The Mummy of Mayfair

tl;dr
A fun mystery that builds on all the promise of the first book, while also forging new ground for two budding detectives.

Thoughts
Timothy Badger and Benjamin Watson are back. This time, they've been hired for a simple job - protect a few Egyptian artifacts from going missing during a fancy party. But when one of the hosts turns up dead, it's up to them to discover if the killer is the curse of the mummy, or something closer to home. I was incredibly neutral about the first book, but it showed enough promise that I wanted to give the second one a go. Well, here we are a year later, and sure enough, that promise is fulfilled. This one reads a lot better! My biggest hangup with the first book was that it seemed very little detective work was happening. Our charming heroes were simply lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to overhear all the big reveals. This time around, they are fully in it - collecting clues, following leads, interviewing suspects, and unraveling the mystery by their own wits and deductions. They spend a lot of time discussing the "method," the manner in which Sherlock seems to magically conjure up solutions. It's always been a bit of sleight of hand in the canon: hidden clues, conclusions a reader couldn't possibly hope to obtain, and solutions featuring players hidden from view until the last minute. This book diverges from the Conan Doyle formula for the better, giving us all the same information our heroes get so we can solve along with the boys. The book also diverges from the canon by including a Very Victorian romance, replete with longing gazes, wistful sighs, and the constant reminder that these characters come from different classes. The historical setting is well-researched, with plenty of immersive details and flourishes. Overall it's a very strong historical mystery, and I look forward to the next one with great anticipation.

I had not read this author before and this the second book in the series., the irregular detectives. Timothy Badger is a former Baker street irregular and Benjamin Watson are private detectives, somehow being supported by Sherlock Holmes. When the dead body of a man who had hired them is found in a mummy sarcophagus, they are off to solve another mystery, with occasional hints and direction from the great detective himself. The story started out slow but the characters pulled me in. I would definitely consider reading the next book in this series.

If you like Sherlock Holmes and mystery with a little Egyptian spice then this is a must read. This book gave me everything that I could ask for, as a Sherlock Holmes lover. I felt like I was watching a TV show that 8 couldn't stop watching

I really enjoyed this book.

I’ve not read the previous outing of this detective pair but it didn’t matter as enough information was given about the characters to make me feel like I hadn’t missed anything crucial. However I also didn’t feel like anything was rehashed to the point where I wouldn’t want to read the first book - there was enough intrigue.

I felt the characters were quite well rounded & I wanted to read more about them. I especially liked the appearances of Sherlock Holmes - I felt that the author caught the essence of him.

The plot was interesting & something I’d not thought of before & it was lovely & easy to read. I’d recommend.

Thanks to the author, publishers & NetGalley for access to this arc in return for an honest review.

Badger and Watson have been hired on to do security at a Mummy Unwrapping, something that is currently all the rage in London among the tonne. Neither of them get it but if it helps advertise their detective agency than they'll do it. As the time of the unveiling is getting closer the man of the hour and the man paying them, Dr. Sawyer is absent, determining that the show must go on Dr. Archer his friend begins the festivities without Sawyer. Only to discover that Dr. Sawyer had been there the whole time, wrapped in bandages and placed in the sarcophagus Dr. Sawyer has become the main act in his own show, a victim of the Mummy's Curse. Desperate to find the person who murdered his friend Dr. Archer hires the detectives on the spot and while Badger and Watson know that this case will be anything but simple to solve they discover quite rapidly that curses are the least of their concerns as they discover that Dr. Sawyer's wrappings quite literally lead to a complicated plot of greed, blackmail, and murder.


I have definitely found my new Holmes adjacent book series! This was a well done mystery that drives home the point that the simplest answer is usually the right one, hidden in corruption of the highest order by members of the nobility with interesting main characters and adorable love interests that do not over power the main story.

What really makes this a page turner is Badger and Watson though, they are truly great characters that pay homage to Holmes and in turn Conan Doyle while being their own characters. They aren't carbon copies of Holmes, they learned from him certainly but they do things their own way using their own life experiences to reach their conclusions. In the end what this does is take Holmes off of the pedestal that so many people put him on. And I don't mean that in a bad way, Holmes is a great character, but he's also a completely unrelatable character for most of us. Yes, his methods make sense logically but actually applying them are not for mere humans. The man looks at something for thirty seconds and has a complicated crime figured out. That doesn't happen in this book, while Badger and Watson do apply Holmes' method they do it in a way the rest of us would have and when they miss the big clue that would have ended the book in like the fifth chapter it is, again, relatable. And I'll admit I'd rather have relatable characters than a character with damn near super human powers of deduction.

Overall, I'll definitely be picking up this series and am looking forward to the next one as Dr. Watson will be in it.

Thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. I am a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and I very much enjoyed this Holmes spin off, at least I think that is the proper term. The two main characters are Timothy Badger, a former member of Sherlock Holmes’ Irregulars, and Benjamin Watson, a young black man who was a former chemist’s assistant and a self taught chemist in his own right. The two of them have formed the Badger and Watson Private Detective Agency, through the sponsorship of Holmes himself.

It’s a bit like getting a glimpse of a young and inexperienced, but learning, Sherlock Holmes. Badger and Watson attempt to employ the Holmes method, but rather than an infallible genius, they are much more easy to relate too, as they make mistakes and doubt themselves at times. It was really quite refreshing.

The author was well researched on the time period and I enjoyed the glimpses of some of the details of how life in Victorian London actually worked, both for the posh classes as well as the lower classes. She mixed in real people and locations among the characters and places and used actual street names and trolley and omnibus lines to ground the story in reality.

The story is set in London of 1895. An eminent doctor has asked Badger and Watson to provide security for his mummy unwrapping party. There was an actual fad at the time among the wealthy classes involving the study of and collecting Egyptian antiquities. But imagine the shock when the mummy is unwrapped only to reveal the body of the doctor who hired them!

The detectives are hired by the doctor’s colleague to find the killer and they work with Inspector Hopkins of Scotland Yard and with newspaper reporter Ellsie Littleton to track down the killer. Ellsie is also their Dr. Watson and shares their adventures with her readers. This was book two of a series and I cannot wait to go back and read book one and any future volumes in the series. I highly recommend this to all Sherlock Holmes fans and fans of other Victorian mysteries, as well as those of Agatha Christie.

The book was simply a grand ol’ time! While being the second book in a series, it required no prior knowledge of our main characters to get a firm grasp on the story. Our main characters (and dual POV’s) are private detectives, Tim Badger and Ben Watson. Utilizing Sherlock Holmes’ advice and techniques, Badger and Watson work together to find the culprit and unravel who was behind an esteemed doctors ultimate demise.

The first thing I noticed as I began reading was the author’s duedilligence in capturing the old-timey language of 1890s London. This charming addition, along with other references skillfully woven into the story, painted a beautiful picture of London and made it apparent that the author conducted thorough research in preparation for this story.

Despite this being my first mystery novel, I felt hooked almost the entire way through! While the beginning was a bit slow, as our author had to establish our characters and plot, it quickly picked up once the groundwork was laid. It was quite fun to play along and deduce my own conclusions with the information discovered as the story progressed. I will say I noticed something early on which heavily hinted at who the murderer was, which took away from my enjoyment a bit. Regardless, the story held my interest and had many quirky scenes that really sucked me in (hello Sardines game?!).

Our main characters were both vastly different yet equally entertaining. Every character felt fleshed out and intentionally placed in the story. This was genuinely such a joy to read! If the author makes a third book in this series, I would not hesitate to pick it up and see where Badger and Watson’s story continues!

As always, thank you to the author, publishers, and NetGalley for access to this arc.

I have been a life-time fan of Sherlock Holmes and mystery stories. This new series is a wonderful way to pay tribute to that genre, as well as a continuation of the series. Tim Badger was once a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, but when he aged out of practical use for Sherlock, he put his skills to use, along with his own Watson (Ben) and established a detective service. His fortitude impressed Sherlock so much that Sherlock continued a mentorship with them, helping with counsel, finances, new digs and even a landlady and maid. This is the second book in the series, and even though I did not read the first, it stands on its own merits, and you quickly become familiar with the main characters, their strengths and morals. In their current assignment, they are to act as guards for an Egyptian mummy unwrapping party, but unfortunately the host is found dead in the sarcophagus. They are then hired to discover his murderer...a case which takes them down many false leads, and even brings them into contact with another of the former Baker Street Irregulars. I loved this series, and the clues and deductions are fondly reminiscent of the original Holmes series. There is mystery, murder, deceit, science, deductions via "The Method," Egyptology, and even a bit of romance, all wrapped up in this story. I am looking forward to more books in this series. Disclosure: I am voluntarily reviewing this book received through NetGalley, and all opinions are strictly my own.

What a good read. This is what would be called a cosy murder mystery and it delivers in spades. Set in Edwardian times with the Great Sherlock Holmes as a mentor Badger and Watson set out to solve the mystery of their client being discovered in a sarcophagus instead of the expected mummy.
You feel like you are walking along those London streets that conjure up such imagery. The fog, the horse drawn cabs and The Baker Street Irregulars all make this a most enjoyable read.. This is the second book in this series and l can't wait for book no. three.
The Mummy of Mayfair publishing July 2, 2024.

The Mummy of Mayfair was my first dive into historical mysteries, and I loved it! The setting was immersive and I enjoyed the language, dialogue and historical references throughout. I went into this book having not read the first in the series, and I’m happy to report that it works great as a standalone. Westerson includes just enough backstory that I quickly became familiar with the characters, and never felt lost or confused about what was happening. I also wasn’t given too much information to the point that reading the first book afterward would feel redundant.

This book is set in the Sherlock Holmes universe, and the famous detective is referenced a lot as Tim and Ben’s former mentor. I only have a superficial knowledge of Holmes, and thankfully you really don’t need to know who he is to enjoy this book (although I think it would have made the book even more entertaining). The big difference between Sherlock Holmes and our two detectives was I felt like I was a detective solving the crime alongside the main characters, whereas with Holmes I feel more like an observer.

Tim and Ben are quirky detectives and polar opposites. I really enjoyed getting to know both of them! Even the supporting characters are so unique and well fleshed out, which really helped keep me invested even during slower parts of the book. There’s emphasis on the class and race hierarchies of the time, which added depth to the characters and their thoughts/actions.

Overall, I enjoyed this read and am interested in reading more in the series!

Big thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Severn House for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

*I have attached a link to my Goodreads review, and will attach the link to my Bookstagram review by 07/21/24

Tim Badger and Ben Watson thought they would provide security for a mummy unwrapping but they find themselves investigating the murder of its own Dr Enoch Sawyer instead. This clever mystery about a protégée of Sherlock Holmes who has gone out on his own sees the detectives bantering with one another and seeking clues. I like the atmospherics and it's got a bit of humor. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I missed the first book but this was fine as a standalone and now I'm looking forward to another.

The Mummy of Mayfair is the second volume in Jeri Westerson's Irregular Detectives historical mysteries series.Who are these detectives and why are they irregular? They're among the now-adult members of Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars, the street urchins Holmes used to gather information across large swathes of London. Children, especially poor children, draw little attention in Victorian London. They can observe without being observed and can easily find their way into unusual or risky locations.

The Irregulars introduced in the first volume of the series are Timothy Badger and Benjamin Watson (no relation to Holmes' long-time investigative partner). Badger was part of the Irregulars as a boy, looking up to Holmes and to Wiggins, the slightly older street child who led the Irregulars. Badger has, with the help of Holmes and in partnership with Benjamin Watson, established the Irregular Detective Agency.

Watson [unless I state otherwise, when I mention "Watson," I'm referring to this younger individual] has fought hard to support himself and his mother. He's done a variety of jobs, but the one that most impacted him was his time as a chemist's assistant. He's remarkably bright, and he used his time working with the chemist to give himself a medical education of sorts, staying up late to study the volumes in the chemist's medical library. When the chemist found out what Watson was doing, he fired Watson. Why? Watson is Black. And the chemist (and much of London) believe a young, Black man has no right to try to rise above his station.

One of the treats of this volume is that Wiggins of the original Irregulars makes an appearance. Like Badger and Watson, he's has a difficult time making a living as an adult and is working as a sort of dog's body for a group of doctors as one of London's hospitals.

The mystery in The Mummy of Mayfair engages readers right away. Badger and Watson have been hired as security for a party at the home of one of Wiggins' well-heeled doctors. Dr. Sawyer, like a significant swathe of London's upper classes has been caught up in Egyptomania. He's a collector of all things ancient and Egyptian. The party for which he's hired Badger and Watson is to be a mummy unwrapping. Such parties did happen among the Victorian elite who could afford to purchase a mummy and were willing to destroy it for the sake of public spectacle.

In this instance, when the mummy's sarcophagus is opened, guests find not a mummy, but the body of the doctor hosting the unwrapping. A colleague of the murdered doctor (it is murder, of course; who accidentally dies and is placed in a multi-tonne stone sarcophagus?) hires Badger and Watson to discover who is behind the murder and how it is accomplished.

The Irregular Detective Agency and its detectives are still a bit rough about the edges, both in terms of their activities in the book and their depiction by author Westerson. I'd been wondering if this second volume of the series would be the last one I sought out to read. Let me say that right now I'm sold on sticking with the series. The level of complexity in this new mystery—and the introduction of Wiggins—make it impossible for me to walk away. I *need* to know what will happen next.

I received a free electronic review copy of The Mummy of Mayfair from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

The Mummy of Mayfair is a cozy historical mystery and the second to feature the irregular detectives by Jeri Westerson. Released 2nd July 2024 by Severn House, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

This is a pastiche novel set in 1895 featuring a pair of private investigators, one of whom was a former "Baker St. Irregular" street urchin in service to Sherlock Holmes. He's a young adult at this point, and doing fairly well as a private enquiry agent. His partner (coincidentally named Watson) is a brilliant young black man with a keen scientific mind. Much of the character driven plot is provided in the banter and interactions between the two young men.

It's a cozy, so the violence occurs off-page. There are some inevitable instances of open racism, given Watson's ethnicity, but they're not totally overpowering, and they're handled sensitively. There's quite a lot of plot which turns on Victorian England's obsession with (and looting of) Egyptian artifacts at the time, but specific details are easily gleaned from context.

The author does a pretty good job with the dialogue and vernacular of the time period, and has included a helpful glossary for modern readers who might not be familiar with the street slang. It's unquestionably a modern cozy for modern readers, but it's diverting, light, and fun.

There's even a forbidden undeniable attraction between the daughter of an upper class scion and a former street urchin with lots of winsome glances and heavy sighs. The romance aspect doesn't overpower the story, but it is present.

Four stars. It's not canonical, and real Conan Doyle afficionados won't be fooled for a minute, but for everyone else, it's fun and engaging.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

#CampNetGalley #BookishScavengerHunt #BookishPhotoChallenge #NetGalley #SummerPhotoChallenge

The “irregularity” of the Irregular Detective series is in the person of one of its protagonists, Timothy Badger of the Badger and Watson Detecting Agency. Once upon a time, Badger was one of the “invisible” children who operated as Sherlock Holmes’ eyes and ears on the streets of Victorian London. In other words, Tim Badger was one of Holmes’ Baker Street Irregulars.

But when Badger aged out – or grew up – out of the Irregulars, he still needed to make his living. Which is where his partner, jack-of-all-trades Benjamin Watson comes into the picture. Both from the “wrong side of the tracks” in the East End, without a shilling between them, they set up as private detectives in the mode of Badger’s former ‘Guv’, the Great Detective himself.

As seen in the first entry in this series, The Isolated Séance, after five years of struggle to keep body and soul together, Sherlock Holmes himself gave these ‘apprentices’ a bit of a leg up. Their perseverance was rewarded with rooms in Soho – several steps up the economic ladder from their previous lodgings and office – and a seemingly magical refilling box of money for expenses.

They’re doing well for themselves. It’s a lot of hard work and shoe leather – but their successes seem to outnumber their failures. They have as much work as they can handle – and even their own chronicler in the person of newspaper reporter Ellsie Littleton.

Which leads to this second sensational case, The Mummy of Mayfair. A moniker that seems ripped, not from the headlines, but from the titles of the penny dreadful fiction that Badger loves to read. Watson prefers the newspapers and scientific journals.

After all, someone in this partnership needs to keep their feet on the ground, especially with a case that has so much potential to ascend – or perhaps that’s descend – into flights of fantasy and mythology.

It begins with a mummy unwrapping party. An all too common event among the upper crust in the 1890s. It was the heyday of ‘Egyptomania’, with all of the implications of madness the word mania implies.

Badger and Watson were hired by Dr. Enoch Sawyer to provide security for his mummy unwrapping party. A party that takes an even more macabre turn when the mummy is finally unwrapped to reveal that it’s not the mummy of Runihura Saa. It’s the much more recent mummy of Dr. Enoch Sawyer – their client – who is clearly not going to be able to pay them for the job they are about to do on his behalf.

And the game is afoot!

Escape Rating A-: First, I loved this every bit as much as the first book in this series, The Isolated Séance. Second, I need to kick myself for not figuring out that the series title is a pun until now. I sorta/kinda thought the cases were “irregular” and they are that – from a séance in the first book to a mummy in the second. But it’s the DETECTIVES – or at least one of them – that are irregular. As in, the Baker Street Irregulars. 🤦🏻

Now that I’ve got that out of my system, what makes this case so much fun is the way that it blends the real with the fictional.

Mummy unwrapping parties were a very real thing in the 1890s – as shown in the painting below by artist Paul Dominique Philippoteaux circa 1890. The scene may seem macabre to 21st century readers, but such parties were all the rage in 1895, when The Mummy of Mayfair takes place.



Rage also being an important factor – at least in this particular case – as the ‘mania’ led people to strange rivalries and illegal behaviors – as humans are wont to do in the throes of a craze, fad, or mania. It still happens now, and humans haven’t changed all that much in just a bit over a century.

As much as the insanity of this particular mania turns out to be the impetus for the actions of the characters, what is making the series work are the characters and the way they manage to fit into – and take off from – the canon of Sherlock Holmes and ITS well-known and loved protagonists.

The best detectives, whether amateur or professional, are outsiders. It’s nearly impossible for humans to set aside their preconceived notions and biases in regards to people they know. A fact which very nearly sends the entire case on a wild goose chase, as one of the possible suspects is one of Badger’s former colleagues in the Irregulars.

But the triumvirate necessary to fill all of the roles that in the original canon were filled by just two changes the structure of the investigation even as it challenges the reader to see Holmes’ Victorian age from a considerably less lofty perspective.

Timothy Badger grew up in the East End, living by his wits and the nimbleness of his fingers. His accent clearly marks him as being of a “lower class” to the toffs among whom he now finds himself – and he has to grow into his role without giving up who he essentially is.

Benjamin Watson is a black man in a white world. The first thing that anyone sees when they meet him is the color of his skin. He has the intelligence and the drive to have been anything within his reach, but his reach in the late Victorian era is circumscribed by his race.

Miss Ellsie Moira Littleton is a woman in a man’s world. Much like Charlotte Sloane in the Regency-set Wrexford and Sloane series, Ellsie has been forced by circumstances to be self-supporting, and is on the outside of the society to which she was born. As an intelligent, educated, woman who needs to make her own way, she is also an outsider but with an entirely different perspective on the society of which she was once a member.

From its sensational beginning, the case is a deeply puzzling mess. Badger and Watson’s preconceived notions about their clients and their former associates, as well as their lack of knowledge of the precise ways the rich spend their time and money and protect their positions frequently send them haring off in the wrong directions – and we follow them eagerly even as they frequently caution each other.

As I’ve said frequently within these pages, I’m a sucker for Sherlock Holmes pastiches, and that’s why I initially started this series. Now I’m hooked! I’m really looking forward to the next book in this series, The Misplaced Physician, where we’ll finally get to meet Sherlock Holmes’ Watson, as Badger and his Watson will be on the case of rescuing him! It’s a good thing that investigative reporter Ellsie Littleton will be on hand to record the adventure, as the original Watson may be too embarrassed – or too injured – to write it up himself.

We’ll certainly see, hopefully this time next year!

A fun airplane or beach book…

I tend to think of Jeri Westerson as an author of historical mysteries set in medieval England, since I’ve read and enjoyed many books in her Crispin Guest and Will Somers series. But I’m aware that she writes in other genres too, and was interested to learn that she has recently started a Sherlock Holmes pastiche-ish series. So I was happy to receive a review copy of the second and most recent book in that series, The Mummy of Mayfair. (I’m also a fan of ancient Egyptian history, having taken an Ancient Egyptian Civilization class at UCLA Extension many (!!!) years ago, so the mummy connection was a nice bonus.)

The Mummy of Mayfair turned out to be more of a mystery with Sherlock Holmes, Mrs Hudson, and even Jimmy Wiggins making appearances, than a true pastiche. But it was still a quick and enjoyable read. The two protagonists, Tim Badger, who had been a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, and Ben Watson, have recently opened a Detecting Agency together. But funds are still tight, so when they are offered the chance to provide security for a “mummy unwrapping” party, they take the job. Unfortunately, Dr Enoch Sawyer, who was going to do the unwrapping, instead turns up dead in the mummy’s cartonnage himself. Luckily, our detectives are hired by one of Sawyer’s colleagues to investigate, and things proceed from there.

Westerson provides lots of fun details about Egyptian antiquities, curses, dangerous poisons and other things along the way, and there’s a hint of romance in the air as well. The only thing I wish were different about the book would be for Ben Watson’s last name to be anything but “Watson”. That would eliminate my confusion – especially in the early chapters - between Ben himself and Holmes’ own Dr Watson. But all-in-all, The Mummy of Mayfair was a fun book that would make a good airplane or beach read. And finally, my thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for the review copy!

The second Irregular Detectives mystery finds Badger and Watson investigating the murder of a doctor who was found wrapped up as a mummy in a sarcophagus.

I enjoyed this one! I hadn’t read the first one (and couldn’t find it easily available) so I was worried I would be lost. Thankfully, while it alludes to things from the first book vaguely, reading that one is not necessary for enjoyment of this one. I really like this premise of the kids who did jobs from Holmes’ stories growing up and one of them is now one of the protagonists. I think it did go on a bit long for the mystery, but overall I enjoyed it!

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

1895. Timothy Badger and Benjamin Watson are hired as guards by Dr Sawyer as he intends to open the sarcophagus of Runibura Saa to invited guests, but the reveal exposes the body of Sawyer. They are employed by colleague Dr Archer to investigate.
An entertaining and well-written historical mystery with its interesting main characters.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Mummy" is Sherlock Holmes adjacent. Although it is set in the period of the master, and features brief cameo appearances by Holmes and Mrs Hudson, this is really a new direction. It stars Tim Badger, a former Baker Street Irregular and now protegé of Holmes, and his partner Ben Watson. Watson is no relational to the more famous doctor, and he plays a much more central role in the Badger and Watson partnership.

Egyptology, unknown poisons, and newly established scientific methods all play roles in this charming second novel in a new series.

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

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Jeri Westerson for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Mummy of Mayfair coming out July 2, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I haven’t read the first book in the series. But I can’t resist Mummy mysteries. Ancient Egypt is such a fascinating topic to me, so I was really excited about reading this book! I love the characters. I thought it was very Holmes and Watson. I loved that it actually featured Holmes. I loved that there was some romance involved. I wasn’t expecting that. I think my only thing was that it was a lot about the solving the mystery and I didn’t feel like there were enough Ancient Egypt facts involved. I think it needed more Mummy. There was more at the end, but I would’ve liked to see more of that throughout the book. Overall, I loved it and would check out another book!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Sherlock Holmes mysteries!

The Mummy of Mayfair is an entertaining and twisty Victorian whodunit that kept me engaged.

Initially, I found it challenging to reconcile the presence of two separate characters with the surname Watson, but this soon became a non-issue as the story unfolded. The plot, centred around the fascinating theme of Egyptomania, is cleverly woven with allusions to Sherlock Holmes' "method.".

Westerson masterfully balances the use of familiar literary characters with her original creations, ensuring that preconceived notions do not overshadow the fresh and intriguing narrative. The mystery is well-paced, with twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end.

Overall, The Mummy of Mayfair is a satisfying and enjoyable read, offering a merry ride through a richly detailed Victorian London. The story ties up all loose ends neatly, providing a gratifying conclusion.

Curses and magic!

Eygptmania and mummy unwrapping parties is sweeping the drawing rooms of London.
Everyone is into it. All want a little bit of the exotic, or to be delightfully horrified by the rumours of curses. I was rather repulsed by the information from one Mayfair darling that,
“after the uwrapping they ground the poor fellow into powder. It was supposed to have magical and medicinal properties. [She kept the ground remains]in a little bottle on [her] dressing table. They have absorbed the sunshine and starlight of a different world than ours, when magic was tangible.” As another guest stated, “a little macabre!”
Detectives Timothy Badger and Benjamin Watson, former Baker Street Irregulars, now protégées of the famous man himself, Sherlock Holmes, have been hired Doctor Enoch Sawyer as Security at his unwrapping party. However Sawyer is late and his partner Doctor Cornelius Archer commences the unwrapping procedure
The event takes a shocking turn when their missing employer and party host is found dead within the wrappings.
That’s the end of their employment. Not so! Dr. Archer hires them to continue their investigations.
Those uncover a raft of wrongdoings. Bodies being taken from hospitals for students to dissect, cocaine missing, and embezzlement. The trail leads into the heart of respectability—Mayfair!
Not only that, missing Egyptian statues and other artefacts purloined from Egypt and smuggled into England have since been removed from their current owners.
All this has Badger and Watson questioning previous innocent deaths that many put down to the result of a mummy’s curse.
They’re ably joined by reporter Miss Ellsie Moria Littleton whom Badger has hidden feelings for.
Another ex-irregular joins the fray. Things become exceedingly dicey. The pair faithfully use the Method (as promoted by their mentor Holmes) but run into various roadblocks. Sometimes they must rely on leaps of intuition.
Another fabulous story told with Westerson’s usual brilliant writing. A tale that moves along right snappily. I’m in!

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

"Private investigators Timothy Badger and Benjamin Watson take on another unusual and baffling case in Victorian London when a mummy unwrapping party takes a chilling turn.

London, 1895. Although their last high-profile case was a huge success, private detectives Tim Badger and Benjamin Watson know they can't afford to turn down any work, despite financial assistance from their mentor, Sherlock Holmes.

So when the eminent Doctor Enoch Sawyer of St. Bart's Hospital asks Badger if the duo will provide security for a mummy unwrapping party he is hosting, Badger doesn't hesitate to take the job. After all, how hard can guarding the doctor's bizarre Egyptian artifacts be? But with Doctor Sawyer running late for his own party, the 'genuine' ancient sarcophagus of Runihura Saa is unravelled to reveal the remains of...Doctor Sawyer! Suddenly, the pair are drawn into a case that's stranger and twistier than they could ever have imagined."

Wait, isn't this the setup used for an episode of Murder Rooms? OK, it was a corpse but not the host's own corpse. Which I thought would always be a great twist. So read this!

An entertaining, fun and well-written historical mystery with some interesting main characters who are based on the irregulars of Sherlock Holmes fame and in fact, he helps them set up their private detective agency.. I would described this as a cosy mystery as most of the violence happens out of view but the plot is complex as Badger and Watson uncover a lot of dodgy goings on. .There are stolen Egyptian artefacts, embezzlement. and the misuse of corpses for dissection. All in all a very enjoyable and engaging story and I look forward to more. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a fast paced story with two good hearted, unassuming, down to earth main characters, Badger and Watson. With help from their journalist friend, Miss Littleton. Also featuring Sherlock Holmes and his brother Mycroft. Badger and Watson are very likable and just regular folks, compared to high and mighty Sherlock. People underestimate them in the story to their own detriment. It also shows how racism was very much a problem in 1895.
Thank you to netgalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

Tim Badger and Benjamin Watson are protegees of Sherlock Holmes. Tim aged out of being a Baker Street Irregular and now he and Watson are private enquiry agents. They are hired to provide security at a fancy Mayfair gala for the opening of a sarcophagus from Egypt. Much to everyone's horror, the host of the event is found dead inside, wrapped in the casings of a mummy. Now, in order to save their business, Tim and Ben have to find who benefited from the death of Dr. Sawyer. There are lots of suspects, beginning with the entire board of the London Hospital where Dr. Sawyer worked. Another well-researched book from Westerson, an enjoyable read.

The Mummy of Mayfair (An Irregular Detective mystery Book 2) by Jeri Westerson
Review by Sarah Erwin

“The Mummy of Mayfair” is book two in Jeri Westerson’s “Irregular Detective” mystery series, and fans of historical mysteries should be delighted with this latest entry.

It’s 1895 in London and Tim Badger and Ben Watson are private investigators working together and with financial assistance and mentorship from the great Sherlock Holmes. In their youth the two were members of Sherlock’s Baker Street Irregulars (street urchins Holmes used to gather information across London). This is such a clever and creative premise for a series, and I was immediately curious to learn all about the pair.

Doctor Enock Sawyer of St Bart’s Hospital has hired Badger and Watson to provide security for a mummy unwrapping party he is hosting in his home. (These kinds of parties actually happened!) Badger and Watson assume this will be an easy job, watching the upper class express their obsession with all things Egypt.

As assumptions often go in mysteries, an easy job quickly turns into a murder investigation. Doctor Sawyer is a no show to his unwrapping party so his colleague, Doctor Cornelius Archer, proceeds without Sawyer. Archer begins unraveling the bandages only to discover that the “mummy” is in fact Dr Sawyer, murdered. What a bizarre and intriguing mystery to open the book with–I was hooked right away. Dr Archer hires Badger and Watson to find who killed Sawyer. There are mumblings through high society that the killing was the result of the mummy’s curse, but Badger and Watson know this can’t be the case.

What follows is such a complex mystery with a plethora of suspects and other misdeeds coming to surface. Badger and Watson are joined by reporter Miss Ellsie Moria Littleton who is such a strong side-character! While this story features two male investigators, the Victorian London setting and mystery gave me “Veronica Speedwell” by Deanna Rayborun vibes.

I loved investigating alongside Badger and Watson as they used Sherlock’s “method,” but also their own intuition. They grew more assured of themselves as the story went along. Humor is also sprinkled throughout which makes this creative mystery even more entertaining. I do hope a book three is in the works.

If, like me, you haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading the first book in the series, don’t be put off reaching for this entertaining historical whodunit. Westerson gives us all the background we need to appreciate where our two plucky private detectives are in their careers – and how Sherlock Holmes fits into the scheme of things.

For those of you who may not be aware – the ‘Irregular’ of the series title alludes to the scruffy gang of street children that Holmes employed to spy on various suspects during his cases, which he named the Baker Street Irregulars. One of our detectives, Tim Badger, used to be part of Holmes’ gang until he grew too old. As Holmes used to say – children loitering on street corners were mostly ignored by adults, so were ideal for following people. And breaking into houses to hold of vital clues, or incriminating objects.

I like the fact that Tim had a really tough time establishing himself. Victorian England was very class-conscious and though a number of celebrated men – and it was mostly men – managed to break out of their humble origins to go on and have successful, remunerative careers, that number is vanishingly small. Many boasted of being ‘self-made men’, but when you drill down into their backgrounds, they often came from reasonably well-off families who gave them plenty of support in those vital early years. Tim Badger doesn’t have that advantage. His partner, Ben Watson, at least has a loving family. I really like that Westerson has included a black protagonist. If you read historical records, by this time there are a significant number of people from different ethnic origins living in Victorian England, particularly in and around London, though the only time they appear in contemporary fiction is as a villain.

Westerson evokes the period well, even going to the trouble of providing a glossary of terms for those not acquainted with the slang of the times. We get a strong sense of the class divide, as well as the world in which our detectives are working. The craze for all things Egyptian at this time certainly is historically accurate – and mummy-unwrapping parties actually took place. This is a wonderful backdrop for a murder. As Tim and Ben are on the spot as hired security to prevent the expensive Egyptian artefacts being stolen, they end up being right in the middle of this shocking case.

I liked the appearance of Holmes, particularly as his famous ‘method’ proves to have severe limitations. I’ve seen this story described as a cosy mystery – I’m not so sure. While it certainly doesn’t go into lots of gritty, or gratuitous gore, neither does it give a particularly rosy glow to Victorian society. I certainly came away feeling very relieved that I hadn’t been born in this period.

All in all, this is a joy and the only reason why it isn’t a five-star read, is because the actual whodunit isn’t particularly difficult to unravel – I’d decided on the culprit quite early on in the story. And I was right. That said, it isn’t the dealbreaker it might be in a tale peopled with less entertaining characters inhabiting a flatter, less vividly depicted world. Recommended for fans of historical murder mysteries, particularly if you’ve enjoyed Sherlock Holmes and John Watson’s adventures. While I obtained an arc of The Mummy of Mayfair from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10