Murder Flies the Coop

In Ellicott’s captivating second mystery set in post-WWI England (after 2017’s Murder in an English Village), adventure-seeking American Beryl Helliwell and her old English school chum, Edwina Davenport, who share a household in the hamlet of Walmsley Parva, set up their own informal private investigation business. Their first client, Vicar Wilfred Lowethorpe, calls on them for help in a matter that requires sensitivity and discretion. One of the vicar’s parishioners, Lionel Cunningham, who’s treasurer of the local pigeon racing club, has gone missing with all the club’s funds and some prize birds belonging to other members. After checking more obvious places, the women find Cunningham stabbed to death inside the man’s pigeon loft. As usual, Constable Doris Gibbs resents Beryl and Edwina meddling in any police matter, but she can’t prevent the spunky and determined sleuths from pursuing the case. Ellicott smoothly injects such serious issues as the impact of WWI on its survivors and the restrictions of the English class system into a light whodunit. [em]Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Oct.) [/em]