Usually I'd like crime novels from that era. But with this one I got some problems.
I can't identify with the characters and to be honest I found it quit boring, nothing for my little brain to puzzle about.

But I'd like to thank net galley for the chance to read this book, every book you read makes you a better person :)

Lynn Brittney has written an adroitly-paced 'crime and intrigue' novel that falls into the Cozy British Murder Mystery genre. This is Book 2 in 'Mayfair 100 Murder Mystery series', set in England during WW1. The execution of the book is smooth, with a strong sense of place and character developed. The story was particularly satisfying because the opening chapters bring the reader up to speed on the cast of characters, and their previous association, without drowning the current narrative in backstory.

Brittney has not belaboured the British procedural trope: the trio of DCI Peter Beech, Victoria, for whom Peter carries a torch, and the wry Sergeant Tollman illustrate strong characterisation that easily engages your attention as the plot progresses. The supporting characters are delightfully idiosyncratic and none are mere two-dimensional personalities. The plot proceeds with something of a rollicking flavour as the Inspector and his unorthodox team unravel old history and complicated reasons behind the death of an aristocratic daughter, involvement of Scotland Yard rivalries, bent coppers and blackmail.

Two grievances interfered in this being a 5-star read: action that should have moved the story forward was belaboured by too much description leading to the final twist. There’s a point where one wants the author ‘to cut to the chase’ rather than develop a the side story, such as journeying to a distant village in Kent to chase down a loose end. The other niggle, was the rather weak ending that went on too long with tea and gardening, song and dance. These are minor criticisms however, because overall the mystery was greatly intriguing.

Thanks to NetGallery for providing an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Mayfair 100 squad has been idle for nearly a month and they are antsy for another case after the success of their last one.When Chief Inspector Beech is summoned to the Superintendent's office he anticipates a new case.
The Duchess of Penhere's daughter, Lady Adeline Treborne, was found hanged in her apartment. The duchess wants the police to prove Lady Adeline did not kill herself and was murdered instead. But Lady Adeline was no lady and Beech uses his unique squad's special talents to ferret out the killer.

This is an excellent series and I find the interaction among the squad members very entertaining. Looking for to others in the series.

3.5 stars. This mystery, set in London during WWI, centers on the death of Adeline Treborne, a much-hated socket gossip columnist, who turns out to have been a blackmailer as well, leaving numerous possible suspects in her murder. The team of investigators, who we meet in book one, Murder in Belgravia, is a secret team that uses women to assist the male police officers, some of whom were wounded in the war. With amusing characters and a compelling mystery, this held my attention the whole way through. I still have the same complaint I had about the first book--that I just don't feel like I really know the characters very well, but that may be a consequence of having such a large ensemble cast--there are no fewer than nine people working on the case, five of whom are core members of the task force. With as many possible suspects as there were, all with juicy secrets they would like to keep hidden, this book was packed with action, and a very fast-paced read. Would recommend to all fans of historical mysteries who don't require a lot of deep character development.

A Death in Chelsea bu Lynn Brittney is the second installment in A Mayfair 100 Murder Mystery series.

Not having read the first book I had a hard time connecting all the names, titles and roles with the names of the people.

This is the story about a half secret group of people, consisting of amateur female detectives and professional policeman, brought together to solve crimes. The premise seemed intriguing and it piqued my interest.

Young woman from a titled family, who is believed to be a journalist for a gossip magazine is found hanging in her Chelsea apartment. Her mother insist that she didn't commit suicide and ask for a complete discretion. Hence the special team is called to assist.

The story started very well, with the performed autopsy, the question asking just as police procedural should. However then it somehow lost steam and became too slow paced for my liking. At the end is gained pace for a quite satisfactory finish.
There are a lot of reference to the war and they are pretty unsettling. Also I learned many fascinating facts about that time period.
Characters were not developed enough for my liking. It showed great promise but unfortunately fell flat. However it is a solid mystery.

A delightful historical murder mystery with a great cast of characters set in London during World War I.

Taking place during WWi, this historical fiction novel is a police procedural with a twist, the twist being an unrecognized team of civilians who work under the supervision of a Detective Inspector Tollman and his supervisor, Chief Detective Beech. This group of women come from various avenues of life, including a member of the aristocracy, a pharmacist and a doctor. Rounding out the group of Mayfair 100 members are Billy, a uniformed policeman who recruits his mother and his aunt. The team is called in whenever Chief Beech is confronted by a crime that may best be investigated by someone other than the police. In the era of World War I, the aristocracy were much more amenable to be investigated by members of their own social status.
There are two main issues woven throughout the book, a murder and a blackmail scheme. Both of these problems center around the murdered woman and, since she was a member of the aristocracy as well as an apparent blackmailer, the Chief Inspector determines this is a case best suited for the use of his “undercover team”.
This is the second book in the Mayfair 100 series by Lynn Brittney and is a complete story within itself. The characters in the book are interesting, although there isn’t much to distinguish them from each other in terms of conversation or emphasis. There is potential to develop each character into more of a three dimensional person than they are within this particular writing. While there may be some character development in the first novel of the series, which I have not read, there is not much development done for the two additional characters of Billy’s mother and aunt who are introduced as new members of the team.
This is a well paced, well written novel which follows the principals as they discover the murderer and, at the same time, uncover the way the blackmailing scheme worked as well as the primary people involved in it’s operation. I look forward to the next book in the series to learn how the Mayfair 100 women will be put to use and, hopefully, learn a little more about them as well. My thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced digital read copy of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

I received a copy of this title from the publisher for an honest review. A Death in Chelsea is the second title in the Mayfair 100 series. Set during the war, the Mayfair 100 is a special group of woman and police officers who have been created to handle the most sensitive and out of the ordinary cases. After a successful first case, the group is at loose ends awaiting their next case. The apparent suicide of a duke's daughter and notorious gossip columnist fits the bill. Thrilled to be of use, the group visits the crime scene to determine if it was suicide or murder.

What I liked: the author does a great job at giving readers a look into World War I England which is going through enormous changes. Woman are working in large numbers and in jobs normally reserved for men and the lines between the aristocracy and the rest of Britain are starting to lessen. The characters are interesting overall and very likeable.

What I didn't like: There were almost too many characters and I struggled to keep some of them straight. The story did move a little slow at times.

Overall, I did enjoy the book and would pick up the next title. I think the series has a lot of promise if the author continues to develop and expand her writing as she gets more books under her belt.

This is a fairly quick easy read that takes place in London during WW 1. The characters are an elite group of investigators, mostly women, who work on very hush hush cases. The author creates a good sense of the period through description and the use of language that is technically not outdated but is no longer in common usage. I found the characters however, not to have a great deal of depth to them. This may be because their back stories are told in the first book in the series, which I haven’t read. I also found a great deal of emphasis placed on class and hierarchy, with a rigid line drawn between servants and employers. There were moments when this helped in revealing the plot and other times when to my mind it served no purpose. There are enough twists and turns as well as misdirection to make this a good entertaining read. This is not a book with great depth but I don't think it was meant to be.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the second book in a series, I didn’t read the first book so I wasn’t familiar with the many characters. I think this works as a stand alone but I had to go back several times to reacquaint myself with who each character was. The story takes place during WWI in Britain. With many men off at war, Scotland Yard and the police force have enlisted a secret talented female crew, called Mayfair 100, to assist with cases. Mayfair 100 is a group of women that include a doctor, a pharmacist, a lawyer and other woman with various talents. They help Chief Inspector Beech with his investigations. This story begins with an apparent suicide of an aristocratic daughter of a duchess. The duchesse is not convinced that her estranged daughter, Adeline Treborne, has killed herself but doesn’t want a scandal. She was found hanged in her apartment. It becomes apparent that she was disliked by many because she wrote a scurrilous tell-all newspaper column about members of high-society. The women investigate and determine that she was murdered and that she was blackmailing quite a few people. There is no shortage of suspects as the investigation continues and reveals deception and corruption with twists and turns in many directions. I enjoyed this book. It was a well thought out mystery with well developed characters and a good representation of the era in which it takes place. I probably won’t go back and read book one but might read the next books in the series when they become available. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Honestly, I wanted to enjoy this book, but I just couldn't get into fully. I found it to move slow for me.

It was a bit of a disappointment, but not a bad book nonetheless. It left me a bit indifferent. I didn't click with the writing style and that was why it took me so long to finish.

The story was ok, an old classic mystery, but I had trouble differenciating the characters, they kind of blended all together in my mind.
Had I had a physical copy, it might've a been a bit better, but not much so. It was simply not for me...

I enjoyed this book so much! I loved the complex characters and the intriguing story line. I was surprised by the ending, which is always a plus when it comes to a mystery.

I had a hard time putting this book down as I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. I loved the era this was set in and how the author was true to the time setting. There was nothing to dislike about this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery!

I really enjoyed this book but I am a little annoyed with myself that I did not make the effort to find and read book one first. Although A Death in Chelsea does work as a stand alone I think it would have been even better if I had already been familiar with the lead characters.

Anyway this was still a very good read. Set in London in 1915 it features a team of people set up to deal with crimes which need special treatment. Led by Chief Inspector Beech the team includes regular police officers and civilian specialists. Due to the fact that the country is at war and the men are away fighting, the civilian specialists are women, something previously unheard of.

I enjoyed all of the characters especially the extras like Aunt Sissy. I needed more background on the main characters but realise that is my own fault for jumping in at book 2. The story was good, the mystery intriguing and the historical content excellent.

Now I must go find myself the first book.

This book was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I loved the ensemble 'cast' and the twists and turns in the story. Its always fun to try and work out whodunnit and have to admit that I just didn't get there this time. Nothing is quite what it seems. Well done indeed!

The historical context was also very interesting. Unsurprisingly some of the lead characters have been impacted by the war (it's 1915) and this impacts both the mindset and some of the choices.

I hope I have the privilege of reading another one in the series.

My thanks to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Publishers and the author for my advanced copy. The views expressed in this review are entirely my own

This was a great historical mystery, full of great characters and twists. I love the era for the setting and the descriptions of the decline of the aristocracy.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

In a book world full of historical fiction set in World War II, Lynn Brittney centers her cozyish mysteries against the backdrop of World War I England. A Death in Chelsea is the second in the series that features male police officers working with strong female characters to solve crimes. Brittney highlights the necessity of women to operate daily elements of business and municipal functions when the men are away fighting a long war. She does not shy away from the dark elements of society in London that flourish during wartime. The relationships between the men and women that make up the secret task force are sweet and promising. There is no rush to romance between any of the participants and Brittney has developed the characters in a manner that will survive a multi book series.

This is a lovely, old fashioned cosy crime story set during WWI. I really enjoyed both the varied gallery of characters and the well crafted murder story. It was a classic whodunnit in that I definitely didn’t have it figured out, although I thought I did, several times.

My primary concern starting this book was I haven't read book 1 of this series, so I'm not familiar with the characters. However, reading the book, I had no trouble following who's who. This starts with the apparent suicide of a duchess's daughter. The family is not convinced she killed herself, but also do not want a scandal. So enters the "secret" team of Mayfair 100. They are a group of women including a doctor, pharmacist, and lawyer helping with Chief Inspector Beech's investigations. Of course, this is during a time when the men are at war, so women are filling the traditionally male jobs. However, females still face major barriers and discrimination.
As the investigation into the suicide turns into investigations of murder and blackmail, we are given glimpses into the societal problems of that era. There's issues on race and social classes. We see how Britain had to cope with the consequences of WWI. It's wonderfully-written and I found drawn into the investigations.
My favourite TV shows include Murdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake Mysteries. This book reminds me of those shows. The setting and the tone feel very similar. Looking forward to more books in this series.

**Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.**

This was a wonderful novel with a mix of mystery and history!
The character development I found to be slow but overall the story was interesting and well written.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy to read and review.