimes simplicity works better than complexity. I fear that Brittany fell into this trap somewhat, but eventually crawled herself out of the hole she dug here, for the most part. In addition, notably, Christie was also known for inserting a good helping of humor into her books, and I can see where Brittany did try to amuse me in several places here, and one can hope that in future novels she’ll develop that more extensively. By the way, one very critical reviewer noted that the WW1 aspect here was sorely underplayed. I must agree that despite the Zeppelin bombing included, along with a few scenes where soldiers are in the background, this devastating war did feel otherwise ignored.

Overall, even with these problems, this was still a fun read for the most part. I truly enjoyed how Brittany developed the characters and drew them as highly empathetic, and I’d like to get to know them better. In fact, throughout most of my reading of this book, I really felt that maybe Brittany was showing me she had the potential to be my next Agatha Christie, but unfortunately, she let me down in the end. This was where Brittany made her biggest mistake, by giving us a very rushed ending, where one witness/suspect deftly connects almost all the dots and solves almost everything for everyone, silver platter style. I found it disappointing that the team didn’t get there first, and just use that suspect to fill in the last questions they all had. What I’m saying is that essentially, although this book is flawed, I’m not totally turned off to this series. Sadly, for this reason, I can only give this book three and a half stars, but Brittany’s writing does show a high level of aptitude, and if she can work through some of the weaknesses I’ve noted here, she could be well on the way to having a very promising series, indeed.

This is an excellent mystery! My favorite thing was the juxtaposition of the deleterious effect of suffragette's actions on men's attitudes toward the idea of police women against the impressive work done by three independent, intelligent women helping solve an actual murder. Brittney did a really good job describing the tremendous changes in British society that began during WWI and their effect on both men and women living with those changes. I don't always enjoy books that shift among the points of view of multiple characters, but Brittney's shifts are so adept they are almost seamless. The reader quickly becomes invested in characters from all levels of society and cares what happens to them. There are definitely enough social issues woven into the plot to provide opportunities for extensive group discussion. Murder is a weighty enough topic to make the bits of humor in the book a welcome relief, as well. I can hardly wait to read the next installment in what I hope will be a lengthy series!!! Thanks to Mirror Books and NetGalley for providing electronic access prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.

London, 1915. Lord Murcheson has been stabbed and murdered in his house, his wife Lady Harriet was found there wounded, too. She claims to have committed to crime with a pair of scissors, which is highly unlikely due to her severe injuries. While Lady Harriet is fighting for her life at the hospital, Chief Inspector Peter Beech takes over the case. The city is at war and thus, men are scarce with the Metropolitan Police. Beech has quite an innovative idea which seems to be more than reasonable for the case at hand: he wants to employ women for the investigation. Thus, Victoria Ellingsham, trained in law, and medical doctor Caroline Allardyce join the small team of Beech, charming ex-boxer PC Billy Rigsby and former Special Branch Arthur Tollman. While London is under attack of the Germans, the unusual squat investigates the case, comes across masses of legal and illegal drugs, prostitutes and the abduction of a young girl who worked in the Murcheson household.

“Murder in Belgravia” follows the lines of classic murder cases in the style of Agatha Christie. The most striking about the novel is the atmosphere. Not only is the situation of World War I convincingly portrayed with the city under fire at night and the shortage of men for the police and other forces, but you also feel yourself transported back to the times when lords and ladies lived in a completely different world which only scarcely overlapped with average or lower class people.

The case itself has to be solved without any modern forensics or other sophisticated medical or technical means which I liked a lot. It is due to a quick-witted intellect and particularly the women’s sharp observation that they can assemble the necessary pieces of evidence to rumble the murderer.

Lynn Brittney’s book is a cosy crime novel that I really enjoyed to read. She has created awesome characters of whom I would like to read more.

London May 1915 and Chief Inspector Beech is convinced, and convinces the Chief Commissioner, that he needs the help of various females in his latest case. That is, Lady Harriet will only speak to a lady of a superior standing to explain the death of her husband. Beech collects his team and relocates to Mayfair, Mayfair 100 being their telephone number.
An enjoyable mystery, well-written, with a likeable team of characters. A good start to a new series.

One of the best mystery I read this year. It's entertaining and a real page turner, once I started I was hooked could not put it down.
There's a very interesting setting with all the changes that WWI is bringing to London and to women position.
It 's well researched, with interesting and well developed characters and the right dose of humour. The plot is well developed and there is no plot hole nor anything left unsolved.
A great start for a new series, look forward to reading the next instalment.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Mirror Books

Well written, with full awareness of prayers on these women in earlier times, this is a moSt engaging novel. Early women medical doctors contend with wife-beaters .. in this case an aristocratic woman's seeming murderous act is perpetrated by someone else, but it's self defence. The police firm special unit and Bell is well placed to head out up, with gorgeous male brawn .. so ironies are witty .. enjoyable and timely!

First in a new series set in London during WWI. With the wartime enlistment of most of the country's male work force, hoards of women flooded London, eager to fill in necessary jobs. (This is also during the early days of the women's suffrage movement). A small, secret group is formed under the auspices of Scotland Yard - a group containing both men and women intent on solving female related crimes. Their first case involves the death of an injured soldier at his wife's hand. A well woven beginning to the series.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book. The comments and opinions expressed below are mine alone.

At first it's a bad case of domestic abuse that greets Chief Inspector Beech of Scotland Yard when he is called to a posh Belgravia residence in 1915 London. The abuser, an aristocrat, is dead and his battered wife is in hospital and her death is imminent. The wife confesses to killing her husband, but because of her severe injuries, Beech does not believe she could have managed it. The wife's maid disappears along with the household butler, causing a police search for them. Beech assembles a unique team, including a couple of women, to investigate and identify the real killer. More sinister activity is uncovered: widespread illicit drug abuse with tainted medicine. The police track down criminal gangs that cater to the baser desires of the British upper classes, and discover such things as male brothels ("molly shops"). Eventually, the path to the killer leads them to a surprising place.

This is good historical fiction, set in London during WW1, and highlights several of the problems facing Britain because of the war effort. For example, there's a German Zeppelin attack on London during the police investigation. The author demonstrates a detailed geographical knowledge of London which adds authenticity and atmosphere to the story. Of course, the ever present British class system is on full display. The molly shop story is on the gruesome side but demonstrates the hypocrisy of the times towards homosexuality.

With most able-bodied men away at war on the continent, or back in England injured, there's need for women to step up and do what is commonly called "men's work". This does not sit well with the police force, where there's a ban on hiring women. Chief Inspector Beech sees a real need for women on the police force, both to fill in for absent men and to address women's crime and crime affecting women. He convinces the Chief Commissioner of Scotland Yard to allow him to put together an ad hoc team consisting of two women and two men. He manages to get the OK to do so conditional on the women not being on the police payroll. Most important though is that the team must keep a low profile. He is able to recruit a female doctor and a female lawyer to join the team. For the men, he recruits a young police constable who has returned from the war with a damaged hand and a veteran detective with Special Branch service who is deemed too old to go to war.

This is a Recommended Read for me. There's an interesting story with a neat twist on the standard police procedural murder mystery story. The pace is brisk and assured, making the book quite readable. The characters are sufficiently developed, although at times they seem too good to be true. The London war background adds depth to the story too. This is a good start for what has potential to be a good series.

Chief Inspector Beech has had the idea to use women in the force for some time now, but his latest case presents an excellent opportunity to form a special team that his superiors allow as a quiet experiment, especially in light of the war on and their short staff. So Beech puts together a team of a lady doctor, a war widow trained in the law, a wounded war vet police officer who is a giant of a man, and a retired police officer who has been brought back into the force useful for his excellent memory. The widow's mother has provided them with her London house as a base, 100 Mayfair. The team's first case, the one that prompted such a unique team to be allowed to form, starts off as a seemingly open and shut case of domestic violence in a Lord's family that resulted in a woman stabbing her husband with a pair of scissors in self-defense quickly becomes much more complicated. But she has refused to talk to anyone but a married woman. The case is anything but open and shut, and the team soon finds the trail going all over London as Germans start to bomb the city.

Brittney has developed a most interesting detective team here. The setting is WWI England and she has capitalized on the way the world, especial women's roles and class roles, was dramatically changing in light of the war. Numerous social and moral issues get brought up as the case moves along. It is not always an easy read, but I feel like the motivation behind it is good. It seems to be desiring people to be more aware of the evils in their own present world and do something about it. Beech and gang are not ones to take things laying down, so as side issues are brought to their attention, they will make note and when there is a pause in the case most of them will work to do something to bring about positive change in those areas. They model being great citizens and agents of change. So not only do we get to cheer them on in their sleuthing skills, but also in making their world a better place. Hopefully, that will encourage readers to go out and do the same in their realms of influence. (That said, this is only recommended to readers who can handle the content within. See the content notes for trigger warnings and such.) Each of the main sleuthing team characters is different, but I liked them all in their own way. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books in this series. It's my new favorite WWI mystery series, way better than Maisie Dobbs.

Notes on content: About five minor swearwords. No sex scenes, but domestic sexual abuse is part of the plot and a prostitution ring (involving female and male brothels) is uncovered in the investigation and there are clinical and professional discussions about these. They are kept professional and not graphic, but it is there and comes up a few times. There are two murders by stabbing and one woman very beat up by her husband. Some discussions of autopsies and medical procedures, and one description of a medical procedure on a whipped boy's back. London is bombed at one point and the destruction there is mentioned. Trauma from the front and war wounds also come up, as does an explosion at a munitions factory. Drug use is also heavily involved in the case. As normal for the time period, adults drink alcoholic beverages from time to time. Main characters always do so in moderation.

Lynn Britney writes a historically rich, if sometimes gory, mystery set in London during the Great War. Her characters are an interesting team of detectives, including professionals, and a couple of amateurs, a highly unusual mixed gender setup predating the presence of women in London’s police force. I look forward to more "Mayfair 100” stories.

This crime historical fiction set in 1915 during WW1 in London by Lynn Brittney was a real pleasure to read. It begins with the murder of Lord Murcheson, stabbed with a pair of scissors in Belgravia. Chief Inspector Beech is investigating but feels he needs more support than the Met can currently provide under Commissioner Sir Edward Henry. He takes the opportunity to ask for a special task force that will help to solve the case. Women have no place in the police is the current thinking, Beech wants to use the expertise of talented women but has to do this covertly. And so Dr Caroline Allardyce, who works in the women's hospital, widow and legally trained Victoria Ellingham, PC Billy Rigsby injured in the war and boxing champion, and Arthur Tollman, police offficer are recruited. They are based at Lady Maud's London townhouse, the mother of Victoria. It is a time of great change with the suffragettes determined that women should get the vote, and volunteer women's groups supporting the police. The class system is under pressure and London is being bombed, with the East End a particular target as the Kaiser tries to avoid killing family.

Lord Murcheson returned seriously injured from the war which turns him into a rampaging brutal drug addict with his wife, Lady Harriet at the end of his terrible violence. She is discovered close to death and is initially thought to have stabbed him in self defence after he stamped on her abdomen. However, it appears it was physically impossible for her to have done this. The special task force investigate the Murcheson household, including the suspicious butler, Dodds, and the young Polly, Lady Harriet's maid. It soon becomes clear that Lord Murcheson had a rather large collection of medications and drugs with the key ingredients of cocaine and heroin, which the group are keen to know where they came from. Dodds and Polly disappear, and we learn of the dangers that women face working in munitions factories. Encounters with London's gangs, brothels, Molly houses, Barnardo's homes, and doctors working in Harley Street tending to the needs of the aristocracy and the powerful give us a picture of London at the time. The special group exceed expectations as they chase down leads in what turns out to be an exceedingly complex case amidst a background of war torn London.

This piece of historical fiction felt as if it incorporated elements of Downtown Abbey. Brittney has written a compelling and gripping narrative with a great set of characters. I imagine this is the first in a series, and I am keen to read the next book! I particularly loved how Billy's mother and her sister, went out of their way to ensure that George Harris, a molly who is brutalised dreadfully, is able to leave hospital knowing he has a home and the possibility of training for a profession. If you enjoy crime and historical fiction, then this is a wonderful book that I recommend. Many thanks to Mirror Books for an ARC.

I got about 68% into this book before I could finally pinpoint what bothered me so much about it and after that I had to put it down because I just couldn’t finish it. I thought that I could make myself get through it just to solve the mystery but in the end the problems I had with this one were too much and I don’t even care about the murder anymore. I just DNF’d this one today and I’m honestly still pretty angry about this one so I’ll try and keep this review coherent but I also might just rant.

I loved the sound of this book, a cozy mystery set in historic London, with a special team of ladies helping to solve the case? This literally sounds like my perfect read and for a while I was able to convince myself that it was great! I loved the settings and the historic details seemed to be fairly accurate, it also has a murder that I haven’t been able to figure out 68% of the way in, which is pretty impressive. But the thing that I just can’t deal with is the characters. I have so many problems with so many of them and it’s just unforgivable, so I’m gonna tell you all about them because again, I’m really angry.

There’s 3 main male characters in this story and I hate 2 of them, which is not great since one is the main character. This book is supposed to be about women entering the workforce and being equals as men in a time period where that wasn’t the norm, and honestly that aspect is done so poorly I can’t even comprehend how anyone could like this. Tollman and Beech are condescending assholes and I just can’t stand how the women in this series are treated by them. They are constantly lecturing the women on their team about how to act professionally which is an absolute joke because Caroline is a doctor and Victoria is a lawyer! They are both highly intelligent and competent individuals but the men treat them like children after giving lectures to their male peers about how women need to be included in things such as the police force! The part that did me in was when someone asked Beech if one of the women could go to investigate a lead and he gave his permission and “everyone smiled” because wow he let her leave the house to do her job and treated her LIKE A FUCKING CHILD. And then the next paragraph was one of the male leads preparing themselves to give one of the female leads a lecture on behaving professionally. That’s when I put this book down for good.

I noticed this treatment of the female main characters early on but I really thought, and hoped, that it would improve. That the male leads would learn that they were being condescending jerks and stop, but nope, it just got worse!

There’s also the fact that there’s no POC and that most of the main characters are from the upper class and those that aren’t are portrayed as being stupid and/or uncivilized. Seriously, if you’re not an upper class white male in this book you get a lecture on how to behave properly and are then talked down to like a child AND I’M ANGRY.

I’m honestly insulted right now, I was promised a book about men and women working together to solve crime at a time when women were still expected to stay in the home and what a got what a bunch of sexist garbage and I’m so mad about it. It would have been different if the actions of the men in this book were ever commented on or corrected, but they weren’t and I can’t forgive that. I wouldn’t waste my time on this one if I were you, I’m so disappointed and I can’t actually put into words how upset I am.

I’d also like to include a TW for talk of sexual assault and rape, it comes up early on so beware if you do choose to read this one.