I expected way more romance than this and less mystery. Even though there were barely any romance I enjoyed the mystery even though I guessed the murderer. The romance had good potential, but it was not the main focus

I enjoyed this historical mystery romance story with all of the characters. The two main characters were Poppy Morton and Henry Dyngley.

Poppy Morton has had a crush on Tom since they were children. But unfortunately Tom has been in love with her best friend. So when Tom proposal marriage to her friend it breaks her heart. But the thing is her best friend does not want Tom and ask Poppy to tell Tom this. But Poppy refused and get mad at her best friend. The next day she find out that her best friend is missing.

Henry Dyngley is a handsome constable that is on the case of the death girl. He show up at Poppy Morton home to find out what she might know.

This was a fun mystery story to read. It had action, suspense, adventure and secrets. It also had a few laughs or giggling throughout it. It was fun trying to solve the mystery.

I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. This is my honest unbiased opinion.

This was a wonderful story with mystery, suspense and plot twists with just a slight touch of romance to round it out. I found myself so engrossed that I couldn't put it down. Finished in less than 24 hours.
Thank you E.L. Johnson, Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

This book was extremely enjoyable! Once I started it, I couldn't put it down and finished it in one day! The mystery is the main focus with plenty of suspense and plot twist that keep you interested. There's also a slow burn romance but it doesn't overpower the mystery as so often happens with historical books. Overall a great read and definitely one I would recommend to someone who is looking for a quick but great mystery read!

A truly excellent beginning to this series of books along with a doughty copper and a lovely young woman. Poppy and Constable Dyngley have to solve the mystery of who killed her friend. Many twists and turns later we arrive at the solution. On the way we meet other interesting characters who I am sure we will meet again. This is a delightful story, one is carried along at great speed to the end.....but is it the end for Poppy and Henry? Catch up in the next book! Thanks to Netgalley, publishers and author for an advanced copy of The Strangled Servant

Historical Mystery with a Dash of Romance

When Poppy is accused of killing her friend, she investigates to prove her innocence. However, everyone in the town is against her. She takes foolish chances, and she does not share valuable information with the constable like she should. He is on her side. He might even be interested in her. He, as well as her aunt and uncle are the only ones on her side. Her so-called friends talk about her. One minute they befriend her, and the next, they gossip about her. Poppy is extremely naïve. Reading the story, I found myself wondering if anyone could be that gullible. I was frustrated with Poppy, and I was hoping that she would survive her unwise investigation attempts. Someone committed murder, and if she was not the killer, she should have been seeking help from the constable. This was an interesting mystery, but the heroine was quite vexing. Who died, and who committed the crime? For that, you must read the story. If you like historical murder mysteries, you might enjoy this story.

I struggled to connect with Poppy. I enjoy heroines that show growth during time. I did not feel this with Poppy. I did like the mystery and suspense. Since this is the first book in the series, I hope that the others have stronger leads.

3.5* upped to 4
I think there's a lot of potential in this series as long as Poppy grows a spine and start choosing better friend.
That said I had fun and enjoyed it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is my first time reading something by this author and I found it to be a very entertaining read. It is the first installment of a new series, The Perfect Poison Murders. It's always fun to read a Regency romance that has some mystery and intrigue weaved into the story. The story really caught my attention and kept my interest from start to finish. Poppy has been in love with Tom since they were kids, but he is in love with her best friend Mary. He proposes to Mary but she wants Poppy to refuse him in her place. Poppy will not agree to this, and they have a huge fight during which Poppy pushes Mary through a glass door and then runs away. When a young woman's body is found after a carriage has overturned, Poppy finds herself the chief suspect. Poppy, although not what the ton would consider beautiful, is a smart and intelligent woman. Constable Henry respects her and believes in her innocence and wants to protect her. As Poppy and Henry try to solve the mystery, secrets start to unfold and all is not what it seems. The plot twists definitely had me turning the pages and kept me guessing. The author does a nice job of bringing it all together and revealing all at the end. The characters were well-crafted and I liked how well Poppy and Henry worked together. They had such great chemistry and I enjoyed seeing them together. It will be interesting to see how future books will play out their relationship. There is a lot of potential for a budding romance between the two!

I received a complimentary copy from Dragonblade Publishing via Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

This is a very good example of a young adult version of a historical romance. It was easy to follow, I will admit I didn't see the reveal of the killer until the end, and had enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.

Poppy and Mary are complete opposites, in every way, but somehow they're best friends.... or are they? Poppy had been in love with Tom for as long as she could remember, and then one summer Mary comes to Hertfordshire and everything changes, all at once Tom only has eyes for Mary.

The day of the town assembly Tom tells Poppy of his plans to propose to Mary and she's shattered, but being the good niece of the pastor that she is she still goes, and plans on trying to be happy for her two best friends, but what happens, well let's just say it's the opposite of what a proper lady should have done.

With Mary presumed dead and Poppy the main suspect we meet Constable Dyngley, at first he isn't sure what to make of the whole situation but his instincts tell him Poppy is no cold blooded murderer so he starts a formal investigation, and what he finds is nothing less than shocking.

As Dyngley gathers information more and more pieces fall into place and a sinister scene unravels, obviously someone is trying to frame Poppy, her walking stick is proof of that, but who and why are the questions.

From fake names, and false pasts, to unplanned pregnancy in 1806, this book has a little bit of everything and is a fun read. I will say I wish there had been a tad more romance, the one kiss.... well it left me wanting more for our characters but maybe it's the beginning of something amazing between these two as the series goes on, only time will tell.

A thrilling read! This novel combines historical fiction and mystery perfectly. The characters were likeable. I overall enjoyed the novel.

The Strangled Servant by E L Johnson is the first in a new series featuring Poppy Morton, a young Georgian woman who was orphaned and taken in my her uncle, a vicar, and his wife. They are not rich but have been good to her. There are several mysteries here, but the all encompassing one is the death of Mary Pendle. The very handsome constable, Henry Dyngley, arrives at their home one morning to ask questions about her altercation with her friend, Mary, the night before. Within a couple of days he has convinced her to come and view Mary's body, to identify her. This is totally unacceptable behavior so she has to sneak out to accomplish it. Once at the morgue, she discovers that is not Mary at all, but an unnamed servant. Both Poppy and Henry investigate. He likes her, at least enough to allow her to help, although she doesn't always use good sense and he has to rescue her. She likes him enough to share her information with him . . . eventually. The biggest discovery is how manipulative Mary had been.

Both good characters, Poppy is living in a time when she doesn't really belong. For one thing, she is far too bright and makes no effort to disguise it. She is also loyal to her friends and can't really fathom the things she discovers. Her aunt and uncle are supportive but old-fashioned. They want her married and her association with the constable as a means to that end. The constable is a second son and so must make his own way, but he exudes charm and is privileged upbringing. There are many surprises in this well plotted book. There are also other crimes, less focused upon, but just as important. It was a lovely read and I hope for more in this series.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Strangled Servant by Dragonblade, through Netgaley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #netgalley #dragonblade #eljohnson #thestrangledservant

It has been a long time since I have read a straight mystery, but I really enjoyed this so much.

The writing reminded me of Victoria Holt or Barbara Michaels that I use to read long ago and it really captured by interest.

Murder, mayhem, suspense, angst, and so many other feelings come alive in this story. It really kept me turning the pages and had me thinking there were several people that could have been the villain!

Poppy was so naive about her so called "friends", it about drove me nuts at times. But she is very intelligent and was able to help the constable with the investigation, which of course is the story.

I cannot wait until the next story in this series comes out and look forward to seeing how the relationship evolves with Poppy and the constable. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a mystery!

This is the first book I have ready by E. L. Johnson, and it won't be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in an exciting new series.
I loved the characters and since there was a murder to be solved, we really learned a lot about the characters themselves, much more than a usual novel. We were kept guessing until the very end who committed the actual murder and why. There were enough twists and turns to keep you trying to solve the murder before Constable Dyngley.
I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

I received an ARC of this book and chose to post this review.

I really love the characters in this book, I think they are very well-written and I really enjoyed reading this book. I also liked the old-fashioned or historical take this book was written in, I don't get enough of those reads anymore.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
💋

I very much enjoyed this book, totally different to my usual genre, I’m not normally a lover of murder mystery, but this really got my attention.
Great characters and a great storyline too.
I’m really happy this is only the first to be enjoyed, can’t wait for more.

I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review

In 1806 Hertfordshire, a woman, Mary, is found under suspicious circumstances and the main suspect is her friend Poppy, who had a public fight the night before. Poppy’s unrequited love, Tom, had proposed to Mary and Poppy’s jealousy caused a scene. When it turns out there’s more to this suspicious death than initially thought, Poppy and Constable Henry Dyngley try to work out what really happened.

I enjoy historical mysteries and I thought this book sounded interesting but unfortunately it missed the mark completely for me. Poppy was not a dynamic lead character and she really didn’t show any growth as the story progressed, Poppy’s actions, the actions of others in town, and the budding romance all felt immature. There was no solid plot, the characters never became well developed and there really weren’t any likable characters, perhaps because they were underdeveloped. I genuinely struggled to understand how Poppy considered Tom and Mary her friends and even after she overheard Tom say terrible things, she still tries to think the best of him. The mystery had a few red herrings but it was fairly obvious from the first chapter who the whodunit was going to be. I really hate giving negative reviews and I don’t post negative reviews on my blog, but this book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's no secret to anyone that Miss Poppy Morton loves Tom, but he is in love with her bestfriend. After everything comes to a head one night Poppy finds herself suspected of murder.

Constable Henry Dyngley is new to the small town. The locals are very unhelpful in his quest to find a killer. They have made up their minds who did it.

This historical murder / mystery is very different to most, being set among ordinary people not high society . Those people have a stricter set of morals and demand more obedience from young women.

It's very difficult to guess the killer, so many suspects and nobody talking.

Very interesting story. I felt really sorry for our poor heroine. As this is the first in a new series I'm hoping we will meet these characters again.

Good fun.

4 stars

The hero is very lightly drawn, perhaps it's hoped that there will be a series and over the next few books we will learn more about Henry Dyngley. He sounds worth pursuingPoppy comes across as a very young girl, still stuck in teenage tantrams. She starts to evolve as she tried to find out who killed Mary's servant. The prejudices of a small town are well described. I enjoyed the unravelling of Mary's life and character and some of the smaller personalities. It will be worth waiting to see if this developes into a series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.25 stars
1806 Hertfordshire & the worst held secret in town is that shy Poppy Morton has been in love with Tom since they were children. Unfortunately, Tom has long been in love with Mary, Poppy’s vivacious best friend. When Tom proposes marriage to Mary, it breaks Poppy’s heart, But when Mary demands Poppy break his heart in return by refusing his offer for her, Poppy refuses. Mary won’t take no for an answer, and when the best friends have the fight to end all fights, Poppy ends it by shoving Mary through a glass door. Shocked, heartbroken, and humiliated, Poppy flees. But the next day a handsome constable, Henry Dyngley, shows up at her door. A carriage has overturned on the road and a young woman’s body has been found. Poppy is the chief suspect.
This is the first book I’ve read by the author & the start of a new series & a very enjoyable read. I was definitely in shy, plain Poppy's corner all the way through plus I also really liked Henry who saw the real Poppy & I loved the growing relationship between them & hope they’ll feature in more books. There are plenty of twists & turns in this Regency cosy murder mystery as well as not everyone is whom they seem & some characters are just downright horrid. I found myself engrossed in this story & read it in two sittings. Roll on the next book
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read