Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This book is the second in an historical mystery series set in 1920s London. The twist is that a group of women are instrumental in solving the crimes. They work with a traditional male detective.

In this entry, a woman is dead. Was she hanged or was it murder? Most mystery aficionados know the answer to that and will want to read on. The victim, Lady Adeline, was a reporter of society’s doings but it is unclear how she came about her knowledge. What is clear is that she had enemies. Who is responsible for this death and why was she murdered?

This book will be enjoyed by those who like historical crime stories in which women are active in solving the case.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane/Mirror Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

An intriguing mystery with an enjoyable (if slightly large) cast of detectives on the trail of several murderers and confidence tricksters interlinked by the death of gossip columnist/blackmailer. The mystery is twisty and there are some wonderful insights in to English culture during WWI among all strata of society. I admit that I got a little lost in the suspects in the final few chapters/resolution but I did finish pretty late in the evening so that may be a result of tiredness rather than shifty plotting. A recommend for sure.

The body of Adeline Treborne is found hanging from a gas fitting in her flat by her young maid and so begins another case for the Mayfair 100 team to investigate. The team includes Chief Inspector Beech, Detective Tollman, PC Rigsby and some remarkable women including Dr Caroline Allardyce and Miss Mabel Summersby. The team is joined in this investigation by PC Rigsby’s mum and aunt and also Victoria Ellington who provides the legal expertise. The case turns out to have more twists and turns than a helter skelter and ends with one of the team in mortal danger. Can the Mayfair 100 solve the case and save the life of their colleague before it’s too late?

A Death in Chelsea is set in the era of World War One and flows beautifully throughout the telling story. The time period has been captured really well and I love that the Mayfair 100 team include brilliant women in an era when it would have been difficult for them to be taken seriously. I think that Lynn Brittney has written an extremely entertaining and highly readable book with a cast of characters that are very believable and real. I read this without reading the first book in the series and it worked well as a stand-alone though I will try to find Murder in Belgravia in the future.

Huge thanks to Mirror Books and NetGalley for permission to read the book. This review is solely my own.

This is a story that tells more than just a murder. The author has picked the time wisely in allowing the reader to explore war ravaged London with the population of women and wounded or older men and children. This allows her to explore the role of women using an unofficial police group composed of educated women who are unable to exist in a man’s world but can excel in a world short of males. The chief character is Chief Inspector Beech who is struggling to solve crimes involving women. Police women are not an acceptable solution for his superiors so he conceives of a group of women and begins to solve crimes. The characters are believable and very likable. The pacing is good. You want to know these women and men and have them as friends. Nothing they do seems out of character or out of the ordinary for capable women and men. I did not want this one to end and I will look for more by this author.

Really enjoyed this novel. The writing flowed and the characters were depicted very well. Couldn't wait to find out what happens next.

One of my new favorite books! This author has such a way with words the pages flew by in no time! I can’t wait to see the next work by this author! This was such a joy to read!

A Death in Chelsea is the second outing in the Mayfair 100 Murder Mystery series. I haven’t read the first book but had no difficulty picking up the story thread. In this episode, the specialized unit, working quietly behind the scenes and comprised of both regular police and citizen specialists who happen to be women, are tasked with solving the questionable death of the daughter of the Duchess of Penhere. These amateur detectives have real world knowledge and interests which serve them well during investigations, expertise such as medicine, pharmacology and law. They also are living at a time when women are beginning to have more opportunities outside the home since so many men have already gone or are leaving for the continent for war, many never to return.

In this particular case, the woman in question, a notorious society gossip columnist, was discovered hanging in her apartment. Her mother, the Duchess, believes she must have been murdered in spite of appearances and her daughter’s reputation. Now, combining science and instinct, the team will investigate where the evidence leads, and discreetly.

My enjoyment of this book grew as I read. While I initially thought it was going to be a fairly bare boned mystery with little color or character, I was soon proven wrong as the various members of the team became individuals, developed senses of humor and displayed their skills and emotions. Even the suspects tended to be interesting individuals not types. I also appreciate the ways in which the author tied in the war which was never far from anyone’s mind in those years. I do recommend this book and plan to look for book one.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A Death in Chelsea is a great historical mystery that is extremely well researched. A little more detail on characters and the story would have been near perfect

I love a good historical mystery. I especially enjoy it if the characters are written realistically. I need to feel they are in sync with the era. That said,....

The Duchess of Penhere’s daughter, Lady Adeline Treborne, was found hung in her bedroom. Initially thought of as a suicide, her religious background gave pause. Would a devout Catholic commit a mortal sin and kill herself?

The victim was despised by many people. A known gossip columnist, she thrived on people’s misery. I was never sure if the other characters were going to refer to the deceased as Adeline or Miss Adeline which was not what I would expected of the time. After all, she was still a member of the nobility. Before long, I found myself at an impasse. I discovered the victim was a borderline agoraphobic yet she managed to work for a newspaper. Just who was this woman?

A secret team of professional women -that were at the same time amateur sleuths- were paired with individual policemen. Factored into the plot was the Suffragette Movement, the early stages of forensics and pathology and WWI war demonstrations.

I will give the author credit with well-researched details. Among other things, I learned that unmarried women in England could not give birth in regular hospitals; the Salvation Army was an often-used resource. But the oh-so-many characters neatly embedded in the pages were two-dimensional. I found it hard to identify with the MCs; I knew little of their individual personalities. And the pacing was slow with lots of facts.

When I read any mystery, I want a fair amount of tension and a rush as the story progresses. I want an armchair-traveler sensation: I am invisible but right alongside the characters. Perhaps if I had read the first book in this series, I would have been more comfortable.

*I received a copy of A Death in Chelsea through NetGalley for an honest review. I appreciate Mirror Books and Lynn Brittney for the opportunity to read this story.*

This is the second book in the Mayfair 100 series and it's another enjoyable, easy to read murder mystery. Set in 1915, the war is raging on the Western Front and women are starting to take on the jobs left behind by the soldiers. A select group of investigators (including the police, a doctor, a pharmacist, a member of the aristocracy and various others) is tackling more sensitive crime cases (as in the first book). When a society gossip is found dead in her rooms and blackmail is involved, the Mayfair 100 group are called in to investigate.

As with the first book, the story is well plotted and moves at a good pace. Its well researched and I liked the inclusion of historical detail, for example the suffragettes. However, a gripe that I had with the first book still stands: it is so hard to really visualise the characters as there is little description of them. We know their jobs and their familial relationships, but otherwise they are a mystery. I was hoping that this would be different from the first book, but I still couldn't really work out how old everyone was supposed to be or what they looked like.

While this is an undemanding and quite enjoyable read, I really would prefer to have some more description. This book also touches on some dark themes, such as war and baby farming, which people might find unpleasant.

Overall, I'd recommend this to people who like their mysteries historical and pacy.

I really enjoyed this novel. It was well written and had a good and interesting story and plot. I felt like I could relate and understand the different characters decisions. Chapters flowed nicely and was easy to read. Overall it was a novel I enjoyed and would definitely read more from this author, as well as recommend it to others.

A Death in Chelsea by Lynn Brittney, the second in the Mayfair 100 Murder Mystery series, named for the telephone number 100 Mayfair for the crime-fighting group based in Mayfair in 1915.

I read Murder in Belgravia, the first in the series last year and enjoyed it. Chief Inspector Peter Beech has assembled an unusual team that (gasp!) includes women.

A society gossip columnist has been found hanged in her room. The death isn't a suicide, as first suspected, and the fact that Adeline Treborne's defamatory and scandalous column has maligned some wealthy and powerful people means that the suspects are plentiful.

This book has the same strengths and weaknesses as the first book: an interesting plot and well-researched details...and characters who are a bit too good to be true.

Nevertheless, it was entertaining, and I would read the next in the series.

NetGalley/Mirror Books
Historical Mystery. March 14, 2019. Print length: 326 pages.

This was such a thrilling read. Even though this is the second book in the series, it still made sense if you have not read the first one like me. The story was exciting and I was on the edge of my seat for several sections in this. The plot was explained well and I was guessing who did it two thirds of the way through, however I picked the wrong suspect. I'd definitely continue with this series and the characters were well fleshed out and they were written really well.

Murder in the upper echelons!

The daughter of a Duchess is found hanged in her rooms. Suicide or murder?
The odds ante up when it's discovered that Adeline Treborne is a gossip columnist whose scurrilous reports have had many a family or person shunned. And then there's the ugly question of blackmail.
I still can't quite put my finger the tone but maybe the Murdoch Mysteries comes close.
I have to admit to enjoying the characters as they grow into their roles, as the central raison d'être for the Mayfair 100 team unfolds.
Underlining the series are serious social issues which are often implied but mostly form part of a character's stated commentary. These might vary from mixed marriages, baby farming, the toll of war and how ill prepared Britain was for the devastating injuries and things like the need for artificial limbs, to the levelling of the social barriers. WW1 was the precipice for great change in all sorts of areas, from working conditions or social status to government policies.
Kudos to Brittney for her very thoroughly researched understandings of the issues of these times.
Tying all these social problems into a murder mystery is challenging but Brittney seems to be pulling it off.
It's interesting the way the characters are developing, gaining depth and taking on more responsibilities, showing more initiative. I'm having trouble tying the series feel down but it's a captivating series that is developing into quirky murder mysteries with a conscience, and I must confess I'm sorta hooked!

A Mirror Books ARC via NetGalley

There’s a lot of mentioning of killing, there’s a lot of doing of killing, and there’s a heck of a lot of editorializing about killing, in “A Death in Chelsea.” Way too much editorializing, in my opinion.

The year is 1915. A special secret team of amateur women “detectives” and professional policemen have been drawn together to solve unusual crimes. It must be kept secret because of course the county would be appalled at the idea of female crime-solvers working publicly with the police. It’s an interesting premise – but how is the execution?

First off, the beginning plot – a young woman of a titled family is found hanged in her bedroom. Her mother insists she wasn’t the self-murdering kind. A scandal-monger (with a column in a daily rag that runs close to slander), a disgrace to her family, but incapable of suicide. Adeline Treborne, our murder victim, had enemies – “her only job in life is to make other people unhappy.” Quite the indictment of her character. So, who killed her?

It’s ascertained at the autopsy (conducted by female members of the secret team – not the done thing, but it’s hidden, of course) that Miss Treborne didn’t die from the hanging. It’s also become evident that she isn’t what she seemed – and this story becomes a watchword throughout the plot. And that plot soon becomes tangled up and twisted and is out and about in all kinds of directions. Can we say blackmail, ladies and gentlemen? Of course we can.

The horrors of war figure prominently; again, the author going on about it at length. There are plot lines that are very unsettling, that will leave you shaken, no doubt. However, within these plot lines the author takes over again with her thoughts and opinions – modern opinions; the story advances not a jot, and that is a bad thing.

Meanwhile, this secret team. What do they look like? What is their history? What do we know about them? Not much, and in the pages of “A Death in Chelsea,” nor do we learn much. Oh, they have “jobs” -- doctor, pharmacist, titled lady, maid -- but that’s just the author trying to diversify. There is very little explained to readers, and I found this quite disappointing. There is no substance to these people.

The ending is one big chase to the finish, which is good, since up to this point it’s been pretty slow going. I’d kind of lost interest, so it was a welcome change. At least the epilogue ties it all up very neatly, explaining what happened to basically every participant in the crime.

While the premise is interesting, the beating over the head with paragraphs worthy of an Op Ed piece is not. Won’t be reading any more in the series.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of the book in advance of publication, in exchange for this review.

July 1915 and the Mayfair 100 team have started to get bored with no new case for several months to investigate. Then the team are called in when Lady Adelene Treborne is found hanged in her apartment. They find to their dismay that she had any enemies with motives wanting her dead.
Can the team with their new recruits unravel the truth to find the guilty party.
Although the story can easily be read as a standalone I would recommend reading the first in the series as I did find it an delightful read.
This is another entertaining well-written story and an easy read. The main characters as expected are a likeable bunch.

This book is the second outing for the Mayfair 100 group. Set in 1915 again, this is a compelling and well written historic mystery. If you haven’t read the first book in this series you will be somewhat lost in regards to the characters and their roles. But having said that, this story stands on its own and while you may not understand a lot about these characters you will still be held in the grip of a well plotted mystery. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy for review.

"A Death in Chelsea" is a mystery set in 1915 in London. It's the second book in a series. The author assumed that the reader already knew who the characters were, so it may initially be confusing if you haven't read the previous book. The previous mystery was not spoiled.

A group of intelligent, resourceful women and policemen worked to solve a crime that needed to be kept a secret. It was a very complex mystery because several people were involved in the crime and more crimes were discovered along the way. Each person on the team played an important part on the team and contributed useful information to solving the crime. The crime was so complex that there's no way to guess every nuance before the confession. However, it was a puzzle mystery full of clues, and it was fun to guess as much as I could.

I understand that these characters were very "modern" and had seen some bad things due to the war. However, I'm never comfortable with a detective who decides to be judge and jury – deciding another person's fate, even if they go along with it. The doctor carried out two "mercy killings." She didn't even bother to question them about what they knew regarding the mystery before doing so, either. It just seemed very unprofessional.

One character graphically described what a corpse would look like if the person died from hanging. There was a fair amount of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this mystery.

I'd like to believe that common people have the ability to achieve uncommon results. It's all in bringing personal talents to the table.

And that's exactly what Lynn Brittney does once again in this second book in the Mayfair 100 Murder Mysteries. She showcased this unusual group of amateur women detectives paired with professional police officers in the first book, Belgravia. Never fear: Both books read as standalones and she fills in backstories nicely in A Death in Chelsea.

Our story is set in July of 1915 when England is caught in the clutches of World War I. Lynn Brittney provides a backdrop of men from all walks of life going to war......the "Great Equalizer" in which both hardcore individuals and men with soft hands are manning the front lines. And the casualties visited upon the rich and the poor, the dedicated and the undedicated. Out of necessity, women stepped up into roles once relegated only to men.

Mayfair 100 was created by Sir Edward Henry, the Metro Police Commander. He instructed Chief Inspector Peter Beech of Scotland Yard to select individuals to work undercover. Dr. Caroline Allardyce becomes the medical examiner. Mabel Summersby, a pharmacist by trade, is an expert with a camera. Victoria Ellingham, a nurse, is accompanied by her talented society mother, Lady Maud. Three police officers round out the team.

The Mayfair group is called back into action when a young woman is found hanging from the ceiling of her apartment. Although it appears to be a suicide, the evidence points to murder. It appears that Lady Adeline Treborne may have laid a path to her door as a society commentator for the London Herald. Secrets were leaked in daily print on the threshold of today's split-second internet. Bad news if you were at the receiving end.

Lynn Brittney tells quite the tale here with highly interesting implementation of early scientific police work in pathology and forensics. These women give their male counterparts quite the challenge. She also weaves in timely historical facts of the suffragette movement and demonstrations against the war. The streets of Chelsea come alive with Brittney's infusion of quirky characters and societal misfits. A Death in Chelsea gives us a bit of pause as to how times have changed and how times stay the same.

I received a copy of A Death in Chelsea through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Mirror Books and to Lynn Brittney for the opportunity.