Mrs. Jeffries and the Merry Gentlemen

A Victorian Mystery #32

by Emily Brightwell

Berkley Prime Crime

November 4, 2014

ISBN-10: 0425268098

ISBN-13: 9780425268094

Available in: Paperback

Mrs. Jeffries and the Merry Gentlemen
by Emily Brightwell

THE BUSINESS OF DEATH

Orlando Edison is a stockbroker using London’s infatuation with foreign mining ventures to make a fortune. He has curried favor with the nation’s most respected aristocrats, even inviting three influential investors—known as the Merry Gentlemen—to be part of his latest enterprise. Edison is welcomed in the highest circles and moves with ease among the rich and powerful. But a few days before Christmas, he is found murdered.

Inspector Witherspoon and his household are looking forward to the festive season. But they all know their duty, and led by the intrepid Mrs. Jeffries, they plan to see justice served for the holidays . . .

A Mrs. Jeffries Mystery

She keeps house for Inspector Witherspoon . . . and keeps him on his toes. Everyone’s awed by his Scotland Yard successes—but they don’t know about his secret weapon. No matter how messy the murder or how dirty the deed, Mrs. Jeffries’ polished detection skills are up to the task . . . proving that behind every great man there’s a woman—and that a crimesolver’s work is never done.



Emily Brightwell's Bio

Emily Brightwell was born in West Virginia, the middle sister to Nanette and Linda. Her family moved to Los Angeles in the early sixties, where she graduated from Pasadena High School.

After her high school years, Emily went to California State University Fullerton and earned a Degree in American Studies.

On a visit to England in 1975, one January morning in Leeds, Yorkshire she met the Englishman who would become her husband, Richard. They were married in May 1976 and returned to California in September 1977.

In 1988 Emily decided to try fiction writing and make a new career as a writer.

This was always a dream of hers so she began by writing romances and became a member of the Romance Writers of America. After her entry in the "unpublished authors" contest run by the Orange County chapter of the RWA, was a finalist, she was delighted, but the editor who read my manuscript was scathing in her criticism.

She was crushed for a day or so, but it hardened my resolve to continue writing. It was her very next proposal that sold to Silhouette and was published as a Special Edition under the pen name of Sarah Temple.

Emily wrote two more Special Editions for Silhouette but always wanted to write other kinds of fiction so when her agent asked if she would be interested in writing a Victorian mystery series for Prime Crime she jumped at the chance.