pianist, 1921, amateur-sleuth, local-law-enforcement, London, series, situational-humor, investigations, pet-dog, family, friends, ex-cop, cozy-mystery, historical-fiction, medium, seance, milliner, fraud*****

The man who turned up strangled to death at the seance in November was supposed to have died in a fire the previous March. Say what? Mabel was there at the behest of the man's wife and much tomfoolery was uncovered as she began sleuthing. Suspend disbelief and you will enjoy this historical romp as much as I did!
Mabel left the village of Peasmarsh, moved into New River House, made friends with fellow rooming house residents (Cora and Skeff), and came to work at the Useful Women’s Agency.
This is a light-hearted read with an interesting and well-written cozy murder and lots of fun situational guffaws. Easily works as a stand alone.
I requested and received an EARC from Bookouture via NetGalley. Thanks for the fun! ( )

Mabel Canning works for the Useful Women Agency in London. Her assignments might include anything from picking up dry cleaning to escorting school boys to the train to helping a woman decide where she wants to hang a valuable painting to murder.

When Mabel is hired to take Mrs Plomley to a seance where she hopes to reconnect with her husband who died in a fire eight months earlier. What she isn't anticipating is finding the formerly deceased husband dead again this time by being strangled in drapery tiebacks. Naturally Scotland Yard is involved, but Mrs Plomley wants Mabel to find out about her husband's first supposed death.

Mabel begins looking into the first death but also investigates the other people who were at the seance to see if any of them had had earlier connections with Mr Plomley. With the help of her friends Cora and Skeff and assistance from Park Winstone and his adorable dog Gladys, Mabel is on the case.

This was an engaging cozy mystery. I really like Mabel's determination to be an independent woman and her way a making friends which are becoming a network of people with a wide variety of skills and connections. I also like her budding relationship with Park who really understands her and encourages her to develop her talents even while hoping that she will keep out of danger.

I look forward to more cases for Mabel and the London Ladies' Murder Club to investigate in future books. ( )