I just adore this series and this author. At one of the most stressful times of the year in terms of my work calendar, this was the perfect escape. I loved how the twists and turns increased the pace of the plot. Eleanor is a likeable and relatable character, partially despite but also because of her high class and important status. I loved the subplot, which explored themes of women's rights, equality and power. I thought the ending was brilliantly executed in order to set up for the next in the series, which I am looking forward to reading. Overall, this was a fun, escapist and enjoyable read which I devoured quickly.

Verity Bright is back with another fun, charming and intriguing mystery featuring the intrepid, glamorous and adventurous Lady Eleanor Swift.

Eleanor might have discovered a knack for solving mysteries, but after getting entangled in two murder investigations, she vows to put her crime-fighting days behind her and focus on her philanthropic work and on continuing to becoming part of the new community she has found herself living in after inheriting Henley Hall. Eleanor is enjoying being part of the village and she certainly does not plan on doing any more sleuthing. When she hears that a local politician had been found murdered at a dinner party, an intrigued Eleanor decides not to interfere and to let the police do their job – until she realises that this investigation might be a little bit closer to home than she initially imagined…

With gossip spreading around the village like wildfire about the politician found dead at Farrington Manor, Eleanor is shocked when she goes home and finds their former cook in tears in her kitchen. It turns out that Mrs Pitkin is being considered a suspect by the police and as if that wasn’t bad enough for the poor woman, she had also been turfed out of her job without a wage or a reference! Eleanor is not about to allow an innocent woman to hang for a crime which she did not commit and despite all of her resolves to leave the investigating to the professionals, she vows to do whatever it takes to clear Mrs Pitkin’s name and found out whodunnit.

With her bulldog Gladstone by her side, Eleanor vows to leave no stone unturned in her search for the truth and when another dead body turns up at the victim’s house, it looks like she might be on the right track to finding the culprit. As Eleanor edges ever closer to finding out the truth, will she manage to clear Mrs Pitkin’s name and ensure that the murderer is punished before another dead body is found? Or will this be the case that will leave Eleanor – and Gladstone – completely and utterly confounded?

Verity Bright’s Lady Eleanor Swift mysteries are absolutely delightful. Funny, sophisticated and wonderfully intriguing, A Witness to Murder is a captivating historical whodunnit cosy fans are simply going to lap up. Eleanor is on top form as always and readers are going to thoroughly enjoy the time they spend in the company of crime fiction’s most stylish sleuth!

A cosy thriller that is impossible to resist, A Witness to Murder is another winner by the fabulous Verity Bright!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

The third book in the series. Another hit, and this series just gets better and better. Did find the politics a bit not to my liking though, but easy to skim through at times. It is a key point in the story though, but hard to think of what it was like for women back in the 1920s. A good cozy mystery, and wish for more interaction with the dishy Inspector. So much more interesting than Ellie's off and on boyfriend of of Lancelot. Would highly recommend this book and series.

This is another exciting book in this likeable murder mystery series set in the 1920s. A politician dies at dinner, but Ellie is determined not to get involved until she feels she must clear the main suspect's name. Asked to stand for parliament, Ellie reflects on the position of women in 1920s society.

This is an engaging cosy mystery with historical authenticity, socio-political awareness and a twisty mystery. Vividly created characters and entertaining and immersive amateur sleuthing make this very readable.

I received a copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is book 3 in the Lady Eleanor Swift mystery series. This cozy series is set in the 1920's is a refreshing change. I'm not a big historic reader but I do enjoy Lady Eleanor Swift and her friends. Life has changed for Lady Swift since the end of WWI but England is recovering. Lady Eleanor and her helper, Bulldog Gladstone, are trying to save Mrs. Pitkin, the cook at Farrington manor from a murder charge. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for a gifted digital copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

This was a well-written cozy mystery with a likeable heroine whose amateur sleuthing skills are aided by Clifford, her perfectly dependable butler. While this was #3 in the series, it was my introduction to Lady Eleanor Swift, and I had no trouble picking up past relationships or references to prior adventures.

Taking place in the 1920s in a small British village, Lady Swift (AKA Ellie) finds herself running for local office at the same time as she is solving a murder (and then a second murder). What makes this novel stand out from the usual cozies is that the heroine is intelligent and independent. There is a sub-plot of women's rights which is (unfortunately) still a current topic. And the story includes a thread of romance as Ellie is wooed by two suitors.

If you're looking for an entertaining British cozy with an appealing, intelligent heroine, a surprise murderer, and humor throughout - this is the book for you.

A Witness To Murder is the third book in the Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery Series.

I am loving this series of books, I am huge fan of mysteries and this series ticks all the boxes. In this book Lady Swift sees herself looking into the death of a Member of Parliament and what I find interesting is how the author references the period. Women had not got the vote at the time the book is set. Due to her investigating she is invited to stand for election, a massive thing at that time.

The plot as always is well written and it is a great addition to the series.

I was a little worried when I realized this was the 3rd book in the series, but that did not hinder my enjoyment of it! I have since gone back and read the first two as well. Great reads!

Another absolutely delightful Lady Swift mystery. This time Ellie gets mixed up in both a murder and an election; when the local MP drops dead at dinner & Ellie is persuaded to run for his seat.

Who knew how devious country by-elections and politics could be? I had suspicions early on, but despite those, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The third in a series and I have not read the others, but this was not a problem which for me is the sign of a great book.
Lady Eleanor Swift is an lovely character, with her servants especially Clifford the butler supporting her in her adventures.
This one involves, standing for parliament as well as investigating the murder of the previous MP.
Light air planes and poisonous fudge all make this a fun read.

I was initially a little worried, this being the third book in the series, I would be missing a lot of prior information, but this ended up not being the case. The author does a good job of making this book possible to e read as a standalone, though having read it, I am definitely curious abut the previous ones!

Our sleuth is Lady Swift, aided by her butler Clifford, and they make for quite an entertaining pair. I liked their rapport and the way they worked together. In fact, all the characters, especially the members of staff in Lady Swift's Henley Hall seem a good team and I felt the author did a good job making them all seem distinct and not like caricatures. There also seems to be a bot of a love story with a fellow called Lancelot, which had me intrigued! I won't give away much of the plot here, but it was entertaining, a bit of a cozy caper, and the ending felt satisfying and logical.

I'd definitely be interested in reading more by this author and would recommend her books to fans of cozies, historical fiction and light-hearted but clever mysteries!

'Who would have guessed these sleepy villages and market towns are such hotbeds of political intrigue, murder and vice?'

She's only been back in the UK for six months and Lady Eleanor Swift is already on her third murder case!! Cripes!! This is another fun and diverting instalment in the series, mixing the social issues of the time with, in this case, the death of the sitting local independent MP after eating a dodgy fudge cake. Despite her best intentions not to get involved, Eleanor is dragged into not only investigating the death, but also being asked to stand in the forthcoming by-election. Ably assisted by her butler Clifford, and with a little help from her would-be beaux Lancelot and DCI Seldon, Eleanor is involved in a race against time as a second candidate is murdered.

Class inequalities and women's rights give a social backdrop to this, but it's also just a bright and breezy murder mystery that never takes itself too seriously - and that is the charm of this series. Long may it continue.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

Lady Eleanor Swift solves her third murder mystery in A Witness to Murder. by Verity Bright. An excellent English village cosy has a local MP die and Lady Eleanor stands as the Woman's League candidate in his place. Village life is in an uproar with her candidacy and another murder. Lady Eleanor is briefly a suspect but goes on to narrow down the suspects. Enjoy.

I'm a sucker for cosy mysteries, and this one was exactly what I needed. The main character is entertaining and sparky, the mystery is engaging and the world building is done very well. I enjoyed basking in the historical setting and in the world that Verity Bright has created just as much as following the mystery. This was the first one of hers I have read and I was pleased to discover there are a few set before this too. If you enjoy golden crime novels you'll get something out of this (although it is more in the line of stories from authors such as Ashley Weaver).

According to Eleanor, Lady Swift, the protagonist of A Witness to Murder by Verity Bright, there are three types of country folk:

‘The majority consist of three groups: those who have committed unspeakable acts, those who dream of committing them, and those who make up malicious gossip about the first two.’

This is nonsense, and Lady Swift should know it. The world she inhabits is populated by a few bad apples, some posh country types, and the salt of the earth. They are all, none the less, largely backward in their views about gender roles, especially but not exclusively in relation to running for Parliament. There’s a scene in a shop which is straight out of Father Ted:

‘Mrs Jenkins, Mrs Browne, would you like…[your husbands to] stay at home and raise the children and keep the house?’

‘Mercy, no!’ they chorused. ‘Can you imagine the mess, Ida? The chaos?’

For this time, the local MP is murdered and Eleanor stands for Parliament at the same time as solving the case.

A Witness to Murder is published in the same week that Sasha, Lady Swire, has published her diaries of life on the edges of David Cameron’s political and social circle. Swire has very similar characteristics as Verity Bright’s Lady Farrington: I suspect Swire may not necessarily expect husband Sir Hugo to be able to bluster his way out of a police investigation, but the sense of entitlement concerning the rights of ‘quality people’ seems shared between the two. For the first few chapters I’m grinding my teeth a little: Swire’s memoirs have shattered the gap between fiction and reality on which the Swift books depend a little. But as we get further into the book a blanket of niceness descends on proceedings: Gladstone the elderly pug adds to his slipper collection, Mrs Trotman makes a lovely pie, Eleanor makes an impromptu speech that charms the voters, and Clifford provides a mixture of officiousness and playfulness. The murder weapon is peanut fudge. I even find Goggles Fenwick-Langham less annoying this time round.

Some casting notes: Liza Goddard continues in the role of Eleanor and I’m thinking Julian Rhind-Tutt for Goggles. In previous reviews we have had Lionel Blair in the role of Clifford but I am less sure this time round. As Goddard’s casting is based on her role as Philippa Vale in Bergerac I am minded to suggest Terence Alexander. And once we have cast the main characters we can continue, safe in our cosy world where sleuthing is powered by fruitcake and teams of cooks seem to be constantly preparing picnics.

I came pretty close to working out who had dunnit, but not really why. When it comes, the clue is something only Eleanor (and we readers) could recognise. The wider question – why the local police force don’t really bother to pursue the case except to wrongfully caution Eleanor – remains unanswered, but of course we don’t care about that, as long as there are sausage rolls available at short notice. There is perhaps too much niceness in the end (even Lady Farrington kind of makes amends in the final chapters), but there is wit along the way.

A Witness to Murder builds nicely on the previous Eleanor Swift novels and gives us a cosy mystery fix now that the nights are drawing in.

These books are just light-hearted fun, the kind of thing you pick up on a Sunday afternoon after you brewed a big pot of tea, nestle down in your favourite armchair and just read it in one fell swoop. The mysteries are always well-plotted, the banter is charming, the setting is adorable and I could imagine nothing more pleasant than to while away some hours in the company of the Lady-Butler-Dog crime-solving trio.

A murder mystery is always a pleasure to read be it set in present times or 1920, a hundred years ago. Lady Eleanor Swift was back again doing what she does best, being an amateur detective. Author Verity Bright did a wonderful job to bring her to life, set in times when life for women was at the cusp of a change.

A dinner and an allergic reaction found Lord Aris drop right into the dessert plate. The cook was blamed, and it was Lady Eleanor to the rescue.

The beginning scene was quite humorous which went on to show me that, even with a title, Eleanor was the best person she could be, kind and gentle with a keen eye and not so keen posture.

Having decided to investigate the murder, it didn’t take long for this talented lady to start interviewing people. Being ably assisted by the butler Clifford, the two went about finding new ways to help the cook.

The writing was apt, the visual imagery from the words perfect. Humor was combined with intelligence. I, especially loved her banter with Clifford. Romance was hinted, though I was never keen on it in a murder mystery. The cop had a dashing flair, I must admit. I liked him in the earlier book too.

Several suspects and a few twists along with a polite kickass heroine made this an entertaining read.

This was an amusing book with a well-thought out mystery.

I enjoyed the interactions between Lady Swift and Clifford - in fact, I enjoyed the interactions between Lady Swift and just about everyone. She is down to earth and likeable and full of mischief and humour.

This was the first book I had read in this series and it was easy to follow without having read the preceding books. It was definitely worth a read, and I'll be looking out for the remainder of the books.

Well once again Lady Swift takes you on an entertaining and engaging adventure! I love this series and now look out for these releases every time. Today is the publication day and fingers crossed it flies off the shelves. This time period and cosy crime escapades are one of my favourite genres and this one certainly ticks all the boxes! ‘A Witness To Murder’ is book three in the Lady Swift series but you can easily pick up the threads and be swept away on her journey.

In this book Lady Swift is running for parliament and would you by chance it is soon embroiled in another murder case. Helped along by her trusty butler and dog she certainly makes an impact on the local area whilst campaigning. She is even accused of killing off another candidate! I loved how the history of the suffragettes was in the background. I hope it does become a bit more prominent in future books but that’s just old socialist history me. However, I do know I want to know more about Lady Swift’s parents as I totally don’t believe they are dead!

Lady Swift is starting to mature as a character and understand her role as being head of a household and a leading member of society and the community. I loved seeing this. Shame a certain person is not also doing this! Anyway, I’m getting into spoiler territory but I hope that this is developed in the coming books.

Once again I loved this outing from Verity Bright’s Lady Swift - it’s become one of my highlights to read and being informed there is another book coming later on in the year is keeping me happy. Also, how is it authors are able to churn out so many books a year and they are still brilliant? It’s a skill people. Well tally-ho until the next outing.

Another great read. This book was engaging and kept my attention from the very beginning. I look forward to the next novel!