"Murder at an English Séance (Beryl and Edwina Mystery #8)" by Jessica Ellicott is a P.I. Mystery set in the years just after the Great War (World War I) and the Spanish Flu outbreak in a small village in England that borders on the cozy side of the mystery genre. I say boarders because typically the main characters aren't paid mystery solvers but Beryl and Edwina are Private Investigators, amongst other things.

In this book a medium moves to the village to set up doing séances for the locals. She creates quite a stir by "stealing" away the church organist for use as accompanist during the séances. The vicar's wife hires Beryl and Edwina to find out if the medium is a fraud. In the course of doing this a much bigger mystery unfolds. Beryl and Edwina must figure out both mysteries while having Charles (who is smitten with Edwina) and Charle's toddler ward living with them.

I have to be honest, I found this one difficult to get through. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's because it was a lot of build up before it finally started getting to the bigger mystery solving but I don't know if it was that at all.

It's rather like taking a leisurely time machine back to post WWI England when I visit Edwina and Beryl. You somehow adapt to the slower pace and simply find yourself going with the flow. Even Beryl, Edwina's energetic, adventuresome American friend seems to have settled into life in the village... sorta. After all, just because she's found peace with the calmer, sedate pace of village life doesn't mean she isn't excited to suddenly be gifted with a two-seater airplane. True, the more cautious, restrained Edwina isn't quite as thrilled to learn she's part owner and has no intentions of going up in the plane, even if Beryl is the pilot. Or, well, maybe because Beryl is the pilot. Edwina is already usually stressed to the max simply riding in Beryl's auto. Do you think it might have anything to do with the barrel rolls Beryl was doing before she landed the plane and told Edwina she was part owner?

That's soon the least of Edwina's concerns, however, as Beryl and she, who are what we'd call private investigators today, are hired to determine the credibility of the psychic medium who has recently taken up residence in their small village. Even worse, she's managed to steal away the church's sole talented pianist to perform at the seances. Needless to say, Edwina and Beryl attend. As it turns out, Beryl has worked with another well known psychic skeptic, Harry Houdini, so she's sure she'll be able to easily spot a fake medium. What they didn't anticipate was stumbling across a body in a casket. Well, a real body. Not the probably fake Egyptian princess Roxanne. Honest, that was the name they were given for her mummy. The real body is the church pianist. And this is where the story really begins.

I won't detail the plot. It's an intriguing one, complete with several suspects and red herrings. Oddly enough, I found myself as caught up in the side stories, which includes an orphaned child, village gossip, gambling, flying (of course), and watching Edwina, in particular, grow as a person and judge. Edwina isn't quite ready to admit it yet but, shh, romance may be blooming, too. Even Beryl shows signs of growth that Edwina never imagined. I like them tho', like Edwina, not so sure I'd want to go flying with Beryl. The supporting cast, particularly Charles, Beddoes, and Simpkins, all play vital roles. And, hey, let's not forget Crumpet, Edwina's dog. Like Edwina, he shows at the end that maybe he doesn't crave peace and quiet as they thought. Nope, that's all I'm saying. Read the book. Thanks #NetGalley and #KensingtonPublishing for letting me hop in their time machine to go back in time and visit with Beryl and Edwina once again. I always look forward to that opportunity, especially as we learned quite a bit about how the war impacted even the smallest of villages in ways I'd never really thought about in this book. The history major in me thoroughly enjoyed that aspect.

A good cozy mystery set in the British countryside. Beryl and Edwina work together to solve the murder of a woman found stabbed to death and left in a box to be discovered during a seance. Lots of characters and small town antics make for a fun read. Would recommend.

I really enjoyed reading this, it had everything that I was looking for in a mystery novel. The characters were everything that I wanted and enjoyed the overall feel of them in this world. Jessica Ellicott does a great job in writing this and left me wanting more.