by Sarah Erwin

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win an ebook copy of the book, and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

The Mummy of Mayfair is book two in Jeri Westerson’s Irregular Detective mystery series, and fans of historical mysteries should be delighted with this latest entry.

It’s 1895 in London and Tim Badger and Ben Watson are private investigators working together and with financial assistance and mentorship from the great Sherlock Holmes. In their youth the two were members of Sherlock’s Baker Street Irregulars (street urchins Holmes used to gather information across London). This is such a clever and creative premise for a series, and I was immediately curious to learn all about the pair.

Doctor Enoch Sawyer of St Bart’s Hospital has hired Badger and Watson to provide security for a mummy unwrapping party he is hosting in his home. (These kinds of parties actually happened!) Badger and Watson assume this will be an easy job, watching the upper class express their obsession with all things Egypt.

As assumptions often go in mysteries, an easy job quickly turns into a murder investigation. Doctor Sawyer is a no show to his unwrapping party so his colleague, Doctor Cornelius Archer, proceeds without Sawyer. Archer begins unraveling the bandages only to discover that the “mummy” is in fact Dr Sawyer, murdered. What a bizarre and intriguing mystery to open the book with–I was hooked right away. Dr Archer hires Badger and Watson to find who killed Sawyer. There are mumblings through high society that the killing was the result of the mummy’s curse, but Badger and Watson know this can’t be the case.

What follows is such a complex mystery with a plethora of suspects and other misdeeds coming to surface. Badger and Watson are joined by reporter Miss Ellsie Moria Littleton who is such a strong side character! While this story features two male investigators, the Victorian London setting and mystery gave me “Veronica Speedwell” by Deanna Raybourn vibes.

I loved investigating alongside Badger and Watson as they used Sherlock’s “method,” but also their own intuition. They grew more assured of themselves as the story went along. Humor is also sprinkled throughout which makes this creative mystery even more entertaining. I do hope a book three is in the works.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win an ebook copy of The Mummy of Mayfair, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “mayfair” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 24, 2024. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win, it will be deleted after the contest.You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Sarah Erwin started her career as a children’s librarian, later becoming a public library director and now she’s a stay at home mom. While her career might have changed, her love of reading has been a constant since 4th grade and she reads over 200 books a year. Read along with her on her blog Sarah Can’t Stop Reading or on Instagram. Sarah lives in St. Louis, MO with her two kids, her husband and a family dog and cat.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.