Once again, this time in #15, Murder by Invitation, author Verity Bright had me captivated from beginning to end. With the celebrations for the King's birthday fast approaching, and Eleanor now in charge, after the murder of the previous chairman, she joined forces with her fiance, Detective Hugh Seldon and her inimitable butler, Clifford, in their search for the killer.

But with every lead hitting a dead end - and discovering that almost everyone had cause to think murderous thoughts of the deceased, Eleanor wondered if they'd ever find the person they were searching for.

With the usual light hearted and comical banter between Ellie and Clifford, plus the acceptance of the villagers of Little Buckford of Hugh, Eleanor knew her happiness would be complete - so long as the murderer was discovered, and soon. I love this series, and hope it continues for a long time to come! Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

dialect-issues, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, murder-investigation, class-consciousness, 1920s, relationships, series, friendship, friends, historical-research, pets, small-town, law-enforcement*****

An unpleasant local politician is murdered during the preparations for the festivities for the King of England's birthday. Ellie is on hand with her fiance and trusty household staff. Fun and sleuthing ensue in this very interesting cozy with sneaky red herrings and diabolical plot twists.
This can't be an unbiased review because I love this series! It works as a stand alone, though.
This series has the very best and interesting characters (good, bad, and absolutely silly). The series began as a farce: Eleanor is widowed and is a presumed orphan and world traveler on the cheap who comes to rural England and finds that she has inherited the title and all that from uncle who was recently deceased. The best part of it all is The Butler Who Knows Everything who helps her with anything (and never treats her like a ninny), her trusty household staff, her tiny French bulldog, the family kitty, and her recent fiance DCI Hugh Seldon of the Met who has been mightily tolerant of her sleuthing (but not of her wealth). I really enjoy all the ongoing (as well as new) characters, and the mysteries are so well done!
I requested and received a digital ARC of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This is one of my favourite book series!

Ellie and Clifford manage to get themselves tied up, once again, in a murder mystery and it is a delight to read about how they uncover the guilty culprit.

I enjoyed the timeline - very interesting to read about the events that were planned for the King’s birthday - and it was great to see the duo working alongside Hugh in this book.

I get such joy from reading about these characters and can never wait until I can devour the next instalment!

Little Buckford is teeming with excitement over the planning of the King's Birthday Celebration. Lady Eleanor ins on the planning committee, who's chairman Prestwick Peterson who is upsetting everyone with his constant changes to the plans and last-minute assignments to the committee members. After the last meeting, everyone was grumbling and only to learn he was found murdered the next morning, strangled with a banner made for the celebration.

Lady Eleanor finds herself once again on the trail of a murderer much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon. Of course, she is aided by her devoted butler Clifford and staff along with Tompkins and Gladstone. I admit that Gladstone has my heart Who doesn't like a dog who is always looking for snack and a cat for a best friend LOL,

There are a lot of characters as most of the townspeople are involved in the planning or providing for the celebration, so it does take a chapter or two to sort everyone out. This also allows for multiple suspects as our victim seems to have rubbed the entire village wrong. I really liked that Prestwick Peterson's backstory was included. I also enjoyed getting to know the people in the village.

This story is comfort in the form of a book. It will transport you to a wonderful English village where you will meet new friends and leave with a smile.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this story.

The moment I laid eyes on the cover of "Murder by Invitation," I was instantly drawn in, thanks to the captivating illustration featuring an adorable bulldog. My initial concern, of course, was whether this novel would involve the heart-wrenching death of a pet. As a dog lover, I couldn't bear to read such a story. Fortunately, my worries were laid to rest, and with the added bonus of the main character bearing the last name Swift, a nod to my Taylor Swift fandom, I knew I had to request a copy of this delightful book.

Next thing I knew, I found myself seamlessly transported to the world of Little Buckford. Admittedly, I faced a small challenge initially with the unique dialect, but soon enough, I was able to adapt. The author's meticulous world-building skills vividly brought the town to life, and as a lover of all things related to royalty, I was thoroughly captivated throughout the narrative.

This book also tugged at my heartstrings, evoking a sense of nostalgia reminiscent of my grade school days. It felt as if I were back in our school library, eagerly borrowing a Nancy Drew book every Friday to savor over the weekend. This book managed to rekindle those cherished memories, offering a light and stress-free reading experience.

While I can't quite label it as "unputdownable," since I often found myself reaching for it only during cozy evenings, the story held its own unique charm. The final twist, while not mind-blowing, provided a worthwhile conclusion. The author skillfully tied up loose ends and delivered a satisfying sense of justice.

Without a doubt, I intend to explore the other books in this series. "Murder by Invitation" can certainly be enjoyed as a standalone novel, but delving into the other installments promises to provide a deeper understanding of each character's history.

Highly recommended to readers who share my fondness for Nancy Drew’s adventures and to those thriller enthusiasts in search of a cozy “stress-free” mystery.

Very gripping content that kept me on the edge of my seat. I always love coming back to the characters and this was definitely no exception. My favourite will always be Gladstone of course, and the way he always is looking for food - a dog dear to my heart.

The writing is immaculate and gives nothing away! It always transports me back in time and ALWAYS makes me hungry,

Needless to say, when you're reading a Lady Eleanor Swift book, have your four-legged companion, a large plate of food and a day booked off of work/school/all your other responsibilities because this series will hook you from the start and keep you second-guessing your own intuition.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an ARC for my honest review.*

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of Murder by Invitation, the fifteenth novel to feature Lady Eleanor Swift, set in Buckinghamshire in the early 1920s.

Eleanor is on the Little Buckford committee organising the the King’s birthday celebrations, but it’s not all plain sailing, especially when the committee chair, Mr Prestwick-Peterson is found strangled to death with the commemorative bunting in the village hall. Eleanor teams up with her fiancé, Chief Inspector Seldon and her inestimable butler, Clifford to hunt the killer of a most unpopular man.

I thoroughly enjoyed Murder by Invitation, which is another fun filled adventure for Eleanor and Clifford. Most of the humour comes from the banter between them, but in a shocking twist it would seem that Hugh Seldon has joined forces with Clifford to try to keep her in line and safe. There are two chances of that, but Clifford wouldn’t think it seemly of me to expand.

The novel initially consists of the trio weighing up the potential suspects (and there are plenty) until Seldon, at the urging of his superiors, makes an arrest. Eleanor and Clifford are having none of it and in a bid to free the wrongly accused investigate Prestwick-Peterson’s past, where they find enough to establish an alternative suspect and hunt him down. It’s frightfully exciting in the second half as it involves a certain amount of danger.

Murder by Invitation is a well put together novel that is a fun read with little thinking required by the reader. It is escapism at its best and an easy way to while away a few hours. I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.

Fairly standard cozy mystery where the characters are as important as whodunit!

Lady Eleanore Swift is a member of the committee to plan the King’s Birthday Celebration in the tiny village of Little Buckford. The committee chair is Mr. Prestwick-Peterson, a man dedicated to safety, going as far as scheduling a meeting on Saturday night to go over new safety rules. Unfortunately, Mr. Prestwick-Peterson is found dead the next morning, strangled by bunting sewn for the celebration. Fortunately, Eleanore’s fiancé is on the scene, Detective Hugh Seldon is on the scene. He’s given three days to solve the crime before he’s got to return to his home turf of Oxford. Eleanor jumps in to help as Hugh is unfamiliar with life in a small town and because any extra time can be spent enjoying his company.

As I mentioned above, this story is as much (or more) about the characters’ ongoing lives as it is solving the crime. From a Doylist perspective, I thought it was fairly obvious who the killer was, although I still enjoyed the back story which provided the why. And I throughly enjoyed meeting Lady Eleanore, her butler Clifford, the detective, and all the other members of her household and Little Buckford. There were some pieces that I thought I would have appreciated more if I had read previous stories, but it was still entertaining.

Recommended - I’ve even added ‘A Very English Murder’, the first in the series, to my TBR pile.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.com that I voluntarily chose to review.

Our fifteenth adventure with Lady Eleanor (Ellie) and Clifford her remarkable butler, and it was just as good as always.

The village is preparing to celebrate the King's birthday and things are going well until an important member of the Planning Committe is found strangled with celebratory bunting. Luckily Detective Hugh Seldon is visiting, and he joins the intrepid duo in discovering the murderer. Gladstone the dog, Tomkins the cat, and all the ladies at Henley Hall all play worthy roles as well.

On this occasion Ellie and Clifford find themselves in a very dangerous situation indeed which results in a very nerve-wracking chapter - unusual in this series but it definitely upped the excitement level. Hugh Seldon raised the romantic level too. His speech about his engagement to Ellie actually brought tears to my eyes! It was all above what you might expect from a standard cosy.

I loved it all and as I say quite often about these books - look at that beautiful cover. Keep them coming!

Celebrations for the Kings birthday are on in full glory. No holds barred with decor and street parties and food. A committee is in charge and Lady Eleanor is on it. But dark undercurrents abound, and when one member is found murdered, strangled with bunting, followed by another bashed on his head with the ceremonial plaque no less along with anti royal calling cards, the big guns are called in to stop these anarchist arising before the celebrations.

The story is a rather long one going into one man’s sad, past history and nothing to do with royalty which was a real red herring and put detectives off track. Very descriptive of the surroundings always this went from this little quaint village to a rather dreary mining village in wales.

This was a pleasant, light read with plenty of humour and nice varied characters to add range to the story

<b><i>Thank you NetGalley and Bookoture for the free e-arc. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not affected by the giveaway.</b></i>

Ellie, Clifford, the ladies and the pets are eagerly anticipating the King's birthday celebrations. There's much work to be done and the chairman of the village celebration committee, Mr. Prestwick-Peterson, has managed to get on everyone's nerves with his endless fussing and extra workload. Hugh finally has a few days off to spend with Ellie and they're looking forward to being together at last. It's the perfect time to introduce Hugh to the village as Ellie's fiancé! Unfortunately, Hugh's vacation turns into a working vacation when Mr. P-P ends up dead the morning after the committee meeting and the suspects are all the villagers! To make matters worse, the blacksmith who was publicly hostile towards old P-P is missing! Ellie must take the lead in the investigation this time as it is her village and she knows the people and how to talk to them to make them more forthcoming. With Clifford and Gladstone, Hugh and Ellie set out to find the murderer before Hugh has to return to Oxford. Then, a shocking development in the case leads Oxford to believe the murderer is a member of an anarchist/anti-royalist society! That allows Hugh to stay longer but raises the stakes for the killer must be found before the King's birthday and made an example of!

This story was far better than the previous two. I love English country village novels! It was wonderful to be back in the countryside with Ellie and everyone where they belong. I enjoyed meeting more of the villagers and learning about their lives. The mystery was engaging but I did figure out who the murderer was. It was a little misleading because I had forgotten about that character with all the other suspects! There's just too many! The history is great. Your eyebrows will raise to the roof when you read the doctor's suggestions to cure hay fever! (smoking, ether, cocaine!) Even Clifford's remedy sounds like it would not work but at least it won't kill you.

Another wonderful entry in this series!

What can a reader say about a series that has delighted from the beginning? The Lady Eleanor’s Swift cozy mysteries are such comforting fun.

Like returning to your hometown after a long absence, it’s always a great time to reconnect with friends and enjoy the familiarity of your special place. This 15th installment by husband and wife writing team with the pseudonym Verity Bright, hit the spot as always. The refreshing wholesomeness of good people in an earlier time period never fails to cheer me up. I love the interaction between Lady Swift and her butler and staff at Henley Hall in Little Buckford.

While preparing for a village wide celebration of King George V birthday, Lady Swift and friends get caught up in a murder investigation. Joined by her new fiancé, Chief Inspector Hugh Seldon, Eleanor is in her element assisting with the case.

It was fun to see more of Hugh and hear more details about their relationship and engagement. Interested to see how everything progresses after they marry and hope they return to Henley Hall to do more sleuthing and crime fighting.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this e-book ARC to read and review. I no longer read a lot of series books, but this is one I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read "Murder By Invitation" in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 15th book in the Lady Eleanor Swift series and it just gets better and better with each book. This book had the most tension and suspense in it as our favourite Ellie and her butler Clifford found themselves in possibly the most dangerous adventure yet.

At Henley Hall all our favourite characters are finally back from New York. The ladies: Mrs. Butters and Mrs. Trotman, and the maids: Polly and Lizzie. Ever the favourite Master Gladstone the bulldog once again has a great part to play along with his new friend Tompkins the ginger cat. In this story Joseph Wendon the gardener has a larger and more exciting role to play.

Little Buckford is preparing for the celebration of King George V birthday and the Celebration Committee is being chaired by Prestwick-Peterson. He is known to be a stickler for order and perfection. He can be pushy and over-officious. Things could only be done one way and that was his way. No one really knows him but all are aware of him because he spends his time reporting everyone for every perceived infraction.

A body is found in the Village Hall and it seems that Ellie has a talent for attracting them to otherwise quiet Little Buckford. The body is found strangled with the ladies bunting that they prepared for the celebrations. There are plenty of suspects because Prestwick-Peterson was not a well liked person. He shopped the butcher to food standards over the quality of his meat); he pushed the iron monger off the committee so he could be chair; he shopped the publican to the brewery for allegedly watering down the beer. When another body is found - there is one less person on the suspect list.

DI Hugh Seldon spends a lot of time in Little Buckford in this story and it's quickly evident that he doesn't understand Village life or how things work in a Village. He doesn't seem to understand why they picked up a sheep in the Rolls and returned it home.

We once again have a chance to read about Lord and Lady Fenwick Langdon - a staple in the earlier books when Ellie was engaged to their son Sir Lancelot.

Ellie and Clifford learn that everything that has happened could be connected to a mining disaster in Brillywyn, Wales. Verity Bright has written some of the best scenes ever for Ellie and Clifford in the chalk caves. The reader will feel the claustrophobia of what the characters are experiencing from the expert writing.

There are some shocking twists before the whole tale is wrapped up and explained by Ellie, Clifford and Hugh.

As always at the end of the book there are the fascinating historical notes that I personally enjoy reading and learning more about. As always when I finish a Lady Swift story, I'm eagerly looking forward to reading the next one.

The small village of Little Buckford is in full planning mode for the celebration of the King's birthday. The head of the planning committee is Prestwick-Peterson. He is precise in planning but he also has a way of making everyone dislike him in the process. When he is murdered, there are so many suspects it is hard to narrow the list.
Lady Eleanor Swift is chosen to fill the position after his death, with the aid of her trusty butler, Clifford, of course. And naturally Lady Swift becomes embroiled in the search for the murderer.

The characters were well developed, although as a new reader to the series, it took a bit of time to figure out just who each character was. But after 3 or 4 chapters, the action started moving and the cast of characters solidified in my mind.
The ending was quite climactic and had enough twist and turns to keep the reader turning pages right up until the end.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of the book to read for review.

Summary

In the small Cotswold village of Little Buckford, preparations are underway for the birthday celebration of King George. Lady Eleanor Swift has been drafted on to the committee in charge of planning the birthday parade. Her long list of duties seems to be getting longer all the time due to the overly enthusiastic committee chairperson, Mr. Prestwick-Peterson. A fussy, demanding individual who appears to be universally disliked, when Prestwick-Peterson is found dead, strangled by birthday decorations, Lady Eleanor is determined to find the culprit so that it won’t ruin the special day.

My Thoughts

This is book #15 of the The Eleanor Swift Mystery series, and the first that I have read. Often it can be a challenge coming in so late in a series, but I didn’t find any problems catching on to what was happening.

It did take me a couple of chapters to really get into the story, but I suspect those familiar with the characters will enjoy it right from the start. Those first chapters were very dialogue heavy, and I wasn’t invested in the characters at that point. As the story proceeded and I got a better feeling for the characters and location, it became a more enjoyable read.

The characters were quite entertaining. Lady Eleanor Swift is bright, daring, very loyal to her servants and village, and not at all restrained by what society expects of her. Her relationship with her butler, Clifford, was one of the high points of the story for me. The interactions between the two lend a great deal of humor to the story.

Clifford rather reminded me of Wodehouse’s Jeeves. He was very knowledgeable about many things and tried to maintain a professional demeanor in the face of many non-traditional situations. He often had creative solutions to problems that arose. However, he was definitely more talkative than Jeeves ever was.

The mystery was cleverly constructed. There was a very specific pool of suspects, all with very similar alibis that couldn’t be confirmed and all with nearly identical motives. There were some interesting twists along the way to the solution.

What Else I Liked

The bulldog, Gladstone, and Tompkins the ginger tomcat were adorable companions.

The shops and residences they visited were described very vividly. I could imagine everything they were seeing. I really loved the description of Lord Wildmoor’s stables and the reading room where the committee first met.


Even though this isn’t a culinary cosy, the descriptions of foods were fabulous. Whether the meals were at home, the pub, or a tea at another residence, I wanted to eat what they were eating.

I found the historical notes at the end very interesting.

I am impressed with Lady Eleanor’s breakfasting habits. One might think she was a hobbit.

Most of the village characters and Henley Hall servants were endearing.

There were no obvious anachronisms and it’s clear there was a lot of research into the time period.

What I Liked Less

Her fiance, Hugh Seldon, was a wee bit annoying. This could be where coming in on book 15 put me at a disadvantage, because I had no prior experience of his personality. In this book, apparently, Hugh, a police officer, found investigation was a nuisance. He kept carrying on about how they were wasting time asking people questions. I understand he felt pressure to solve the case, but am uncertain how he planned to solve the case without interviewing suspects. Admittedly, he delivered a lovely toast to Eleanor at the party, which was a point in his favor, and he does seem to respect her and her abilities so I believe I could warm to him.

There was a scene in a cave where the pacing felt a bit off. It rather dragged.

Lady Eleanor was an intelligent woman who had travelled the world and been alive during World War 1 and the Russian Revolution, so her shock at the idea of the mere existence of anarchists or anti-monarchists felt uncharacteristically naive.

POST Murder by Invitation: 5 stars

I love the Lady Eleanor Swift mysteries, they’re just so much fun! So I was delighted to get my hands on Murder by Invitation, the fifteenth book in the series.

I loved this book. It’s such a joy to be back with Eleanor and all her friends. They all feel like old friends to me! It’s delightful to see how her relationship with Chief Inspector Seldon is progressing since the happy event in the last book.

The setting this time is the village of Little Buckford, and it felt like we were finally getting to explore it properly, and get to know a number of the villagers better. This provided an interesting array of suspects. I loved the plot, and discovering new facts alongside Eleanor & Co.

Overall, this was another excellent mystery in one of my favourite series. I highly recommend the whole lot!

I was given a copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

Another wonderful mystery in this excellent series! Ellie, Clifford and the gang are back on home turf and preparing to celebrate the king’s birthday when the very unpopular Mr Prestwick-Peterson is strangled with some celebratory bunting. Although most of the mystery plays out in Eleanor’s home village, the settings vary and are hugely atmospheric. Without giving anything away, the backdrop to the climax makes for a very tense and exciting denouement! Eleanor’s fiancé, Hugh, plays an interesting part in this instalment, with the local nature of the enquiries causing tensions. I enjoyed seeing how he, Eleanor and Clifford navigated through the difficulties. All up, Murder by Invitation is another highly entertaining page turner with a wonderful cast of characters.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of the book to read for review.

I have not read any other Eleanor Swift novels and this being book 15 in a series I was worried I wouldn't be able to understand the characters and background. That was not the case for this one. I got hooked into reading it right away and thoroughly enjoyed my reading. It reminded me a bit of miss Marple and Agatha Christie stories.

I would recommend this book as a quick mystery read.

Another outing for the glorious pairing of Lady Eleanor Swift, her trusty butler Clifford and her soon to be husband, the gallant detective Hugh. Not forgetting, of course the cast of Henley Hall with the loyal servants and pets. This cast of characters provide the perfect backdrop to a cozy mystery and in this episode we see Lady Eleanor taking the reigns as Chair of the birthday celebrations for the King after the untimely death of its previous incumbent, Mr Prestwick-Peterson.

As usual in this enthralling series the characters we have come to love as readers see Lady Eleanor and Clifford assist Hugh and the police in not one but two murders, helping to find clues and protecting the innocent. The descriptions of Henley Hall and the characters really bring the books to life and it is easy to lose plenty of time wanting to turn the pages for just a chapter more.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy a cozy mystery and it is set in a lovely era which is written so well and vividly by the author. Can be read as a standalone however I would recommend reading all the series from the start so you become acquainted with the characters and their personalities. This makes the books even more of a joy.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun read! Not exactly a sit on the edge of your seat mystery but so cleverly written with enough intrigue to keep me interested. Masterful use of literary devices mixed with colloquialisms, dialogues of jostling words and humour all make this a light, fun read. This was my first read of the series. Although reading the previous 14 books might’ve provided me with more character insight, I wouldn’t hesitate to say that Murder By Invitation can easily be read as a standalone.
Thank You to NetGalley, Bookouture and Verity Bright for the opportunity to read and enjoy this ARC.