Review: The Mitford Murders

The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was such a fun book and I absolutely adored everything about it. The Mitford Murders blend fact with fiction. I didn't realize until the end of reading, that this book was based on a real murder and a real family. The book takes place in the 1920's and begins with the murder of Florence Nightingale Shore, the goddaughter of her namesake, on the Brighton Line. The story unravels from there as the police investigate and try to solve this mystery. When the police become stuck with no evidence and no suspect, Guy, a young policeman, decides to investigate on his own time determined to solve this crime.
As a secondary plot we follow Louisa who runs from an abusive Uncle and finds a job as a nurse's maid for the Mitford family in their grand estate. The Grand Estate had many of the feels of Downton Abbey. The two plots eventually mesh together as Louisa meets Guy, the policeman, and gets invested in solving this mystery as well.
The Mitford sisters are fascinating in their history. However, in this book, the most prominent character is the eldest daughter, Nancy. Louisa and Nancy both become invested in solving the crime and form their own sleuth team. I adored Louisa as a character. She was just so endearing and I found myself rooting for her the entire way through.
The atmosphere of the 1920's really came alive in this book as well as life as a servant during that time period. The class distinctions were still very evident at that time. The evidence of the war is
apparent with many wounded soldiers suffering from the trauma of the aftermath.
This is a wonderful historical fiction. The Mitford family was a real family that lived during this time and many real facts are blended into the story. The events of the Shore murder are also fact. I was fully enthralled the entire read and the ending definitely took me by surprise.
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