The second in the Golden Era Phyllida Bright series, upstairs/downstairs A Trace of Poison brims with wit, fun, banter and delectable murder. It is every bit as delightful as the first...what a pleasure to get lost in! The mystery itself is bendy but the mostly eccentric characters are equally interesting. There are quite a few but author Colleen Cambridge lists them in the front.

Atmospheric Mallowan Hall is Agatha Christie's home where she resides with her husband Max and the setting for much of the story. Her cunning housekeeper Phyllida Bright has been her friend since they served together in the war and is now housekeeper and amateur sleuth with an eye for detail, a healthy interest in murder and clever inveigling skills. Her medical knowledge and sharp intelligence place her in good stead to investigate a poisoning, along with Christie's uncanny quiet brilliance and pharmaceutical background. However, not all the staff feel the same way.

Detection Club members including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, G. K. Chesterton and Anthony Berkeley as well as a plethora of others were startled (well, most of them were) to be on hand during a murder during a fundraiser cocktail party. Quick-thinking Phyllida snaps into sleuth mode immediately but encounters red herrings and obstacles as not everything is as it seems. Some characters are shadowy and mysterious, others are in the forefront and honest. Or are they?

Intrigued? Fans of Historical Fiction, Golden Era Mysteries and especially Agatha Christie, it would be a shame to miss this arresting series. I am besotted with the historical Detection Club and most of my favourite authors were part of it at some point. This book is a beautiful nod to them. I love how the authors all felt their fictional detectives were wonderful and real. My imagination pictures fictional characters, too, and Poirot, Marple, Wimsey and Holmes (and scores of others) are very real.

My sincere thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this refreshingly bright book. I am very curious about the third in the series. And the fourth...and the fifth...

I found my attention wandering during this read. Phyllida Bright as usual has her hands full. Of course things take a dive for the worst when one of the guests dies. The perpetrator is not unmasked until the end. The not so silent war between Phyllida and the butler Mr. Dobble has its amusing moments. A pleasant read but I was not fixated.

A Kensington Bks ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

A murder mystery when the potential suspects are mystery writers definitely added some complexity in solving this case. I liked that Mrs. Bright was at it again in getting involved in figuring out whodunit.

There are a lot of characters in this book compared to the last, but that was really due to all of the introductions of the various mystery writers there for the writing contest. The murderer in this book definitely created complex twists and turns since of course they knew all about what made for a good mystery story.

I liked the pace of this book and had some guesses along the way, but really didn't get it right. The explanation at the end definitely made me go "Oh that makes sense now."

A fun mystery involving mystery writers! I wonder what Mrs. Bright will solve next!

Thank you to Kensington and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately I DNF at 30%. It didn’t pick up in the way I was hoping it would; the story seemed to drag and I had to force myself to get through what I did.

3.75 stars

A period mystery series with a different sort of setting: the main character is an old friend but also housekeeper for Agatha Christie. Phyllida Bright was a WWI nurse and is immensely capable and she takes care of domestic details for her old friend Agatha. There is a well-drawn cast of household characters and local constabulary.

Agatha is a member of the Detection Club (a true historic fact) featuring the leading lights of the mystery world in 1930s England. The club and a local writing group have planned a murder fete to raise money for a local orphanage. There is a lot of competition for the grand prize awarded to the best murder short story -- a highly desired publishing contract for the winner.

But in the best tradition, one of the partygoers at the cocktail event drops dead after sipping their cocktail. Was he the intended victim? Did the drinks get switched? Local rivalries are explored as Phyllida shamelessly inserts herself into the investigation and spars with Agatha's chauffeur Brandon. A very fun read. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am enjoying this series. Agatha Christie and her housekeeper encounter yet another murder. This twist on classic mystery is a fun change of pace.

I enjoyed reading this book! There has always been an interest in Agatha Christie and to see her through the eyes of the housekeeper is very enjoyable. Phyllida Bright is a very bossy woman, but she gets the job done. Would definitely recommend adding to your library.

Agatha Christie hardly needs an introduction. The Queen of Mystery has reigned since the 1920s, and the recent release of films based on her books shows that her popularity is in no danger of waning anytime soon. It takes a certain audacity to create an amateur detective who, while managing Christie’s household, outpaces her employer in solving crimes. But Colleen Cambridge pulls off this task with aplomb. In a nod to one of Christie’s best-known and most highly regarded novels, the series opens with a body in the library at Mallowan Hall, the rural estate where the author lives with her second husband.

Phyllida—who admires Hercule Poirot, Christie’s most famous creation—seeks to apply his principles of detection to that dead body in the library, and she succeeds admirably. When the second book, “A Trace of Poison," begins, Phyllida is organizing a village celebration aimed at raising the necessary funds to repair the roof of an orphanage run by the local Catholic church. Four famous mystery writers—Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton, Anthony Berkeley, and Christie herself—have agreed to sign copies of their books and to award a short-story prize guaranteeing international publication to one lucky local writer. But at the reception on the first evening, someone is murdered. The stolid but unimaginative police are called in, and again it is up to Phyllida to find out what really happened.

There can be few things more fun to write than fiction about other writers, and it’s clear that Cambridge is having a blast with every tongue-in-cheek reference. The crimes are inventive, the solutions satisfying, but at least as interesting are Phyllida’s interactions with her staff and the villagers of Listleigh. She is not always a sympathetic character, and we learn early on that she has secrets. At the same time, she is observant, caring, perceptive, and daring, and watching her figure out the clues that befuddle even the police is pure joy.

I will be interviewing this author in October for the New Books Network (link below).

A great 2nd in the series,! Phyllida Bright is Agatha Christie's housekeeper and sleuth. This is a perfectly written book in the historical mystery genre following the styles of the 1930's. A priest is poisoned at a Murder Fete in Agatha's home. I really enjoyed the appearances of several of my favorite Golden Age mystery authors. Besides Agatha Christie there was Dorothy Sayers and GK Chesterton. Mrs Bright starts gathering clues in a very Poirot style which I loved.There are many red herrings and twists to keep the reader on their toes!

This was a fun read for me on many levels and I cannot wait to read book 3.
Thank for the opportunity to read and review this book to NetGalley, Kensington Books and the author. It publishes on 10/25/22

Phyllida Bright is Agatha Christie’s calm, cool, and competent housekeeper. I enjoyed seeing now Phyllida stepped in to solve the murder in the first book when Scotland Yard wasn’t getting it done. She has a few secrets in her past and she piqued my interest in the first book. This one works as a standalone, but I feel like the reader will jump into this one better if they read the first because a lot of characters are introduced early and it’s helpful to already know a few of them.

A group of authors gather for a charitable event with a writing contest for aspiring authors. The winner gets an international publishing contract, and entrants have gathered for a cocktail party—managed by the inimitable Phyllida—when murder strikes.

This one didn’t do as good a job as the first book of showing us Phyllida’s talents and personality. The mystery comes together at the end and I’ll keep my eye out for the next installment.

A Trace of Poison by Colleen Cambridge was even better than the first book in this series. This story took the action outside of the manor house and enabled the characters to be a little less formal with the upstairs/downstairs aspects of each character. Phyllida Bright is just as clever as she was in the first book. I do like that the author paired her with Bradford more this time around. There's some real "will they/won't they" tension between those two characters and I love it. The murder mystery stumped me for a good while, but I did guess who it was before the big reveal. I was just wrong on the why of it all. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series to see what Mrs. Bright gets into next.

When several famous mystery writers gather at the Murder Fete in Listleigh to judge short mysteries written by aspiring writers, there's excitement and mystery in the air. Among the famous are Agatha Christie, Dorothy L.Sayers, G.K. Chesterton and Anthony Berkeley. The Murder Fete is also hoping to raise funds for the local Catholic orphanage in the village. When the priest from that church is poisoned by a drink meant for someone else, Agatha's close friend and housekeeper Phyllida Bright uses her skills to investigate. This series has huge potential and I look forward to more adventures with Phyllida and the mysterious chauffeur Bradford

I truly enjoyed reading the first book in this series, A Murder at Mallowan Hall. The idea of Agatha Christie along with her housekeeper Phyllida Bright solving Mysteries was a good idea for a series. A Trace of Poison is a wonderful read, even more than the first book! The characters, setting, and how the mystery was solved kept me reading. If you enjoy Agatha Christie and mysteries, check out this series!

My thanks to Kensington Publishing for a digital copy of this book for my review. I look forward to reading more of Colleen Cambridge's works!

The very proper Phyllida Bright is back in her second mystery, thsi time investigating the murder of a local priest which happened under her nose and also in front of Max and Agatha Mallowan (Christie).

The village characters introduced in Cambridge’s first effort are fleshed out a bit more, but I continue to find Phyllida a bit brittle and too proper. I think it’s her aversion to dogs, and that’s a personal peeve, no fault of the author!!

I’m reminded of the early Masie Dobbs books, where Maisie was pretty green; but she has grown into a formidable and well-defined character. I’m hoping for the same with Phyllida, because the murder mystery here is just complicated enough to keep you guessing, and Cambridge’s writing is quite good.

Read the first book before you tackle this one, then follow the series!

"A Trace of Poison" is a mystery set in 1930 in England. This is the 2nd book in the series. You do not need to read the previous novel to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the mystery of the previous book.

Phyllida has many of the characteristics of Poirot, including a love of order and logic. She's also proud and arrogant. She expected people to praise her for her cleverness. She looked down on the abilities of the police and made sure they knew it while informing them of the things she discovered. Frankly, I'd like these stories better if she was a little less self-righteous, arrogant, and rude. On the other hand, I've been complaining that most mysteries these days are mostly filler, but this one is complex and full of clues and investigation.

Phyllida noticed important details and gathered information from the servant's observations, and she was eventually able to puzzle out whodunit. I guessed whodunit shortly before Phyllida's big reveal, but I'd missed a few clues and didn't get the motivation correct. Historical details were woven into the story without slowing the pacing. There was occasional use of bad language (most of it was British bad language). There were no sex scenes. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting mystery.

Phyllida Bright is back in book two of this mystery series. Phyllida is housekeeper for Agatha Christie and takes a very protective roll over her employer. In this book, a murder fete is taking place in the village of Listleigh. Local authors are competing for the opportunity to have their story published and receive a publishing deal. The judges will be in attendance at the fete and include mystery greats such as Agatha herself, G.K Chesterton and Dorothy Sayers. When the vicar who is hosting the event is poisoned, the race is on to find out who did it. With many of the characters from the first book making a return, the story is a great whodunit and cozy mystery. The story is full of twists and lots of motives are uncovered. Some locals are using what happened to their benefit or to point a finger.

Phyllida shows that her connections to the servants as well as how a household is run is invaluable in solving this one. It is fairly fast paced and their was very little time when something important to the plot wasn't happening. I trusted Phyllida to sum up all the clues at the end, which she does beautifully, because things get quite complicated.

Thanks you Netgalley and Kensington Books for the eArc. This is my honest review.

A very enjoyable 2nd mystery in the Phyllida Bright series from Colleen Cambridge, A Trace of Poison brings several members of the Detection Club to Mallowan Hall, include Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey) and G.K. Chesterton (Father Brown). When a local pastor is mysteriously poisoned, and a budding author survives not one but two attempts on his life, Phyllida launches her own investigation to discover who's behind the dirty deeds. A charming series, and I am looking forward to any and all future installments! A+++

The second Phyllida Bright book finds her investigating after an amateur writer is poisoned at a Murder Fete. The Detection Club (a real club that Agatha Christie was a part of) is hosting a “murder fete” fundraiser where an amateur author will win a publishing contract. One of the authors ends up poisoned though, even weirder after Phyllida overheard a conversation about poisoning someone. She starts to investigate and things become weirder after more deaths.

Just another great cozy mystery in this series! I love how the author lays out clues and it feels so reminiscent of the inspo of Agatha Christie. I just find myself so drawn in. These books are just such great interpretations of this genre with such great nods to the queen of mystery. I seriously hope there are many more in this series!!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read it was a combination of a murder mystery party and a party where authors were going to be meeting new authors up and coming..if you like a who dove it book this I's thr book for you. It keeps you wondering what is going to happen.
This book was approved for me to read by netgalley and the publisher.

This was such a fun, enjoyable cozy mystery. Phyllida Bright is Agatha Christie’s prim housekeeper and friend at Mallowan Hall. Agatha and her famous mystery writer friends, the Detection Club, are throwing a Murder Fete featuring a short story competition for local amateur writers. On the opening day of the party, the vicar is murdered by nicotine poisoning. Other deaths soon follow. Who is responsible, and what is their motivation? Phyllida investigates in her own formidable fashion. There is a real “golden age mystery” feel to this story, not just because it features Agatha Christie and other real-life mystery writers of the early 20th century. It has twists and clues and even a method of murder (nicotine poisoning) that harken back to novels by Agatha Christie herself.