Book Description Review “A richly detailed period piece. . .[A] deft weaving of historical fact and imagined intrigue.” – Kirkus Read more About the Author JESSICA FELLOWES is an author, journalist, and public speaker. She is the author of The Mitford Murders novels as well as the New York Times bestselling official companion books to the Downton Abbey TV series. Former deputy director of Country Life, and columnist for the Mail on Sunday, she has written for the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, The Sunday Times, and The Lady. Jessica has spoken at events across the UK and US, and has made numerous appearances on radio and television. She lives in Oxfordshire with her family. Read more Customers Review: Set in London during the flapper era amongst the rich and famous. The working class make life easy in a sharply divided hierarchy of the times.
The Mitford Scandal is an example of how basing a fictional detective story on a real historical figure can present an author with a lot of challenges. This is basically the story of Diana Mitford before and after her marriage from 1928, 1929, 1930 and then 1932. That is a long time frame for an author to sustain an interest in the deaths and disappearance which the main protagonist of the book is investigating. Louisa Cannon worked in the nursery of the Mitford home so she knew all the children in the family even if she wasn’t specifically working with each child. Then Louisa left the employ of the Mitfords and took up other jobs; finally she rejoined the household when Diana married Bryan Guinness. Louisa also went from being treated almost as a member of the family to being firmly put back in her place as only a ladies maid. These switches in Louisa’s place in the story made the entire atmosphere unclear and unsettled for me. When was she a friend, when was she a maid put back in her place?Honestly, I didn’t find the questions Louisa was investigating to be interesting enough to merit a book spanning this length of time. I understand Ms. Fellowes wanted to get Diana to the place in her life where she turned her back on her marriage and took up with Sir Oswald Mosley while he was still married. For me, this book would have had much more appeal if the “mystery” element had been eliminated altogether and the author had simply written about Diana Mitford Guinness. I suppose that answers the question about whether I will read the first two books in this series and if I plan to read other books as they come along. The writing is quite good, but trying to keep the novel as a mystery just didn’t work for me.Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an e-galley of this novel.
From 1928 to 1932, the British middle and upper class still experienced a bright time. The Roaring Twenties are dimming, yet the fun and frolic continue for those “Bright Young Things” who still have plenty of money. “They drink too much and they’re careless. They’re rich and young and they believe themselves to be invincible.” The descent into decadence plays a major role in The Mitford Scandal, a complex mystery, by Jessica Fellowes.Foremost among them, Diana Mitford (an actual British socialite of the era) is presented as the embodiment of Daisy Buchanan, the heroine of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnum opus The Great Gatsby. She believes “One should live life to the absolute fullest, not doing anything dreary but surrounding oneself with love and beauty.” Sadly, the reader comes to understand that “life to the fullest” includes infidelity, adultery, and opium addiction among Diana’s social set.The book begins with a series of behind-the-scenes views at a high society party in 1928, mostly seen through the eyes of Louisa Cannon, who’s employed as a temporary servant for the evening. Chapter One ends shockingly: a maid falls through a skylight into the middle of the partygoers in the ballroom, dead. While it seems obvious that this was an accident (she had been peeking at the party from a floor up above through the glass dome but fell into it, shattering the glass), evidence years later suggests the cause may have been something more sinister.The maid’s demise is a precursor to several other deaths among Diana’s socialite friends that occur throughout the book. None are apparent murders, but Louisa and Guy Sullivan (a British police inspector) gradually come to suspect there may be a killer at work. A maid, Rose Morgan, has gone missing and may be able to shed light on the mystery if only she can be found.When Diana marries Bryan Guinness, Louisa becomes her lady’s maid. She and Luke Meyer hang on the fringes of Diana’s social set – usually tolerated but not really part of the inner circle themselves. In Mr. Meyer’s case, his entrée is due to family connections, primarily Lady Boyd, his aunt. He’s not independently wealthy like the others and supports himself as a “diarist,” or provider of gossip for the London society columns. Observations by Louisa and Luke provide the reader with both clues and red herrings as various members of the group meander through Europe (Paris and Vienna) and back to England. Guy’s investigation turns up additional clues that point to murder.Louisa and Guy, whose fictional collaborative efforts solved crimes in the previous two books of this series, once again share information to get to the bottom of things here. Louisa is devastated that the police won’t hire her, although she’s pleased that being part of Diana’s entourage at least allows her to see more of the world. Her romantic hopes rise when she and Guy reconnect. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know he is engaged to an Irish girl, Sinéad Barry.The book blends history with fiction convincingly. Bryan Guinness and Diana Mitford are not the only historical figures portrayed. Others include her siblings—Nancy, Pam, and Tom. Sir Oswald Mosley really was a charismatic political leader, an early proponent of fascism, and a notorious philanderer. The story includes incidents from the lives (and deaths) of Lytton Strachey and Dora Carrington, members of the famous Bloomsbury Group. Many occurrences depicted did actually happen.We see the contrast between the older generation’s adherents of strict Victorian and Edwardian moral values versus the looser cultural standards embraced after World War I. There’s mention of the strides women are making. “In the newspapers there were constant stories of women who had earned impressive degrees at university, who were making great scientific discoveries, exploring new territories and flying aeroplanes.” Additionally, the reader can spot early warning signs that the ideology of Hitler and Mussolini are seeping into society.This is historical fiction with a confounding mystery and a hint of romance. That’s a lot to pack into one book, and it’s mostly successful. I’m impressed with the author’s ability to take actual people and events and weave a fictional story around them. It’s surely a winner for readers who love well-written historical fiction.I found its biggest problem to be the inherent UN-likability of so many characters. The pages are filled with shallow, spoiled, irresponsible people and, like Louisa, my interest in spending time with them waned. Without caring much about those who died, I was less interested in seeing the culprit discovered and punished.The villain, once revealed, proves to be both obvious and largely invisible. The biggest clue? As Pam Mitford says, ““It’s extraordinary how people so often don’t see what is right in front of their own eyes.”
The Mitford Scandal is the third mystery in a series by Jessica Fellowes. Each features one of the six Mitford sisters. They were quite a group and well worth reading about in books like The Six.Ms. Fellowes has done her research on the 1920s and 30s and the book is enhanced by what she has learned and shared. This entry is largely about Diana Mitford and her circle of “Bright Young Things.” In that circle were artists, writers and those living the high life. For example there are Lytton Strachey, Waugh and Dora Carrington. Settings include London, the British countryside, Italy and France. All are described well.Diana, herself, marries young to an heir to the Guinness money. It is hard to realize that she is only 21 or so when she is the mother to two small children. She leads a glittering life. The reader learns that she meets and is intrigued by Oswald Moseley, a British Fascist. This adds further versimilitude to the story. Oh, and of course there are murders. SPOILER: A maid, a wealthy man allergic to sesame, his wife and an actress. There is also a missing maid. How are these connected? You will need to read the book to find out.Readers who are returning to the series will welcome spending time with Louisa and Guy, along with other members of the Mitford clan.All in all, this was an enjoyable, moderately paced mystery that will be welcomed by fans of historical mysteries.Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review. |
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