This is just a nice cozy mystery to read. Edwina & Beryl are invited to an artist colony not far from where they live. They are called upon to investigate a domestic inquiry, but soon their investigation turns to murder. These two ladies are coming into their own as inquiry agents and even the local constabulary is warming up to them. I like the setting of the time after The Great War & like the ladies different styles and personalities.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed reading it the plot was interesting and the characters made me want to know more about them. I highly recommend.

RATING: 3 STARS (2021, Kensington)

It took me awhile to get to Murder in an English Glade (Book 5), and then once I started it, it took me even longer to finish. Beryl and Edwina skipping off to an art colony in the village should be my jam, but I found it slow. Edwina is working on her novel, letting self doubt plague her, and keeping it a secret from everyone but Beryl. American Beryl does not seem to get Bedoes role as a housekeeper, and keeps getting in her way by helping her. She has aggravated Bedoes to the point of her want to quit. It is perfect timing when Charles sends a friend from the art colony to hire Beryl and Edwina. They are hired to look like detectives but actually detect.

It took me a month to read this! I was reading it on my eReader so kept it as my bedtime book. Though that might have been a bad decision as I tended to red a page and then listened to my audiobook (of the day) instead. I just found the story slow and the case to me was not as interesting. In saying that, I am looking forward to the next book, as this is still a can’t wait to read series.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

The unlikely duo of Beryl and Brit are at it again! When a member of the upper crust wants them to pretend to launch an investigation, you play along. But when a body is discovered, things become all too real. Lots of twists as they run through many clues involving the heart, business, the arts or long held secrets.

Beryl and Edwina met at boarding school. Edwina went on to become a proper English lady of poorer circumstances and cared for her mother. Beryl became a well-known adventuress, traveling the world, living like a gypsy, between husbands, of course. Through a happy accident, the pair meet up again years later and formed a detective agency. Edwina knows how to show tact with the monied who are always impressed with Beryl’s daring lifestyle if not her more blunt attitude.

Constance Maitland hires them to pretend to investigate her daughter-in-law, Ursula, who is hostess to an artist’s retreat. A poor relation has the firm belief Ursula is cheating on her new husband with one of the artists. If Edwina and Beryl will pretend to investigate, they can give assurances there’s no cause for alarm and stop possible rumors. When a painter is found dead, the very man who was suspected to be Ursula’s dalliance, Edwina and Beryl have to find the killer, too. Since no one liked the man, especially not as much as he liked himself, the list is long.

Beryl is a brash American, and Edwina is a properly brought up Englishwoman. While on the face of it, they should have nothing in common; in reality, they get along quite well. Beryl’s ‘dash off without a thought daring’ attitude is balanced by Edwina’s strict adherence to do ‘what is expected.’ Beryl prods Edwina to try new things; Edwina reins in Beryl’s speak before thinking traits.

For a small town, Walmsley Parva has enough crime to keep their detective agency busy. Readers will appreciate that. Just remember, if you go to visit, and if Beryl offers to drive, find other transportation or close your eyes and pray you arrive at your destination in one piece. There is no in between.

It's always fun spending time with Beryl and Edwina in post-WWI Walmsley Parva, and each book in the series is eagerly awaited. Murder in an English Glade is the 5th book in the series and finds Beryl and Edwina invited to a country manor, Maitland Park, to conduct a fictional investigation. Resident at the home is an artists' colony as well as a Girl Guides group. While conducting the supposed investigation, one of the subjects of the investigation is murdered. Edwina and Beryl are subsequently asked to assist the local police with the investigation in an attempt to keep the household staff from leaving. The investigation explores relationships among the various members of the artist's colony, the observations and activities of the Girl Guides, secrets from the war and several of the artists' involvement in painting cigarette cards. That's quite a lot and the author does an excellent job weaving it all together while keeping the reader constantly guessing whodunnit.

Beryl and Edwina are wonderful characters. They've known each other since school and have found themselves residing together at Edwina's family estate. Beryl's American mannerisms alongside Edwina's English upbringing make for a very enjoyable read - no mystery required! This story goes a bit more into Beryl's activities during the war and she is quite surprised to find someone she worked with during the war participating in the artists' colony. His presence creates a bit of strain between Beryl and Edwina, as Beryl is not ready to divulge the relationship to Edwina. In the meantime, Edwina's character continues to develop as she is busy on her own posing as an artist's model for local attorney Charles, whom Beryl avows is in love with Edwina. There is a fair share of humor as well - Beryl's attempts to help the housekeeper clean Edwina's home, Constable Gibbs and her brass band, and Beryl's trying to train the Girl Guides.

The author does a great job placing the reader in the setting. While reading it is very easy to 'see' the estate, envision the activities of the household, the actions of the artists and models, and the Girl Guides working on their next badge. One can easily follow the workings of Edwina's and Beryl's minds as they solve the murder at hand.

There is so much to like about this book! I highly recommend Murder in an English Glade, and the entire series. You definitely need to become part of Beryl and Edwina's world!

Investigations Abound..
Investigations abound in this fifth instalment of the Beryl and Edwina mystery series. A faux investigation, much scandal and serious doubts as the pair of sleuths pose as guests but soon find themselves with a very real murder on their hands. Jessica Ellicott has created a pair of delightfully twee amateur sleuths. The very American and eccentric Beryl and the very English and proper Edwina, old school pals, are rather a joy, their rapport a pleasure and their sleuthing questionable.. Set post war in the seemingly peaceful village of Walmsley Parva. Humour dances off the page from the first to the last. Eminently readable, great fun with a colourful, eccentric cast. A worthy addition to the series.

Edwina and Beryl, Walmsley Parva's famous female private enquiry duo are once again on the case, this time at an English country estate. Constance Maitland has hired the pair to conduct a fake investigation into an alleged affair between the young wife of the estate owner and an artist visiting the artist's colony taking place on the estate. While the investigation starts as a ruse to silence the numerous allegations of an eccentric member of the Maitland family, the investigation becomes all too real when the artist under question ends up dead. While the artists' colony and the girl's guide trip taking place on the estate provide convenient cover for their investigation, it also provides a plethora of suspects as well. Is there a connection between the alleged affair and the murder?

Murder in an English Glade is another delightfully humorous enjoyable mystery featuring my personal favorite English personal enquiry agents. While the friends and business partners are opposites in almost every respect, from background to their taste in men. their personalities also complement each other and the friendship and bonds between the pair continue to deepen after each case. While their employment opportunities tend to pop up under the most unique of circumstances, a false investigation at a country estate has to take the cake for the most outlandish of setups however it worked remarkably well for setting the scene for the murder. The mystery was solid, with expert pacing and plenty of twists and turns. The author does an amazing job of bringing to life England during the 1920's, after the first World War but before the start of the second; a time of great change, especially for women. I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Edwina, Beryl and the other eccentric members of the Walmsley Parva village and like always I am left with the desire to read yet another mystery in the series. If you have not already added this history mystery series to your list, I strongly suggest you do so.

Jessica Elliott involve Beryl and Edwina in another investigation in Murder in an English Glade. In Walmsley Parma after World War i the American adventuress and the English countrywoman join up to investigate crimes and live in Edwina's cottage. There is an artistic gathering and girl guide training session at a local centre and one of the artists is murdered. He was thoroughly unpleasant and dislike by other artists. Whodunit? Pleasant historical cozy.

Another enchanting installment in this wonderful series. Edwina Davenport and Beryl Helliwell are called upon to "investigate" what is supposed to be an imaginary relationship between a married woman and an artist in residence at nearby Maitland Park. While there, a murder occurs and the intrepid duo are pulled into another mystery. Amidst an artist colony and a Girl Guides jamboree taking place on the grounds, there are no shortage of suspects and potential other victims.

This wonderful series is set in 1920s England, with two strong female protagonists, who are able to outsmart even the most conning of criminals as well as the local police. With a great plot and engaging writing, this will delight fans of this series as well as other cozy mystery readers.

Murder in an English Glade by Jessica Ellicott is an entertaining mystery as much about the relationship between the two friends, Beryl And Edwina as it is about solving a mystery. It is a very convoluted story: The ladies are hired by a woman to come and investigate an affair that is NOT happening, basically to silence a cousin who is a little off balance. Who is going to turn down a visit to an English county house, even if it is part of an art colony and will be filled with people Edwina considers to be, at the very least, odd. The good news is that Charles, her friend, local attorney, and amateur watercolorist, will be in residence. It isn't very long before the affair is disproven as the man in question has been killed. Now Constance, the person who had originally hired them, has now switched their focus to discovering the murderer.

The story, which takes place in the 1920s, is exemplary of that time and that alone makes it entertaining. It was a time of great change for the English, after the Great War and before the next one. A woman's place in society was changing as well as mores, a typified by the changes in schools of art. Ellicott does a brilliant job in bringing that all to life as well as working with her characters to be part of the change that is coming. Her characters are alive and breathing and rethinking everything they believe to be the norm. It is wonderful to read such a compelling novel. Then, there are the murders. The plot is clever and the tangential stories are woven into the main story flawlessly. People all have different personalities and Ellicott has done of masterful job of getting them on to the written page. It is the first of this series I have read, although the others are on my radar, and it won't be the last.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Murder in an English Glade by Kensington Books, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #kensington #jessicaellicott #murderinanenglishglade

This fifth in the series will be welcomed by those who have enjoyed the previous titles. This is a light, historical mystery featuring Beryl and Edwina. They are opposites; one is British, the other American, and they have joined to form a detective agency. This time the case starts out deceptively as they are investigating a faux case at their client’s request. What will happen when a very real murder occurs? Read this one to find out. Along the way, enjoy the settings and the protagonists.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Murder In An English Glade is the fifth book in the Beryl and Edwina Mystery series by Jessica Ellicott.

Constance Maitland has heard nothing but good things about Davenport and Helliwell Private Enquiry Agents and digression in handling their investigations. Mrs. Maitland asks them to run a fake study of her sister-in-law Ursula. Constance’s cousin, Cressida, has commented how Ursula is having an affair with artist Louis Langdon Beck. Beck will be attending an artist colony on the Maitland estate. Constance wants Edwina and Beryl to appear to investigate these allegations and report that they found no truth to these accusations. Their cover stories are that Beryl is to help the Girl Guides earn badges in various skills, and Edwina will be a model for Charles, her legal advisor and friend. Beryl and Edwina have barely started their interviews when Girl Guide Janet comes running to Beryl, telling her that she has found Beck dead in the glade. When Constable Doris Gibbs arrives and begins her investigation, she tells Edwina and Beryl to stay out of her analysis in no uncertain terms.

Edwina heads off to see Constance to find out if she wants Edwina and Beryl to end their interviewing. Instead, she asks that Edwing and Beryl find the killer of Beck, or she will go over Gibb’s head. For personal reasons, Gibbs agrees with Edwina that they can help with the investigation. They will find no shortage of suspects.

I always enjoy my visits to Walmsley Parva to see what Edwina and Beryl are doing. The story is well-written and plotted. There were enough red herrings that I was kept guessing until the end of the book. The characters are well-developed, engaging, and believable.

I will be looking for the next book in this exciting series.

I’ve read every book in this series and have found, that with each ensuing story, I enjoy it more and more. While this story can be read standalone, you will miss the growth of the characters.

Beryl and Edwina are hired to conduct a fake investigation. While it troubles them to do so, the individual hiring them is part of the higher class. Constance Maitland can provide entry to a new type of client.

The intrepid ladies join an artist’s colony and Girl Guide Camp to conduct this unreal investigation but, much to their surprise (but not ours as this is, after all, a murder mystery), a death occurs. The question is, who is the perpetrator?

The ladies turn the fake into real and investigate this crime. Along the way, more and more history of the two is revealed, one to the other and also to the reader. In addition to the great whodunnits, it is the growing depth of these individuals that keeps me glued to the series.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this opportunity to review “Murder in an English Glade.” All opinions are my own.

Edwina and Beryl, the proprietors of the Davenport and Helliwell Private Enquiry Agency are back in their fifth adventure in this one, set in and about the lovely village of Warmsley Parva, where bodies have a nasty habit of turning up. This case is slightly different; they’ve been asked by the lady owner of one of the nearby large estates to disprove some rather unpleasant allegations about the lady in question’s sister-in-law. Since Beryl is in hot water at home, this comes as a welcome diversion. So off they go to the estate, where a Girl Guides convocation and an Artists’ Colony do is taking place. All at the same time. Need I say that nothing is going to be easy about this?

Well, well. We soon have a murder. Edwina wants to stay out of it. Beryl has other ideas. By a happy turn of affairs, they are brought “semi-officially” into the case (we know from early earlier books that Constable Gibbs doesn’t like them to meddle).

There’s lots of suspects – a few obvious and not so obvious. Red herrings are such fun. And then there’s another dead body, which throws everything awry. Our dogged duo is on the case, so all will be resolved satisfactorily, of course.

I didn’t enjoy this one as much as others in the series. Took a long time to get to the meat of the story and the book was too full of the self-examinations of our two heroines. I like Beryl and Edwina, but I’m not their shrink and don’t need every little detail of the whys and wherefores of their psyches played out for me. After a few chapters of this, I found myself skimming later passages, my interest lagging.

They do apprehend a murderer and they can go home, happily, house cleaned (remember I said that Beryl was in hot water?). All ready for another adventure, and I’ll be along for that one.

It's always a pleasure to catch with Beryl and Edwina and, even if this is not my fav novel in this series, I thoroughly enjoyed and had a lot of fun.
I think there's a lot of character development: we get to know something more about Beryl's past and I appreciated the evolution in Edwina, her accepting that she's not the well behave and meek spinster she was before living with Beryl.
One of the most interesting aspect is in the culture clash: Beryl has to face what imply dealing with staff and Edwin has to face some unexpected side of the life of an artist.
The mystery starts slow but it's full of twists and it takes our heroines to investigate the life of their hosts and the artists.
The characters are well written and fleshed out as ufual.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

It's always fun to spend time with Edwina and Beryl in the English village of Walmsey Parva. When Beryl upped stakes and showed up at Edwina's home one day their lives took a major turn. They has a knack for investigation and that has led them to become private enquiry agents. Money is still tight for them but life isn't dull.
Feeling the pinch and needing a case..any case will do. When wealthy local, Constance Maitland offers them a fake case involving her sister-in-law, Ursula, Edwina isn't keen but Beryl talks her into it. After all, Beryl is the more adventurous of the two so off they go to the family manor, Maitland Park and the resident artist colony. Sounds like fun until it isn't. Their play actin investigation soon becomes all too real when the artist suspected of dallying with Ursula is found dead in the glade Beryl and Edwina will really earn their crust by conducting an honest to goodness murder investigation complete with a list of suspects longer than an arm. Add to that what the motive might be - lots of choices there, too. Love, jealousy, hate, greed, skeletons in closets. What started out as a lark is now a very serious business.
Beryl and Edwina are a fun pair and the mysteries they solve are very well written. The period of the years between the wars when so much is changing socially and the setting of a small English Village is perfect. The mysteries are full of enough humor, clues and red herrings to keep the reader engaged to the last page.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Murder in an English Glade is the very charming 5th installment in Jessica Ellicott's Beryl and Edwina Mysteries. When Walmsley Parva's two favorite enquiry agents are summoned to a local artists' colony to investigate a potentially adulterous situation, things heat up quickly when one of the artists turns up dead! Was he killed because of his possible affair? Was it related to the Great War? Beryl and Edwina are on the case! Lots of suspects, and lots of fun! A+++

An Artists Colony of Suspects
This is the fifth book in a delightful series of cozy mysteries. The books can be read in any order, but as always, the reader will enjoy it so much more if they are read in order because of the rich background detail. This episode finds the ladies at a neighboring country manor looking into the relationship between the lady of the manor and an artist. The manor is currently hosting both an artists colony and a Girl Guides troop. The plot is great with p[lenty of suspects, motives, and twists. A bit more is revealed about Beryl's past and details about the recent war. The time frame for this series is just after WWI while Britain was still suffering from shortages of both supplies and men. I have really enjoyed this series. The author writes a very good story and captures both the characters and the history very well. I strongly encourage you to read this series. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

It's 1921 and Walmsly Parva has more crime than just about any other place in England (well, not really but...). This latest in an entertaining series sees our intrepid Beryl and Edwina hired by Constance Maitland to find out more about a painter who has allegedly been having an affair with her sister in law but then- the painter is murdered! Constable Gibb has come around about using Beryl and Edwina to help solve crimes and so they set off to figure out who, among all the residents, guests and staff at Maitland Park is a killer. I like this series for the byplay between the American Beryl and Brit Edwina as well as for the fact that the Constable is also a woman. Oh and the love interests. The mystery isn't too complicated, the whole thing is sprightly and it's an easy read even if you haven't read the earlier books. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Looking forward to the next one.