A Body on the Doorstep by Marty Wingate ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Fiercely independent Mabel Canning can’t wait to begin working for the Useful Women’s Agency. But when she discovers a body on her client’s doorstep, it’s time to add solving murders to her job description…

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

January 2024; Bookouture; 978-1803149660
audio (9h 3m), ebook, print (290 pages); historical cozy mystery

I'm always up for trying a new cozy mystery series and I do really enjoy historical cozy mysteries. A Body on the Doorstep is the first book in Mary Wingate's London Ladies' Murder Club series.

I really liked the main character Mabel Canning. She reminded me a little of Jacqueline W.inspear's Maisie Dobbs. While Mabel isn't a trained investigator, she has a keen mind and good observational skills - both important attributes for solving murder. I listened to the audiobook read by Naomi Frederick. At first I thought prefers she also narrated the Maisie Dobbs series and that was why I kept picture Maisie. But it is a different narrator. I thought Frederick did a great job with the audiobook.

Since I read a lot of cozy mysteries, it is a high bar for a series to be original. While I don't mind some overlap in series, I do like there to be something unique about a series. Mabel works for the Useful Women's Agency which is a sort of a Jill of all trades type job - anything from running errands (like picking up dry cleaning) to answering correspondence to helping hang pictures to taking escorting a child to the train station. And in Mabel's case it also includes solving a murder. Instead of being employed by one family, the reader is exposed to a wide swath of London society. 

I'm not sure if this will carry over into future books, but in this book, we also get to see a bit of the entertainment scene of the 1920s. It is not something that has really been showcased in the other 1920s set English mystery series I read.

I already have book 2 on my Kindle and very much looking forward to what is next for Mabel as she formerly takes on investigative cases and heads up an investigative team at the Useful Women's Agency.

Buy A Body on the Doorstep at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. 

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