Florence Nightingale Shore, the goddaughter of the famous nurse, was brutally beaten and left for dead on a train. Days later she would die. But why would anyone want to kill a woman who gave her life to good deeds, just has her namesake had? Three people who are tenuously connected to Florence will band together to solve her mystery. First there is Louisa Cannon. She happened to be on the same railway line under duress when the crime happened. Second there is Guy Sullivan. He works for the railway as a policeman but longs to work for Scotland Yard and rescues Louisa from the clutches of her uncle. Finally there is Nancy Mitford. Louisa was on her way to interview for a position with the Mitford family at Asthall Manor in the Oxfordshire countryside when everything went pear-shaped. Nancy herself has a connection to the murder victim, in that her dear Nanny Blor's twin sister was a good friend to Florence Shore and that was where Florence was headed when she met her untimely demise. But it's only due to some grand plan that Louisa could never comprehend that despite being late for her interview she is taken on by the Mitfords and forges a friendship with Nancy that happens to revolve around solving this lurid crime that has everyone talking! So many what-ifs and twists of fate in Louisa's favor! But thanks to everything lining up just so it looks like Florence Nightingale Shore's murder will be avenged by a debutante, a nursery maid, and a four-eyed wanna be copper.

The Mitfords are what brought me to this book, but the truth is that this book only has the thinnest veneer of Mitfords while all the heavy lifting is done by two characters out of central casting, Guy and Louisa. I don't take issue with Guy and his tenacity that gets the job done where his intellect and poor eyesight can't, I take all my issues with Louisa. A Victorian street urchin whose family has fallen on bad times and who has learned some unsavory skills in order to make a few bob transplanted out of a hundred different stories and placed in the 1920s. I've read about a "Louisa" in so many books that having her the star here just baffled me. There was no hook, no interest, just her. Again. And this when you have the Mitfords right here! Mitfords that are so two-dimensional I seriously wonder if Jessica Fellowes did any research on them at all. She uses their nicknames and that's about it. Well, other people besides Mitfords have nicknames so really, they could have been anyone. Therefore I had to pin my hopes on the "true crime" angle. Alas, this let me down as well with the murder in the end not being properly explained. Also "no one saw her alive again" as a tagline is WRONG she didn't die for like four days! The bigger picture couldn't hold my attention so the little errors started piling up and annoying me, like an itch I couldn't scratch deep under my skin. Louisa drinking from a cup of tea and then the cup being untouched. Little things over and over that hand me flipping back and forth through the book going, hang on a minute, that's wrong from what we learned earlier. Why did Nancy's birthday have to be moved up a year? Why does time have no meaning anymore? How long have I been reading this book again? Questions that will never have answers, especially that last one.

RATING: 3.5 STARS
2018; Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press

Let's first just get this out of the way...Jessica Fellowes is the niece of Downton Abbey's creator, Julian Fellowes. You might also recognize her name as she has even written some book tie-ins for the series. Fellowes is the writer of The Mitford Murders, the first book in the Mitford Murders series. The series centers around the Mitford family - real historical figures - but the story is told from fictionalized Louisa Cannon's point of view. She is poor and looking for something better than a life of crime with her creepy uncle. She finds a post with the Mitford family and has a mystery to solve with her young charge, Nancy.

I enjoyed this historical mystery set in the Golden Age balancing between fact and lots of fiction. Reading about the Mitford sisters, had be scouring Wikipedia to learn more about their "scandalous" lives. I liked the writing and this novel shows potential for a great series. I am in for the second book.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss/NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

Really great thiller/mystery. Loved this, and could not put it down. Well written, easy to read, great characters. Couldn't want anything more.

am currently purchasing books for our secondary school library for our senior students. I am trying to provide a balance of genres and periods and really try and introduce them to a wide range of modern fiction and non-fiction. This book would definitely go down well with a hypercritical teenage audience as it has a bit of everything - great insights and a narrative style that draws you in and keeps you reading whilst also making you think about a wide range of issues at the same time. I think that school libraries are definitely changing and that the book we purchase should provide for all tastes and reflect the types of books that the students and staff go on to enjoy after leaving school. TMM is the kind of book that you can curl up with and totally immerse yourself in and I think it will definitely go down well at my school. I think that it was the perfect blend of A page-turning read with a strong narrative voice too! I think it would be a big hit with our seniors and will definitely recommend that we buy a copy as soon as we can.

Louisa is the daughter of a washerwoman. In order to escape her uncle’s abuse she applies as a maid to the Mitfords. She learns that the previous nurse was murdered in broad daylight and hunts down the killer.

I think that Louisa comes into her own character once she works in the Mitford household. She learns to heal from her abusive past. In time, she becomes more confident.

Overall, I thought it was a clever mystery. The characters were well-developed. The beginning was hard to read because it was graphic. However, it became easier to read once she is a maid. This novel is well-written and atmospheric. I highly recommend this for fans of Downtown Abbey and Death Below Stairs!

A nice cozy but slow in places. For me, some of the characters were a bit flat. Most interesting is that it is based on an true unsolved murder.

I was hoping to love this one but, unfortunately, I didn't. I was expecting a cozy mystery with the possible involvement of the Mitford sisters. It was kinda like that but just not quite what I wanted. Let me first say that this wasn't badly written. Jessica Fellowes can write, and I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy this series. However, I think for me everything seemed bland. Bland characters and a bland plot.

We open to Florence Nightingale Shore being murdered--which is a real life murder that happened. Then we meet 18 year old Louise, who is poor and helping her mother with her job. She also has to fight off her uncle who is not good in any way. Somehow, Louise manages to get a job with the Mitfords, which comes at the perfect moment when she is running from her uncle. She soon becomes a confidant to Nancy Mitford, who is only 16 at the start of this series. Nancy becomes obsessed with Florence's murder and wants to solve it. Meanwhile, Guy, who is an up & coming cop, also becomes involved in solving the murder. He also has a crush on Louise. You really don't get to know the Mitford sisters as they are all very young in this book. Therefore, I think the title of this book is all wrong. I couldn't really warm to any of the characters--like I said, they were very bland. So it made my reading not as enjoyable as it could have been. Plus, every time I would set the book down, it took effort to want to pick it up again. I just couldn't care less about the mystery. It was lacking in someway that I can't explain. I also thought it was too long, but that could be because nothing exciting was happening. Nothing grabbed me about this book. I don't thing I'll be checking out the rest of the series.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 27%

This was a snooze fest, to me anyways. The pace is so slow and filled with trivial detritus. The first few chapters were good, the novel opening with a murder and attempted kidnapping then slowly lulled.

IMHO, the way it’s written (going as far as I’ve read) would be great on TV, the author being part of the Downton Abbey creative team. As a novel, this needed more “energy” either of the cozy mystery kind or of the YA lit style (leads are teenagers).
1 like

The historical fiction mystery was good and interesting. It was entertaining enough however, I did not like that the ending or my further research and the author's note that this is a real family. I am not a fan of the fictionalised history.

Jessica Fellowes is a wonderful story teller. This book was a real page turner. I can't wait to read more by her.

Blending the tale of a young women trying to improve her lot in life, with a murder mystery surrounding the god daughter of Florence Nightingale makes for an engaging cozy mystery.

Set in 1920's Louisa has a twist of fate when she escapes the bad intentions of her uncle and lands as a Nursery maid in the Mitford household. Befriending the eldest daughter, Nancy, the two stumble upon Florence Nightingale Shore's murder mystery and soon become involved with trying to solve it.

While I did enjoy this story, I found it took me a bit to become engaged with it. However, once the backstory was established I became caught up in Louisa's story, and trying to figure out who murdered Flo. I also really enjoyed the historical timeframe and discussion about nursing in WWI. It was interesting to see Society's perspective of Nurses during that time.

Overall, I found this to be a solid cozy historical mystery

I received an e-arc from St. Martin's press via NetGalley for an honest review of this book.

I love books which are set in the old days. I find the historical feel to be enchanting.

Loved the writing style of the author. At first I didn't know that this book was based on a true event. The author has indeed added her dosage of fiction while keeping the facts and figures true to the actual event. This combination was new for me. But I really loved the way she has done it.

There are a number of characters but out of them, Louisa and Guy Sullivan shares the maximum amount of screen space. Their characters were perfectly sketched. They weren't overly perfect. They had their own problems and difficulties that they were facing. This made them appear natural.

As for the book length, at times it did feel a bit stretched but with settings of the scenes, the descriptions, I didn't mind the length.

It is 1920 and for girls like Louisa the future is bleak. Daughter of a washerwoman her way out of this drudgery is service in a respectable house. Nothing more than that. To add to her misery, her mother is ailing and her uncle who should have been a protector in the absence of her father, now seeks to sell her to the highest bidder as he has got into debt.



Louisa escapes his clutches and ends up in the Mitford household. A large house with a number of children, Louisa is happy for once in her life. She is content with her lot, feels safe, is not hungry and thinks that life is good. However she and Nancy the eldest daughter of the house gets entangled in a murder of a lady on a train and despite not wanting to get further involved knowing that her word will have no hold with the gentlemen of the law, both she and Nancy who will not give up get into the case more and more. Investigating independently and being much more successful along with Guy a railway police young man whose thoughts are also ignored by the higher ups they more or less solve the case with good deductive skills and thorough slow investigating.



This was the first novel in the series and I look forward to the next. This particular story apart from the murder and solving of the crime, depicted in great detail the lives of the aristocracy and the lives of those who lived and worked for them. It also showed the position of women at the time, which is not saying much.

Goodreads and Amazon reviews posted on 21/2/2018. Review on my blog 10/3/2018

3.5 stars, rounded up

A fun period mystery, based upon a real unsolved murder, with plenty of appearances of real people from the era.

It grabbed me from the beginning, with the murder of Florence Nightingale Shore. As it still remains a mystery today, I couldn’t wait to see where the story went. I’m also fascinated by the the Mitford sisters and looked forward to reading about them. Although I enjoyed the story, I think it could’ve been even better with more details. I would classify this as a “high end” cozy. I’m excited to read the next entry in the series and what the next adventures will be!

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Jessica Fellowes, and St. Martin’s Press-Minotaur for an ARC to read and honestly review!**

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley to read in exchange for a fair review. The Mitford Murders By Jessica Fellowes is a murder mystery set in England just after the end of the First World War. The murder in the story actually happened and was unsolved and a number of the characters The Mitford Family among them were real people but the story and the main characters are fictional. Ms. Fellowes does a wonderful job of recreating the time and place as well as an engaging mystery with lots of twists and turns. I very much enjoyed this reading this novel and think it will appeal to fans of Downton Abbey. #TheMitfordMurders #NetGalley

The Mitford Murders is the first book in series featuring the Mitford sisters. When I first started reading the book I thought one of the Mitford sisters would be the main character and I was looking forward to that. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and I couldn't help but be disappointed. Luckily, that disappointment only lasted for a couple of chapters as the main character, a nursery maid, was actually quite interesting and I grew to really like her character and personality.

First of all, I had no idea that this story was based on true events until I reached the end of the book and read some of the historical background to the events. Naturally, I went and looked it up on the Internet and what I discovered was quite interesting. As in the book, the real Nightingale Shore was traveling on the train in broad daylight and to this date, they still have not discovered the murderer's identity. Considering she was the goddaughter the THE Florence Nightingale made it that much more fascinating.

As I mentioned previously, the main character, Louisa, grew on me throughout the story and I really enjoyed her transition from a scared and timid young girl to one who has discovered her sense of worth and who she can be. When she began working for the Mifords, she was afraid of being discovered by her wayward uncle who only wanted to use her to settle gambling debts. As her friendship with Nancy Mitford developed, she also seemed to develop her own identity and became more determined to discover the truth whether she wanted to hear it or not. I really enjoyed her friendship with Nancy as they struggled with class differences even as they became quite good friends. I was a bit disappointed by the fact that I didn't really discover all that much about Nancy Mitford, but when I did get glimpses of her personality, it seemed to go in line with what I'd read about her; her stubborness, her jealousies regarding her sisters, her temper. Yet despite all of this, there was kindness and loyalty as well. Despite the fact that history has portrayed her as quite intelligent and witty, it has also portrayed her as being silly, vain, and extremely jealous of her sister Pamela, and I liked that the book kept faith with that character. While we did see a lot of the temperament happening, we didn't really get to see her budding wit and how people adored that aspect of her.

I really enjoyed the friendship that developed between Louisa and Guy Sullivan, an employee of the train company on whose train Nightingale Shore was murdered. Both Louisa and Guy are flawed characters; one was escaping her home life while the other was trying to learn how to stand up to brothers who tended to bully him, and together, they made a good team. I enjoyed their interactions with each other, and was glad to discover this book wouldn't be another love story where everything works out in the end.

What I couldn't get past was the development of the mystery; while it was fascinating, it was still slow and it was definitely easy to figure out where it was heading. I actually think the author was trying too hard to make the book seem historically authentic which made some of the scenes actually worse as it just didn't always work. There is also this tendency to view women as weak and in need of saving all of the time, and I quite doubt that all women of this time period were like that. Just think; the marches and parades and other such things to allow women to vote took place during this time period so I wish more voice was given to them. Or to the fact that women's place in society was changing. There was some allusion to this with descriptions of women with short hair and dresses that were inappropriate but not enough. That being said, the author can definitely write well, and you get a good glimpse of life during this time period, even if some of the things said or events being described, were a bit jarring.

I thought The Mitford Murders was a good book with a solid mystery, even if the mystery was slow to take off and it was quite easy to figure out the murderer. For whatever reason, the solution didn't quite ring true to events, and I thought the murderer's character actually changed throughout the novel in a way that didn't quite sit true with me. I did enjoy Louisa and Guy's characters and liked how they communicated with each other, developing a friendship rather it being forced on the reader. Nancy is quite young in this novel and there must be allowances for that as she would develop and hone her writing skills in France in the years to come as she tried to break away from her father's control to become more independent. I did like how she tried to assert her independence only to have it broken down by her parents' strict rules and punishments. They weren't cruel but they were definitely trying to hone down her impulse for adventure and fun. Would I read the next book in this series? Oh, yes, definitely, and I hope to see much more of the Mitford sisters as well. There are definitely some interesting times ahead. And for anyone interested in the Nightingale Shore murder, I recently got this book as I thought it would shed some light on the murder: The Nightingale Shore Murder: Death of a World War 1 Heroine by Rosemary Cook.

3.5 Stars

Post World War I England is the evocative setting for The Mitford Murders that uses
a true historical incident, the brutal attack and subsequent death of Florence Nightingale Shore, goddaughter of the famous nurse while traveling by train from London as focus for the story.

Eighteen year old Louisa Cannon, a passenger on the same train escapes the clutches of her treacherous uncle to find employment in the home of the famous British Mitford family (Nancy, Jessica, Unity et al). The Mitford children are in various stages of growing up but the author concentrates on 16 year old Nancy to examine this fascinating period in history where the Great War has shaken up everyone’s attitude about class and society.

Louisa is aided by Guy Sullivan whom she meets at the train station and who works for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Police. Guy has aspirations for future detective work with Scotland Yard.

The Mitford family's nanny is sister of the woman whom the murdered nurse was going to visit. Caution is thrown to the wind as the more excitable Nancy with the aid of Louisa and Guy set about as sleuths to solve the murder.

Jessica Fellowes, niece of Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes has created an interesting intersection of real life characters by crafting a story evocative of the Golden Age mysteries. Period details and the position of women in society in this endlessly fascinating time period make for entertaining reading. It is assumed that the author will continue with future adventures with these characters thus fulfilling the endless allure with the Mitford family.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author; she's built quite a following over her "Downtown Abby" books. I love historical mysteries primarily set in post-war Britain. This book did not disappoint; the way Ms. Fellowes weaved the facts of the case with her own brand of fiction made this a terrific mystery. I must confess, I had no idea this book was based on a true story until I finished the book and read the author’s notes.
Florence Nightingale Shore was a war nurse whose God Mother you guessed it was the famous nurse Florence Nightingale. Ms. Shore was a kindly woman who dedicated her life to helping others, she had decided to retire after the war and enjoy the rest of her life. She was on a train headed to the coast to visit a dear friend of hers when she was murdered. Her murder caused quite a stir, it was shocking that someone could be murdered on a train during the mid-day without any one noticing anything.
Several other plots were going on throughout the book that kept the storyline from lagging. The Mitford family was introduced into the book when Lady Redesdale employed a young woman, Louisa Cannon to assist the loveable overworked Nanny Blor who needed more help caring for the ever-growing Mitford clan. Louisa was only 19 years old and running from her past and she was relieved to be hired to work for Lord and Lady Redesdale as a nanny. She had no experience and it was a dream come true when Lady Redesdale hired her. It gave Louisa a chance to start a new life for herself but one that she would have to take extra care that her past didn’t follow her to their home. The oldest child of the Mitford’s was the precocious Nancy Mitford who was 16 years old and was more than thrilled to have the young Louisa as a nanny. The two young girls became quite close, Louisa had her hands full trying to reel the headstrong Nancy in from getting them both into some serious trouble.
I liked the characters of this book; they were well developed and believable. David Mitford who inherited the title of Lord Redesdale after his oldest brother died during the war, David Mitford was an officer during the war that claimed his brother’s life.
The mysterious death of Florence Nightingale Shore was a constant during the entirety of this book. It was a major cause of contention and speculation between most of the main characters. I was glad to see that this is the first of a series and the second book is already in the works. I'll be purchasing that one for sure.
Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-galley of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. The opinion I expressed above regarding this book is my own.

As soon as I saw this, I knew I wanted to read it! I love a historical mystery and this one lived up to my expectations. The story moves quickly, the characters well-developed and the plot engaging. Looking forward to the next one in the series!

I must admit that I initially had a hard time getting involved with this book. But I'm sure glad I stayed with it because I really ended up liking the characters.

Louisa is just trying to escape an abusive uncle when she gets hired to work as a child nanny for the Mitford family. While there are several children, she connects with Nancy who is closest to her age. Together they work to solve the mysterious murder of Florence Nightingale Shore. The girls get into a few sticky situations, but both are strong willed and pretty darn smart. With the help of police office Guy Sullivan, they are finally able to figure out the murderer. It was quite a surprise!

I was thrilled to see this is going to be a series. What will Louisa get into next?

ARC from St. Martin's Press via Netgalley.