Admission: Marty Wingate just got a buyer for all of her mystery series. I loved listening to the audio version of A Body on the Doorstep. I ate it all up as fast as I could, enjoying its historical setting in 1921 London, the cast of characters from the fading music hall actors, to the wealthy customers of the Useful Women Agency, to the women of that agency, to Flea, a deaf teenager who scrapes along on the waterfront. Mabel Canning has left her small town where everyone thinks she’s the perfect match for the widower vicar who had been married to her best friend. She is on a mission to become an independent woman. Her father allowed it (Mabel is 32) because she got a small flat in a building where his old army friend is the porter and looks out for Mabel.
Mabel becomes one of the useful women, washing dogs, sorting out moth ridden furs and escorting a very lively boy to the train to boarding school. She is sent, with very little information, to assist at the wake of an Irish shipping magnate. He was the husband of Rosalind Desparts, former music hall performer.. Rosalind’s friends and family are people from the music hall, her husband’s employees and her brother Park. During the wake, Mabel hears a knock at the door and answers to a body of a man in a great coat. An observant, smart woman with a large dash of common sense, Mabel gets involved, connecting with people from all walks of life to figure out the dead man’s identity and why he died on the doorstep. Wingate can be very witty, creates a fun group of cozy characters, and plans two more books in this series. Love it! Just the right cup of tea on a winters day. And a fun dog character too. The narration is quite nice.
They Called me Bookworm 