“The Mitford Murders” by Jessica Fellowes

 

448 pages, Minotaur Books, ISBN-13: 978-1250170798

I have learned that there is a special way to read a mystery; one must be patient and allow the story to roll itself out and not be in a hurry to find the killer. There is a pace that must be maintained, a stately progression from the crime being committed, to the investigators uncovering facts and discovering clues, to the piecing together of said facts and clues and finally to the denouement in which all is revealed and the guilty are brought to justice. So my typical past complaint with mysteries – that they take too damn long to come to fruition – is rather invalid, as that is simply the nature of the beast. Sorry.

And so that is, naturally, the nature of The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes. It’s 1920, and Louisa Cannon dreams of escaping her life of poverty in London. Her salvation is a position within the Mitford household at Asthall Manor in the Oxfordshire countryside where she will become nursemaid, chaperone and confidante to the Mitford sisters, especially 16-year-old Nancy, an acerbic, bright young woman. But then a nurse – Florence Nightingale Shore, goddaughter of her famous namesake – is killed on a train in broad daylight, and Louisa and Nancy find themselves entangled in the crimes of a murderer who will do anything to hide their secret.

As murder mysteries go, The Mitford Murders is serviceable. There are several intersecting story threads featuring a diverse array of characters from differing backgrounds as they all seek whatever it is they’re after, whether a new life away from a poor family background, to advancement in the police force, to freedom from overbearing parents – the characters are all well-drawn and not merely cardboard cutouts to act as stand-ins. The mystery is solid and the ending, I thought, was satisfying, as all of the pieces seemed to fit together logically and the villain was suitably disguised until the very end and wasn’t unrealistic, either.

I do, however, have one enormous complaint, and that is the title: one would think that a book called The Mitford Murders would have starred the Mitfords themselves – y’know, David Freeman-Mitford, 2^nd Baron Redesdale, his wife Sydney Bowles, and Nancy, Pamela, Thomas, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah. Oh, Nancy is in it for certain as she and Louisa start the investigatory ball rolling, and her parents are part of the plot, too. But I was expecting, I guess, a mystery involving all of the girls (and Tom) and was looking forward to seeing these extraordinary people brought back to life, as it were, solving a murder of all things.

But…no. it’s just Nancy and Louisa, along with Guy Sullivan, a railroad cop with a thing for Louisa, while the sisters (and brother), still children all, are relegated to background status. If you’re looking for a solid mystery then by all means The Mitford Murders will do you just fine. So long as you don’t mind a lack of Mitfords.