A woman PI, Mirabelle, in post-war England, her husband dead, her mentor dead, but still keeps the office working w/ two other PIs.

A young journalist's throat it slit, his notebook gone & Police remove the body before the inspector could work with it.

Next the cleaning woman for the Masonic Lodge & Royal Pavilion is poisoned while working at the Lodge.

The young restorer of the Royal Pavilion has a secret cache of letters regarding the Scottish Brotherhood, of which her father is one....

Blackmail, murder, kidnapping, & masonic secrets all come undone in this post-war mystery!

I liked the basic story, the characters were action driven, & the narratives were too long at times (- 1/2 *).

I might or might not read another as I never warmed up to the characters. ( )

England Expects by Sara Sheridan - Good

This is the third of the Mirabelle Bevan Mysteries, which are best described as cozy mysteries. It is similar in feel to Agatha Christie's later works in that it is set in the 1950s, but with less of the (painfully) outdated language. The war is over, but the after effects are going to take time to recover from.

Mirabelle Bevan was 'something' in the war. She worked in the Secret Service, not an operative, but behind the scenes. Now the War is over and she has returned to civilian life. Leaving London for a fresh start in Brighton she is now a secretary at a debt collection agency. In the first book, we are introduced to a variety of characters as she became embroiled in a murder. These characters continue into this book to a greater or lesser extent. In particular, her partner in the Debt Agency, Vesta Churchill, a second generation immigrant from the Caribbean.

This book begins with the death of a journalist visiting Brighton. Initially it seems to relate to his betting activities as he is a sports reporter, but it soon transpires that there is a link to the local Masonic Lodge. Mirabelle has a keen nose for a mystery and a clear head for investigation and cannot resist getting involved bringing Vesta along with her.

Whilst I enjoyed the characters, writing and plot, somehow I didn't enjoy the 'story' as much as previously. Maybe I just don't find the Masons of interest. Regardless, I shall look forward to the next in the series as the author has promised a mystery per year of the 1950s as she said, during one of her readings, that she wanted to parallel Britain's recovery alongside that of Mirabelle.
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