The Mitford Murders (Mitford Murders Series #1)

by Jessica Fellowes

Overview

"A real murder, a real family and a brand new crime fiction heroine are woven together to make a fascinating, and highly enjoyable, read. I loved it."
—Julian Fellowes, creator and writer of Downton Abbey and Belgravia

The first in a series of thrilling Golden Age-style mysteries, set among the Mitford sisters, and based on a real unsolved murder, by Jessica Fellowes, author of the New York Times bestselling Downton Abbey books.

It's 1920, and Louisa Cannon dreams of escaping her life of poverty in London.

Louisa's salvation is a position within the Mitford household at Asthall Manor, in the Oxfordshire countryside. There she will become nursemaid, chaperone and confidante to the Mitford sisters, especially sixteen-year-old Nancy, an acerbic, bright young woman in love with stories.

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...

Based on an unsolved crime and written by Jessica Fellowes, author of the New York Times bestselling Downton Abbey companion books, The Mitford Murders is the perfect new obsession for fans of classic murder mysteries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250170798
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/16/2018
Series:	Mitford Murders Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	94,628
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

JESSICA FELLOWES is an author, journalist, and public speaker. She is the author of The Mitford Murders novels as well as the New York Times bestselling official companion books to the Downton Abbey TV series. Former deputy editor of Country Life, and columnist for the Mail on Sunday, she has written for the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, The Sunday Times, and The Lady. Jessica has spoken at events across the UK and US, and has made numerous appearances on radio and television. She lives in Oxfordshire with her family.

Editorial Reviews

With nearly as much period detail as an episode of "Downton [Abbey]," this delightful romp satisfies like a cup of strong nursery tea accompanied by a Battenburg cake.”—The Washington Post

“[A] pitch-perfect mystery.” —Booklist

“The heroine is appealingly plucky, and the reader sinks into the rich period detail as pleasantly as into an overstuffed sofa.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Fans of Agatha Christie or Jacqueline Winspear’s “Maisie Dobbs” series will savor this take on the locked-room mystery.” —Library Journal

"Downton Abbey fans, rejoice. The Mitford Murders is a return to the aristocrats in the country house, with all their gorgeous clothes, jewels, class privilege and manners intact....Fellowes has wisely chosen to shape her fictional Mitfords into a nice little British cozy with plenty of space for decor and quaint behaviour...The Mitford series is a winner." — The Globe and Mail

“The members of the real-life Mitford family figure prominently in British author Fellowes’s appealing fiction debut (after The World of Downton Abbey, about the hit TV show created by her uncle, Julian Fellowes)....[with] a satisfying ending.” —Publishers Weekly

“Downton Abbey meets Agatha Christie in this witty and twisty mystery imagining a 16-year-old Nancy Mitford teaming up with her household to help Louisa solve a murder in England in 1920.” —In Touch Weekly

"A real murder, a real family and a brand new crime fiction heroine are woven together to make a fascinating, and highly enjoyable, read. I loved it." —Julian Fellowes, creator and writer of Downton Abbey and Belgravia

"Exactly the sort of book you might enjoy with the fire blazing, the snow falling etc. The solution is neat and the writing always enjoyable." —Anthony Horowitz, New York Times bestselling author of Magpie Murders

"Oh how delicious! This terrific start to what promises to be a must-read series is exactly what we all need in these gloomy times. Inventive, glittering, clever, ingenious. I devoured The Mitford Murders... so will you."
—Susan Hill, author of The Woman in Black

"True and glorious indulgence. A dazzling example of a golden age mystery." —Daisy Goodwin, author of Victoria and The American Heiress

“A lively, well-written, entertaining whodunit of the old-fashioned school—and that is meant as a compliment.” —The Times (UK)

"This is a chocolate soufflé of a novel: as the enthralling mystery heats up, so the addictive deliciousness of the story rises. But The Mitford Murders is not only an ingeniously twisty thriller; it is also a heart-wrenching, heart-healing story about friendship, trust, betrayal and love: the sort of book you never want to end." —Juliet Nicolson, author of A House Full of Daughters

“There are several ready-made markets for this novel by the niece of the writer Julian Fellowes: fans of Downton Abbey, aficionados of Golden Age crime, and those with an appetite for the privileged world of the Mitford sisters." —Financial Times (UK)

"Meet the new Downton-style detectives....An adroitly handled murder mystery that keeps the reader guessing to the end...an accomplished crime debut and huge fun to read."—Evening Standard

"A Golden Age homage that flits between an England broken by World War I and the gilded milieu of the aristocracy....Jessica Fellowes' deliciously immersive, effortlessly easy novel has a strong feel for period and a rollicking plot...The glamorous Mitfords add to the value too."—Metro

"The Mitford Murders are very much in the ilk of an Agatha Christie novel...Perfect for those missing their Downton Abbey fix."—Belfast Telegraph

From the Publisher

10/23/2017
The members of the real-life Mitford family figure prominently in British author Fellowes’s appealing fiction debut (after The World of Downton Abbey, about the hit TV show created by her uncle, Julian Fellowes), which explores the tensions between upstairs and downstairs in an upper-class household. On Christmas Eve, 1919, impoverished Louisa Cannon, who has just come close to picking a man’s pocket on a London street, runs into a friend she hasn’t seen in years, who’s accompanied by the eldest of the six Mitford sisters, Nancy. This chance encounter leads Louisa to a position as a nursemaid at Asthall Manor, the Mitfords’ estate in Oxfordshire. Meanwhile, real-life Florence Nightingale Shore (Florence Nightingale’s god-daughter), who served as a nurse during WWI, is fatally bludgeoned on a train between London and Brighton. Guy Sullivan, a railway policeman eager to earn his family’s respect in spite of the humble nature of his duties, gets involved in the search for Florence’s killer, as does Louisa after she learns that the dead woman had a connection to her new employers. The fairly clued solution makes for a satisfying ending. Agent: Caroline Michel, Peters Fraser and Dunlop (U.K.). (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

11/15/2017
In her first novel, the author of five companion books to the PBS series Downton Abbey brings readers a classic mystery based on a 1920s unsolved murder in England. The plucky heroine, Louisa Cannon, flees an abusive uncle in London to take a job as a nursery maid in the country for the Mitford family. Sixteen-year-old Nancy Mitford (the future novelist and one of the famous Mitford sisters) develops a keen interest in the murder of Florence Nightingale Shore, a retired wartime nurse, on a train. Louisa and railway police officer Guy Sullivan follow the leads with Nancy's help. There are plenty of surprises and the side plot involving Louisa's uncle rounds out the story. The secondary characters are well developed; you can almost see Nanny Blor bustling around the nursery. Glimpses of post-World War I England, the lives of both the poor and the rich, and the workings of the eccentric Mitfords add to the atmosphere. VERDICT Fans of Agatha Christie or Jacqueline Winspear's "Maisie Dobbs" series will savor this take on the locked-room mystery. [See Prepub Alert, 7/3/17.]—Terry Lucas, Shelter Island P.L., NY

Library Journal

The pleasures of this English murder mystery, set in 1920, are many. Rachel Atkins’s crisp performance is just right, moving the pace along without rushing and channeling everyone from nasal aristocrat to working-class copper. We follow Louisa Cannon, daughter of a washerwoman, who talks her way into a nurserymaid job with the Mitford family. The Mitfords were real people, whose adult children dominated 1940s British headlines. The novel’s crime, a murder aboard a train, is also historical fact. The fun comes when Louisa and Nancy, the eldest Mitford girl, set out to find the murderer. A concluding interview with author Jessica Fellowes, who wrote the “Downton Abbey” companion books, promises more in this fun, well-narrated series, each set around a real-life unsolved murder. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2018 - AudioFile

2017-10-16
Fellowes transitions from providing the history behind the fiction (Downton Abbey—A Celebration: The Official Companion to all Six Seasons, 2015) to adding some fiction to history in her first mystery based on the life of the legendary literary Mitford sisters.Florence Nightingale Shore, a dedicated war nurse in the model of her godmother and namesake, was attacked on a Brighton line train on Jan. 19, 1920, and died a few days later. This much is historical fact, and it's equally true that her killer was never found. But what if her murder had drawn the attention of Guy Sullivan, a dogged young member of the railway police determined to make a name for himself, and 16-year-old Nancy Mitford, the eldest of Lord and Lady Redesdale's seven children, gifted with an adolescent's grisly imagination and eagerness to break out of the nursery? The two are linked by Louisa Cannon, the daughter of a recently widowed washerwoman. Louisa is desperate to escape the poverty of London, where her predatory uncle is trying to steal her last shreds of respectability. A chance encounter with an old friend who married well leads Louisa to a recommendation for a job as the new nursery maid for the Mitford brood—a job she can reach only by fleeing her uncle's grasp on a desperate train journey. Along the way, Guy Sullivan saves her and is instantly smitten. Nancy's keen interest in the case, Louisa's immense gratitude to the family, and Guy's determination to do real police work (and see Louisa again) all culminate in a grand confrontation with the killer at Nancy's 18th-birthday ball.The solution to the puzzle feels a bit implausible, but the heroine is appealingly plucky, and the reader sinks into the rich period detail as pleasantly as into an overstuffed sofa.

Kirkus Reviews