I really enjoyed this book. It is the first in the series and such a fun premise.

I enjoyed all the characters and the time period was so fun.

Thanks for the arc.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

This was a pretty enjoyable cosy crime mystery set in the 1920s.

Mabel works for an agency who can be called on to assist with all kinds of tasks and it is through one of her assigned jobs that she gets involved in a mystery surrounding the disappearance of a woman’s husband some years previous.

I look forward to reading further adventures for Mabel and her friends.

3.5

Thanks must go to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this story in exchange for my review.

I really enjoyed this historical cozy mystery about an independent woman living in London in the early 1920's. I found the mystery to be interesting and the story had enough twists and turns that it kept me invested right up to the end. I liked the characters and am looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few books. A strong start to a new series.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I do love a cosy historical crime series with likeable characters, a hint of romance, and a dog for good measure. This ticked all the boxes for me. It was interesting reading about the kind of jobs the Useful Women agency covered - a bit like an early temp agency - and I hope that there is romance to come for Mabel!

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

A Body on the Doorstep is the first book in the London Ladies' Murder Club series by Marty Wingate.
It has all the right ingredients being set in the post-WWI London, with the main character who is a free spirit, indepentent and deliciously curious.
However, I found the story and the flow to be way to 'busy' with too many untied and loose threads and ends. It has a bit of this and a bit of that. The flow and the language are too stacato for my liking.

Mabel Canning is a joy
And the world we are entering in this first in the series is brilliant.
The Useful Women’s Agency form the basis of Mabel’s independence and it is they who send her to her first job where there is a murder.
Helped by her house mates Cora and Skeff as well as the lovely Park Winstone we are taken on an adventure in 1920s London.
Will read more of this series.

The following review was posted on Kings River Life News & Reviews:
Cozy historical mystery fans will be delighted to learn about Marty Wingate’s latest series London Ladies' Murder Club that begins with book one, A Body on the Doorstep. Best of all, book two, A Body at the Seance is also available, so readers do not have to wait. I was happy to be able to immediately jump into the second book.

Book one opens in London,1921. Mabel Canning is an independent woman who has just moved to London from her small English village, determined to make it on her own. She rents her own flat and takes a job with the Useful Women’s Agency, which assigns jobs ordered by the gentlewomen of London. These jobs can range from picking up books from a shop to washing a muddy dog.

One day, Mabel is assigned to help wealthy widow Rosalind Despard with a wake for her husband who disappeared seven years ago, now legally determined deceased. Mabel hasn’t been there long when she opens to the front door to find a soldier's body on the doorstep. Scotland Yard is immediately summoned, but Mabel can’t help but be curious to find out who this young man was and why he was holding a letter for Rosalind, written by her husband the day he disappeared.

Mabel quickly becomes friends with Rosalind and with the help of Rosalind’s brother, former detective Park Winstone, and his terrier, Gladys, she begins to investigate. And the page-turning mystery takes off!

Book two, A Body at the Seance, picks up a few months later in November 1921. The Useful Women’s Agency has added an additional service, private investigation (that Mabel refers to as the London Ladies’ Murder Club). Here Mabel has been hired through the agency to attend a seance at the home of famous medium, Madame Pushkana. The lights are lowered and the seance begins, when suddenly there is a commotion and Mabel stumbles over the dead body of Stamford Plomley–the very man the seance was supposed to contact since he supposedly died in a fire eight months ago.

Mabel, along with help from Park and her wonderful upstairs neighbors take on the task of determining how Stamford died again and who is to blame. They leave no stone unturned, even when the investigation receives a threatening letter telling her to stop and more dead bodies appear.

Marty does such a wonderful job evoking the Golden Era of mystery. I felt as though I were walking the streets of 1921 London with Mabel. I found myself drinking more tea while reading and googling recipes for “seed cake.” The details of Mabel’s cozy flat and her delightfully quirky neighbors felt like meeting new friends I could solve mysteries with. Mabel’s desire to be an independent woman, balanced with her light romantic feelings for Park, gave great depth to her character.

Both books were wonderfully cozy treats, perfect additions to the cozy historical mystery genre. I’m anxious to get my hands on more in the series.

Mabel is a woman of independent means in the 1920s, she has just gotten her a job with the Useful Woman's Agency and her first job was to help comfort a woman who is having a wake at her home. The man they are having the wake for has been gone for many years but just now declare dead.

While there she answers the door and a man falls at her feet, he is dead. What happened? When they find out he has a not that references the late Guy Despard, there are a lot of questions being asked.

Mabel meets Parks the woman's brother and end up doing a bit of sleuthing together where they want to or not.

I thought this was a decent start to a series but kind of a strange start with the type of storyline it took on. Normally it's someone that Mabel actually knows that might have died or get accused of the murder to make the sleuth decided to figure things out but Mabel didn't even know this lady, but decided to nose in anyway. It was okay but just sort of felt strange. I don't know how to explain it. I really liked Parks, and the others we meet too.

I am hpping to get to the next book soon!

A charming look at post-WWI London, A Body on the Doorstep, sees Mable Canning moving from the small town of Peasmarsh to the big city of London to begin a new life as an "independent woman" working at Miss Kerr's Useful Women Agency. Everything was going very well until she took a job helping at a memorial service and opened the front door to find the body of a strange man, setting off the mystery of the book. I liked the relationships between Mabel and Rosalind, the widow, and Rosalind's enigmatic and handsome brother, Park Winstone, who helps Mabel search for the killer. Gladys the dog was also a favourite character.

Mabel was not only a competent agent of Miss Kerr's agency, but a smart amateur investigator as well. It was fascinating to learn about Miss Kerr and the Useful Women Agency and the opportunity it gave to women wanting to earn their own living and, like Mabel, be an independent woman at a time when that idea was still novel. I also enjoyed entering the exciting (and sometimes dangerous) world of the London theatre as movies were coming into their own and burgeoning into a threat to the smaller daily theatre productions showcased in the story. Overall, the mystery was intriguing enough to keep me reading on, the characters, particularly Mabel, were likeable, and I found the story both fun and educational. I got caught up in the language at times, but it also added to the authenticity. I recommend this book to readers who, like me, are fans of Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence mysteries as the vibe and the language are similar.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a complimentary copy of this book for review. My opinions are my own.

A Body on the Doorstep is the first installment in London Ladies' Murder Club Book written by Marty Wingate.

This is a historical cozy mystery set in London in 1920's about a young woman who is trying to make her life in the new world as a part of a special agency.
I liked the MC, she is a hardworking, smart and brave young lady with a lot of compasion and a bit of sass. She is realistic and reliable character and very likeable.
Other side characters are all quite interesting as well if a bit of a stereotype.
I liked the setting, the mystery was quite interesting but too slow for my liking. It started very well but it slowed down and for the longest time it draged on and on and the real investigation didn't start for a very long time.
A solid read maybe best for people just starting with cozy mysteries.

A little slow in the beginning, but a delightful read nonetheless! There are a lot of characters so I did get mixed up once or twice. I really enjoyed it and I’m about to pick up the next in this series!

I enjoyed my time with Mabel, a transplant in London. Mabel is hardworking, extroverted, and curious. Her Useful Women employer certainly added to the story, as did the likable Rosalind, Mabel's first assignment.

The budding romance is nice. I could do without the obligatory "cozy" pet.

Readers looking for a cozy period mystery with an admirable heroine will enjoy this. The cover oversells it - it's certainly not "completely gripping." But it was enjoyable and sweet.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I purchased for my library.

Mabel Canning has moved to London in1921 and joined the Useful Women Agency. Her first job is supporting a widow at a wake but the deceased has been declared dead after going missing 7 years ago. Then a man dies at the front door during the wake...
A Body on the Doorstep is the first book in a murder mystery series set in the 1920s. The second book, A Body at the Seance is also available now. In the author's note at the end, I discovered that the Useful Women Agency was real!
Guy Despard disappeared 7 years ago and his wife Rosalind is finally able to have him declared dead. During the wake Mabel is helping with the guests when she opens the door to a dead man. Rosalind is under suspicion as it is her house and she was originally suspected of disposing of her husband. Her brother Park was a police officer but thrown out of the force for defending his sister.
I loved Mabel's character. She has moved to London from a small village and is keen to be independent. She is keen, able and flexible, able to turn herself to any task to pay her way. However, she never expects to be at the centre of a murder investigation!
Park and Mabel make an unlikely alliance (could there be a spark of romance for later in the series...?), along with Gladys the dog, to find out the truth and exonerate Rosalind. I liked the 1920s setting and the exploration of London in that era. Class and gender norms are challenged as men and women adapt to life after WW1.
A Body on the Doorstep is an enjoyable start to a series and I look forward to reading the next book about Mabel soon.

Favorite Quote:

She agreed that the vicar needed a wife, but it certainly wouldn’t be her...

My Review:

I like to switch gears and genres to avoid feeling like I’m reading the same book over and over. With that in mind, I decided to dive into some cozy mysteries for a pleasant and fun diversion from the tense thrillers I have been submerged in of late. I was extremely lucky to fall into a new to me author who just happened to be starting a new series based in the 1920’s. What fun! The series features an earnest and plucky gal who is considerably ahead of her time and striking out on her own to be “an independent woman.” I just had to love this for the premise alone!

Mabel has hit her thirties and despite her papa’s misgivings, has finally made her way out of her small village to the Big Smoke of London. She has set her sites on becoming one of Miss Kerr’s main go-to gals at Miss Kerr’s Agency of Useful Women. And no, they aren’t escorts but they do run all manner of errands. Mabel is soon proving her worth and making friends with a diverse group who would most likely make her papa’s and the local vicar’s hair fall out.

The engaging writing style was easy to follow with interesting characters and unexpected conundrums. I enjoyed Mabel’s unusual escapades and am looking forward to the next installment, which is already idling on my Kindle. I expect Mabel is going to be one of those people with a high rate of individuals inexplicably dropping dead in her vicinity.

A cozy period mystery with a period cover and an intriguing description, how could I resist reading an early NetGalley copy of A Body on the Doorstep, the first book in Marty Wingate’s London Ladies Murder Club series? It is 1921 and Mabel Canning has left her small town to seek employment at the Useful Women’s Agency in London. Living in a flat with a doorman who is a friend of her father’s and completing every job the agency will send her way, Mabel is soon embroiled in a mystery when she is tasked with being company for a young widow and finds a body on the doorstep.

Suspicion falls on Mabel when the widowed Rosalind’s brother Park arrives, and proving herself to the former detective is as much a challenge as finding the killer is. With the help of her upstairs neighbors, whose work skills come in handy, Mabel searches for clues despite being ordered to keep clear of the investigation - by Park and his former police detective partner.

Mabel makes for a lively and determined amateur sleuth, and along with her new friends and a burgeoning romance with Park, this is both an enjoyable cozy mystery and a delightful 1920’s small-town-girl-goes-to-the-city-to-become-a-modern-woman story with a touch or romance and fun period details including the semi-obligatory hair bob scene.

A Body on the Doorstep is an all-around entertaining read and I look forward to continuing Marty Wingate’s London Ladies’ Murder Club series.

Recommended.

This review refers to a temporary digital copy that I voluntarily read and reviewed through NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own.

I don’t often ready cosy mysteries as there not dark enough for my tastes, but A Body on the Doorstep sounded like something I could enjoy. I enjoyed this book a lot. I really liked Mabel as a character. She’s got a sharp mind and is good at observing what most people would miss. I liked the fact Mabel works for the Useful Women’s Agency which has women doing all sorts of jobs to help out London society such as helping prepare the food for parties, answering letters and escorting children to the train station. This society gave the book a unique perspective. This was an entertaining read.

Marty Wingate does a great job in this opening chapter in the London Ladies’ Murder Club series, it had a great overall feel for the genre. I enjoyed the historical elements and that the murder elements blended perfectly together. It left me excited to read more in this series and from Marty Wingate.

A Body on the Doorstep is the first in a new detective series written by Marty Wingate and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I love cosy crime and this was exactly my cup of tea. Set in London in 1921, we follow independent woman, Mabel Canning as she embarks on a new life working for the Useful Women's Agency. Having moved from her small village to London we follow her during her first couple of weeks and as she gets to grips with her new life. Her first couple of days have her doing all manner of things from flower arranging to escorting errant young schoolboys to the train station. Her most interesting job however has her helping out at a wake. Organised by Rosalind Despard, Mabel is there to help and provide friendship for Rosalind following the disappearance of her husband 7 years previously. The 'wake' has actually been organised as a way of saying goodbye to her husband, something which has troubled Rosalind as she is still none the wiser about what really happened to him.

During the wake, as the title of the book suggests, Mabel answers the door and is disturbed to find a soldiers dead body on the doorstep, clutching a note addressed to Rosalind from her husband. Despite the policy launching an investigation, Mabel can't help but become involved in the investigation, alongside Rosalind's brother Park (an ex detective himself) and his lovable dog Gladys, who has taken a liking to Mabel.

A Body on the Doorstep was superbly written and I loved reading about Mabel and her adventures. We are also introduced to some of the other inhabitants in the flats, Cora and Skeff, that Mabel lives in who become Mabel's friends and help her with the investigation and I thought they added a lot of spark to the story (and hope they are in the others too!)

As with all mysteries, there are plenty of seeds of doubt added into the plot and even about 75% through the story, I still wasn't sure if I had guessed everything right. The ending was brilliant - it took me in a completely different direction as to what I was thinking!

I'm really looking forward to the next couple of instalments and can't wait to see what is in store for Mabel, now that she has her sleuthing hat on!

Mable Canning works at the Useful Women's Agency to assist in odd jobs needed by gentlewomen in A Body on the Doorstep, London Ladies' Murder Club first cozy mystery. She discovers a dead soldier on the doorstep of a widow who is holding a wake for her husband missing 7 years. Bodies keep dropping. Mable is determined to assist the police. On the way she cleans dogs. hangs paintings and writes invitations for ladies. Charming period mystery.