A Body on the Doorstep is the first in a new detective series written by Marty Wingate and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I love cosy crime and this was exactly my cup of tea. Set in London in 1921, we follow independent woman, Mabel Canning as she embarks on a new life working for the Useful Women's Agency. Having moved from her small village to London we follow her during her first couple of weeks and as she gets to grips with her new life. Her first couple of days have her doing all manner of things from flower arranging to escorting errant young schoolboys to the train station. Her most interesting job however has her helping out at a wake. Organised by Rosalind Despard, Mabel is there to help and provide friendship for Rosalind following the disappearance of her husband 7 years previously. The 'wake' has actually been organised as a way of saying goodbye to her husband, something which has troubled Rosalind as she is still none the wiser about what really happened to him.

During the wake, as the title of the book suggests, Mabel answers the door and is disturbed to find a soldiers dead body on the doorstep, clutching a note addressed to Rosalind from her husband. Despite the policy launching an investigation, Mabel can't help but become involved in the investigation, alongside Rosalind's brother Park (an ex detective himself) and his lovable dog Gladys, who has taken a liking to Mabel.

A Body on the Doorstep was superbly written and I loved reading about Mabel and her adventures. We are also introduced to some of the other inhabitants in the flats, Cora and Skeff, that Mabel lives in who become Mabel's friends and help her with the investigation and I thought they added a lot of spark to the story (and hope they are in the others too!)

As with all mysteries, there are plenty of seeds of doubt added into the plot and even about 75% through the story, I still wasn't sure if I had guessed everything right. The ending was brilliant - it took me in a completely different direction as to what I was thinking!

I'm really looking forward to the next couple of instalments and can't wait to see what is in store for Mabel, now that she has her sleuthing hat on!

Mable Canning works at the Useful Women's Agency to assist in odd jobs needed by gentlewomen in A Body on the Doorstep, London Ladies' Murder Club first cozy mystery. She discovers a dead soldier on the doorstep of a widow who is holding a wake for her husband missing 7 years. Bodies keep dropping. Mable is determined to assist the police. On the way she cleans dogs. hangs paintings and writes invitations for ladies. Charming period mystery.

From the cover design and description, I thought this looked and sounded like something that I would enjoy. It was the first book in the London Ladies' Murder Club series.

Historical cosy mysteries are one of my favourite flavours, and this tickled my tastebuds. I warmed easily to the protagonist, Mabel, and this had all the charm and cosiness that I was hoping for, transporting me to 1920's London. This was a lovely relaxing read, and I look forward to reading more from this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

What's better than a historical mystery set in the 1920's? You are right! Not much and I was surprised and delighted with this new series that hit all the buttons of suspense, fun and a journey to find a murderer!

Mabel is fitting right into the times, working for herself and proud of her job. That is until a dead soldier lands upon the doorstep at her work!

This sets in motion the beginnings of a sleuth looking for clues and working with her employers handsome brother!

Definitely a new series I will be reading!!

I really enjoyed this cozy, murder mystery. This story takes place in 1920's London. Mabel is a small-town girl who moves to London wanting to be an independent woman. She starts working at the Useful Woman's agency doing a variety of tasks. While she's at a wake at one of her clients a dead body turns up at the doorstep. She gets drawn into the investigation and teams up with her client's handsome brother, Park Winstone to help find out what happened to the man.

I loved the characters, especially Mabel, the main character. She's hard-working and really excited to move to the big city and be an independent woman. The Useful Woman agency, was an interesting concept, allowing women to earn money and become independent. They did everything from playing the piano, writing correspondence to putting up paintings and everything in between. I didn't realize it was a real agency back in the day.

Thanks to Bookouture, Netgalley and the author for the ARC!

This was a pleasant and easy read. The story flowed nicely, although I feel like it would have benefited from cutting multiple Useful Woman's jobs that had nothing to do with the murder plot. This might be the reason why I never really got hooked by the premise. Every time we were getting a glimpse of mystery, we were then bothered by a UW task that was stretching the story once more. This is the first book in a series so I'm hoping it will get better in the future. There's a lot of potential here.

This review was first published at M's Bookshelf - @msbookshelf_reviews

ARC | Is this a new genre I completely missed?! How brilliant! Historical fiction, a classic whodunnit crime novel, all with the easiness and joyfulness of a delicious women’s fiction read. I’m obsessed! Just like I am with the main character, Mabel. She’s smart, insightful and brave. I’m in awe with how she carries herself and, as I previously drew comparison to chick-lit or women’s fiction, it’s incredibly refreshing to have a MC who’s not held back by doubt or insecurities, which is so often the case. Mabel is fierce, very confident in herself, her talents and intellect and she radiates a self confidence you can feel coming through the pages. She is kind and considerate and both the woman you’d aspire to be and want as your friend.
Although this is not your typical fast paced crime novel, the mystery keeps you glued to the page as the plot thickens and more clues (and bodies!) are discovered. It took me until the final chapter to understand how this could be turned into a series, but yesss I am here for it!
Great read!

Thank you Bookouture for the reading and reviewing opportunity!

An easy to read cosy mystery, that sometimes reminded me of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. It was a perfect blend of humour and seriousness and the mystery was definitely engaging. Can be read easily in one sitting.

It's 1921 and Mabel Canning is moving from her quiet English village to London - much to her widowed father's dismay. Mabel has a flat rented and a job with the Useful Women's Agency. She pictures reading to the elderly, maybe arranging flowers and running errands for wealthy women but her first assignment is to assist at wake for a man who has been declared legally dead. When she answers the door for wealthy widow Rosalind Despard she doesn't find another guest arriving. Instead she finds the body of dead man at her feet. Mabel quickly makes herself a very useful woman as she sets out to identify the body and the source of the letter from the presumed dead Mr. Despard.
This is the first in the London Ladies' Murder Club series.
Wingate is on her game describing the London setting and creating great characters but I found the plot a bit confusing at times. Still it's a promising beginning of a new series and I look forward to meeting Hazel again.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

Miss Mabel Canning has arrived in London in 1921 after FINALLY managing to convince her father that it was no longer scandalous for an unmarried woman to live on her own and support herself in the big city. She’s also running away from her whole village’s firmly held belief that she should marry the local vicar – who is also her best friend’s widower after the ravages of the Spanish Flu epidemic.

Mabel has always dreamed of going to London and living on her own, and she sees poor, dear Ronald as a brother and absolutely NOT a potential spouse. In her mid-30s, Mabel isn’t even certain she wants one of those. She’s certain she doesn’t want any of the available men back home in Peasmarch.

We meet her on her first assignment for the Useful Women’s Agency. She’s been tasked with helping newly declared widow Rosalind Despard at the wake for her late and much lamented husband. But Rosalind isn’t even certain that her husband Guy is actually dead. He’s been missing for seven years and has been declared legally dead so that his business affairs can be taken care of. It’s all about closure – a closure that Rosalind isn’t sure she’s either ready or even eligible for.

So it’s a very strange wake, under rather unusual circumstances. Circumstances that only get stranger and even more unusual when a dead man thumps into the front door with a seven-year-old letter from Guy Despard in his pocket.

No one knows who the dead man is. No one knows what the letter has only turned up seven years after Guy’s disappearance. No one is entirely certain whether the letter is real or merely an elaborate hoax.

But the dead body is certainly real enough to bring the police to the house and open up all the questions and insinuations that Rosaline Despard has been dealing with all these years.

This is certainly not closure, not for Rosalind and not for any of her friends and family. And not for Miss Mabel Canning, who has befriended the widow and is determined to help her get that closure – one way or another – while doing her best to keep her own body and soul together along the way.

Escape Rating A-: This was lovely, very much a case of the right book at the right time, as I’ve been in a bit of a murder-y mood this week – actually this whole entire year so far.

From the beginning, Mabel Canning’s situation at the Useful Women’s Agency reminded me of something, and it’s a something that very much fits. The ‘Golden Age’ detective series about Lord Peter Wimsey, written by Dorothy Sayers, is also set in the 1920s, and the world has some of the same feel even if Mabel is seeing it from much more towards the middle of the social strata.

But during the Wimsey series, Lord Peter funds an agency for independent women, very much like the Useful Women’s Agency. He hires Miss Katharine Climpson’s agency to investigate situations in various cases where women will have entry and he does not, much like Mabel Canning uses the Useful Women’s Agency to get herself involved in a murder investigation.

Unlike Miss Climpson, Miss Kerr and the Useful Women’s Agency really existed – without Miss Canning’s particular specialty – because there was a need for independent women to make their own livings after World War I followed by the flu epidemic wiped out much of the generation of men they would otherwise have married.

The mystery in The Body on the Doorstep is quite nefarious, multi-layered and much closer to home than anyone imagined at its beginning. Well, not the police as they ALWAYS assumed that the wife did it. An erroneous assumption, of course, otherwise we wouldn’t have a mystery on our hands.

The story is cozy without being twee, and its setting in London as seen through the eyes of a woman on the verge of ‘middle-age’ gives her perspective a combination of freshness and maturity at the same time.

There are plenty of murders, and they are often all too gruesome, and yet the details are smudged just enough that the reader ‘gets’ the gruesomeness without being bathed in the blood – so to speak.

But the story works well because we’re following Mabel Canning, and her opening herself to the city and all its possibilities for independence and purpose makes her interesting to follow. We empathize with her every bit as much as she empathizes with the characters who become caught up by the ever expanding tendrils of the murder and its cover up.

I listened to this one for about half its length, and the narrator gave Mabel just the right voice for her inner thoughts and outer expressions. But I got so caught up in the mystery itself that I had to see whodunnit and switched to text because it’s a)faster and b) a whole lot easier to thumb to the end. Although I resisted that temptation by simply finishing in one sitting.

I liked Mabel, I enjoyed her two steps forward, one step back, looking over her shoulder investigation through friendship and a sincere desire to help, and am happy to say that there are two more books in this series – at least!

Particularly because there’s a hint of a possibility of romance for Mabel in this first book, and I’m hoping that we’ll learn whether they will or they won’t in A Body at the Seance, which is out now, and A Body at the Dance Hall, coming in April.

Mabel Cannon cannot be happier to be living in London and working for“The useful lady Society .“ she is excited for her first task with the agency. She is sent to Rosalyn Despard’s Home where one of her first duties is to answer the door. When she does however she finds a dead man with the letter saying that Miss Despard‘s husband Guy, Who has been thought dead for the last seven years is actually alive. This is one Mabel stumbles into a new line of work and that is solving crimes and Rosalyn‘s brother park Winston who eventually moves in to Mabel‘s apartment building will be her partner in solving it. Will Mabel park in the Pooch Gladys solve the crime and get out unscathed or is she treading a dangerous path. Mabel is a very independent and oh so likable character along with her friends and I cannot wait to read the second book in this series. If Marty Wingate plans book to stealthily as she’s done the mystery in the first book then I am definitely excited to read it. A good mystery is one you cannot figure out the culprit or the solution and that was definitely the case with a Body On The Doorstep by Marty Wingate Book one in The London Ladies Murder Club series. If you love a great cozy mystery that’s up in the Victorian era with lovable characters in crimes that are easy to solve the new definitely love this book I am new to the cozy mystery fan club and with books like these I will not be giving them up no time soon. This truly and honestly was a great read and one I highly recommend. I want to thank Bookoucher and Net Galley for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

A Body on the Doorstep by Marty Wingate is the beginning of a new series featuring Mabel Canning, who has escaped her small town life in 1921 to come to London and live as an independent woman. She has rented a small bedsit in a building owned and overseen by a friend of her father’s (naturally), a gentleman named Chigley. She has started a job with a firm called Useful Women with which a person can contract to send a woman for nearly any chore. She has arrived at the home of Rosalind Despard to see her through a difficult day: her husband’s wake. Odd as he has been gone, presumed dead, for seven years. Rosalind was a veteran of the stage but had quit when she married. There were a variety of people at the wake” Rosalind’s brother, Park; theatre folk; business associates of the deceased; and a variety of others. Bridget was the maid, and all around caretaker, and seemed to be vital to Mrs. Despard’s existence. What had happened to Guy Despard. Would his widow be able to figure that out once she went over the books and other business papers as she was now the owner? Odd thing, though, when Mabel went to answer a lock on the door, a body fell through onto the floor. On him was a letter to Rosalind from her husband, from seven years earlier.

Mabel makes friends easily and at New River House, where her apartment was, and was greeted warmly by Mr Chigley, her father’s friend. She was feeling slightly better about things. She met two woman who lived there, also. Cora and Skeff. Cora designs hats and they were all over the apartment, except for piles of newspapers, which belonged to Skeff who was a newspaper reporter. By the next day there was a new tenant, Park Winstone (yes, the same Park), and his dog, Gladys. They are all destined to become fast friends. On her second day she was sent to a home to escort eight-year-old Augustus Malling-Forbisher to the train to return to school. That turned out not to be the simple task it was made out to be but she succeeded and they became fast friends. Miss Kerr was the owner of Useful Women and soon recognized a capable employee so when Mabel was called back to to the Despard home and got involved in murder, she let it go, as long as they paid their bill. This is destined to become one of my favorite series. New and fresh faces, an intriguing time period with the protagonist having an interesting life, and a clever mystery. Can’t wait!

Thank you Bookoutre for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. #Netgalley #Bookoutre #MartyWingate #ABodyOnTheDoorstep

Moving from the country village to London is such a change
But something Mabel Canning is pleased to arrange.
It gives her the chance to be independent and to see
New possibilities and what she can be.
Working for the Useful Women's Agency she never thought to discover
A murder mystery quite unlike any other!

Her role is helping at a wake for the husband of Rosalind Despard
Opening the door and greeting shouldn't be too hard.
However, when she finds a soldier there
Him dropping down dead gives her quite a scare!
Who is he and how did he have a letter for Rosalind, too?
So begins the hint for every clue!

I really enjoyed this historical cosy crime thriller
Complete with the mystery and serial killer.
New friendships, danger and even a possible romance
Are all involved as Mabel takes more than a chance.
There's also a new role for the Agency, too,
After all that occurs and Mabel goes through.

An indication of how much I enjoyed this book
Is that I immediately went to take a look
At the second in series and downloaded it, too,
So I have it ready to read and review!
For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

Well this was fun! Mabel Canning recently arrived from the country is working for the Useful Women agency. Her duties range from fetching and carrying to writing invitations and accompanying young children. But solving a murder? That's something unexpected, but when a dead body turns up on her client's doorstep, Mabel feels the need to become involved.

Clearly disbelief needs to be suspended and co-incidences accepted, but once the reader has done that, this book bowls along beautifully. The characters are well-defined and many are clearly going to appear in future books and become more filled-in. Just one slight criticism. Just occasionally non-British English creeps in and irritates me (although probably no-one else!).

Sometimes reading a description of a book is enough to know you are immensely going to enjoy it. I don't have the experience often, but when I do, it almost always is correct. As was the case with Marty Wingate's A Body on the Doorstep:

London, 1921: Mabel Canning is proud to be a modern woman working for the Useful Women’s Agency, carrying out tasks for gentlewomen from flower arranging to washing muddy dogs. But when she answers the door for wealthy widow Rosalind Despard, she almost chokes on her cucumber sandwich when she finds a soldier’s body on the doorstep.
As she offers tea to the policemen of Scotland Yard, Mabel can’t resist getting drawn into the investigation. Who was the mysterious dead man? And why was he holding a letter for Rosalind, written by her husband on the day he disappeared?
As Mabel hunts for clues, she joins forces with Rosalind’s handsome brother, former detective Park Winstone, and his adorable terrier, Gladys. But when Mabel suspects she is being followed, the detective duo know that time is running out before the killer strikes again. Can she outsmart the killer and save Park and Rosalind before they also turn up dead as doornails?

So when publisher Bookouture approached me if I wanted to read and review this book, I said yes immediately!

Mabel Canning is one fierce, independent woman, when you take into account that the story is set in the twenties. She sets her mind to never marry and stay independent, and moves to London to reach that goal. In London she gets a job as a Useful Woman at the Useful Women's Agency. A job in which she never knows what will be waiting for her the next day.
What is even better is that this agency really did exist, together with its proprietress, Miss Lilian Kerr. I can't find all that much information about it online, but it does make me want to go to London and start looking for evidence!

Cosy mysteries, of which A Body on the Doorstep is one, are one of my favourite genres. Mostly they are books that I enjoy reading after a long day at work. Easy going, with just a little bit of whodunnit and usually quite a lot of humour. The same goes for this book. I loved every character in the novel. They are all incredibly realistic. I can imagine them strolling through London.

What is also important for me is that a book is not predictable. Yes, some parts in A Body on the Doorstep were a little predicable, but the outcome of it all was a big surprise to me. I would have never guessed who was the killer. It was a surprising and satisfying outcome.

So all in all it is safe to say that I really enjoyed reading A Body on the Doorstep and am looking forward to reading the next book. For there is great news, this book is the first in a series: the London Ladies' Murder Club series. The next book is called A Body at the Séance. I can't wait to read it!

This is a review for both A Body on the Doorstep and A Body at the Séance, the first and second novels in the London Ladies' Murder Club Book series.
I read other novels by Marty Wingate and always enjoyed them as the plot are always entertaining, the mystery solid and the characters well rounded.
These novels are the excellent start of a new series and the type of novels that keeps you reading and enjoying the stories.
I found them very entertaining and they type of mystery that makes you relax and have fun.
I loved Mabel, the heroine, and was fascinated by the world of the Useful Women’s Agency. Mabel is clever, indipendent and never reckless. I love how she worked to be her own woman and adapted to her new life in London.
The cast of characters is well done and relatable. I liked them as they're all quite relatable and likeable.
I can't wait to read the third in this series as I want to know what will happen in Mabel's life and the new mystery.
Well done and highly entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Bookouture for this ARC, all opinions are mine

In Marty Wingate's "A Body on the Doorstep" Mabel, a proud to be a modern woman, has just moved to London to work for the Useful Women’s Agency. When, during one of her assignments at Rosalind Despard's house, she stumbles upon a soldier's body, Mabel dives into solving a murder, together with her new friends Cora and Skeff, and the dynamic duo of Rosalind's brother, Park Winstone, and his terrier Gladysdives .

The only slight drawback for me was guessing the culprit early on, but the unknown motive kept me hooked. "A Body on the Doorstep" is a cozy, well-crafted mystery that captures the essence of its time, blending historical charm with an engaging whodunit. Marty Wingate succeeds in delivering an enjoyable read, and fans of historical mysteries will find Mabel and her friends a delightful addition to their bookshelves.

London, 1921: Mabel Canning is proud to be a modern woman working for the Useful Women’s Agency, carrying out tasks for gentlewomen from flower arranging to washing muddy dogs. But when she takes an assignment to help for wealthy widow Rosalind Despard, she never expected to open the door & a dead body to tumble inside. As she offers tea to the policemen of Scotland Yard, Mabel can’t resist getting drawn into the investigation. As Mabel hunts for clues, she joins forces with Rosalind’s handsome brother, former detective Park Winstone, and his adorable terrier, Gladys. Then Mabel suspects she is being followed & another body is found.
A new author to me & a new series, which I thoroughly enjoyed I read the book as well as listened to the audiobook.The audiobook was well narrated & kept me both listening & reading. I loved Mabel who had travelled to London to start a new life, the supporting characters were well portrayed & I look forward to getting to know them more & especially to see where Mabel & Parks’ relationship goes. There were twists & turns as well as red herrings. I did work out who the murdered man was & towards the end guessed, correctly who the murderer was. A well written engrossing murder mystery, now onto the second in the series
My review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Mabel is a “modern woman” in 1921, single and in her 30s. She has come to London from a small town to make her way in the world She manages to get employment at the Useful Women’s Agency (this was an actual thing!), doing various odd jobs: arranging flowers, taking an 8-year-old to the train to get him to his boarding school; washing a dog; mending a lacey piece of clothing; helping at a wake; etc.

While at the wake for Guy Despard, who had disappeared 7 years earlier (finally able to be declared legally dead), Mabel answers the door and a man falls at her feet, dead, holding a letter from the woman’s husband, dated 7 years earlier. And so the mystery starts! Who was the man and why did he have that 7-year-old letter?

When I read books about the lives of women in earlier times, I’m always struck by how limited their lives could be, due to social conventions. It was basically “unheard of” for a woman to go to a restaurant alone or to a music hall (similar to American vaudeville), for example.

I enjoyed the character of Mabel, as well as many of the side characters, such as the two other young women who live in her building: Cora, an aspiring milliner, and “Skeff”, a journalist (I’m sure that was quite unusual then). Bridget, the feisty maid at the Despard house is another great character. The wife of the missing/dead man, Rosalind, used to sing in music halls and her brother, Park, is a former Scotland Yard detective. Mabel winds up working with Park on the case of the “body at the doorstep” and they made a good pair. Park’s dog, Gladys, provides some welcome fun.

I look forward to reading of Mabel’s further adventures - the next book in the series is A Body at the Seance.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient. The audiobook was narrated beautifully by Naomi Frederick, a new-to-me narrator.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

I'm sure that the characters will develop as the series progresses and will have plenty of appeal to some. The set-up and plot were a little too far-fetched for me (from the widow making friends with Mabel within minutes and the brother moving into her apartment block essentially overnight). It all felt as bit of a stretch and I had
spotted the perpetrator very early on. This cozy 1920 murder mysteryis three stars out of five for me

With thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and the author for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.