A Death in Chelsea: A Mayfair 100 Mystery

In Brittney’s impressive sequel to 2019’s Murder in Belgravia, likewise set in 1915 London, the “special secret team of amateur women detectives and professional policemen,” created by Scotland Yard Chief Insp. Peter Beech and named for the unit’s phone number, investigate a murder case. When the duchess of Penhere learns that her daughter, Lady Adeline Trenborne, has been found hanged in the young woman’s bedroom, she contacts Scotland Yard. Though the aristocrat disapproved of Lady Adeline’s job as a society commentator for a newspaper, she insists that her child would never have committed suicide. That suspicion of foul play is confirmed by team member Sissy Rigsby, a constable’s aunt, who notes that the corpse’s blue lips are inconsistent with death by hanging. Further probing reveals a surprise—that Lady Adeline, who wrote frequently about society functions, apparently never attended any and didn’t have a network of informants sourcing her gossip columns. Brittney is as adept at characterizations as at plotting. Maisie Dobbs and Bess Crawford fans will hope for a long series run. (Mar.)