Murder in an English Village by Jessica Ellicott is a delightful story. It is the first in the Beryl and Edwina mystery series. The mystery, the death of a local girl, had me intrigued and kept my attention. I thought I knew how it was going to play out and while I was on the right trail, I was surprised. 

Beryl and Edwina are two friends who are very different. Beryl is adventurous while Edwina likes to avoid anything that is unpleasant. I really loved their friendship. Though very different they each recognized the strengths in the other. Their friendship seemed true to life because they also got annoyed with each other at times. 

The story takes place in a small English village in the 1920’s. The author did a great job in describing this small village. Between the description of the village and other characters in the town, I wanted to be there. I loved the characters that live in this village. From the constable who will not admit to anything going on in her village, to the village gossip, the characters were fun and just what I would imagine for an English village.  The star of the village characters is probably Edwina’s dog Crumpet.

This is a fun, easy mystery. It is exactly what you would expect from a small English village set in 1920 and I can’t wait to read the next one.