This year’s been horrendously and wonderfully busy. I’ve written a novel, a novella, and done all the myriad tasks involved in getting everything setup to market and (hopefully!) sell them. By August I was completely exhausted. I’d just got the novella over to my editor and was facing the daunting task of completing all my edits so that I could go to my editor at the start of September. I needed a break. To unplug and rest my eyes. I took a week off and decided to immerse myself in some fictional worlds. Being as i was so tired i’d been propping my eyelids up with matchsticks i did not have it in me to look at a book in order to read it. So, I downloaded some audiobooks on Audible and took myself off to the middle of nowhere for a while. One of those books was A Very English Murder, the first book in Verity Bright’s Lady Eleanor Swift mystery series. A cosy mystery was, I thought, exactly what I needed.
Little did I know that can of worms I was opening when I hit play on that first novel.
Because, you see, these novels are highly, inexplicably, irresistibly addictive. To the point I’m penning this on September 8th, less than a month later, and I’ve already made it through the first 8 books, despite having to force myself to take a break from them for three weeks so my edits actually got done!
In other words, if we exclude the days I wasn’t letting myself read, I’ve been getting through roughly one of these books per day since I started. Now my novel is safely with my editor, there’s no sign of me slowing down. The only saving grace is that there are 18 (soon to be 19 by the end of the month) books in the series. So they should keep me going for another week or so while I recover from editing burnout!
What Makes The Lady Eleanor Swift Mysteries So Confoundingly Addictive?
But what the hell are these books that’s so appealing? If you caught my review of A Very English Murder (which had been on my TBR for ages, I just never seemed to get around to it), you’ll know I had mixed feelings about that first novel. There were elements of it I found extremely annoying, and yet, when I got to the end I couldn’t not read the next one. Like, right then and there. It was a compulsion.
As the books have gone on I’ve been trying to dissect what, exactly, makes the Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series so impressively addictive. Before I dig into that, one point that I (finally) realised while listening to book eight (Death On A Winter’s Day); the most annoying thing about these novels may actually only be an issue because I’ve been listening to them. I’ve no idea what the paperback or Kindle format looks like, but I suspect there great swathes of the novel that consists of notes in Eleanor’s notebook are only so repetitive when you’re hearing it all read out loud.
This only occurred to me in Death On A Winter’s Day when I thought to myself, “If I hear Karen Cass say “Motive?” one more bloody time I’ll scream!” And realised no author in their right might would possibly have written it over and over again in such quick succession had they actually been writing prose.
So, it could be that I shot myself in the foot listening to these, I’ll test the theory when I can get my hands on the paperbacks!
Right, now that’s out of the way, here’s why I think these books are impossible to stop reading (even when they’re annoying tf out you!).
Lady Eleanor Swift Herself
The main character in these novels is, as you’ve probably guessed by now, a woman by the name of Lady Eleanor Swift, or Ellie as her mother called her. Nobody else uses this nickname, although she does have a running internal monologue that sees her address herself by the short version of her name regularly. That, in itself, is most endearing. And it’s not the only thing about the character that’s appealing.
She’s ferociously cheerful, most of the time, no matter what is actually going on. Rare moments that see her mood plummet show she possesses remarkable self-awareness and a capacity to pick herself up, dust her (invariably green) dress off, and tell herself it will all be okay. She then proceeded to act as if it’s already okay until she feels better.
She’s obsessed with the colour green. She has red hair. If you’ve seen my Insta feed (or most of the images on this website for that matter!) you’ll understand why I relate to this so much!
Kind hearted, gentle, endlessly compassionate, and (almost insufferably) positive, Eleanor Swift is simply a character who is pleasant to read. She’s low maintenance. The most annoying thing she does is ramble when she talks and interrupt people while they’re speaking because she needs to ramble some more. And, honestly, I found this so relatable it actually made me like her more.
She has a somewhat tragic backstory; her parents vanished when she was young, she never found out why. They were educational pioneers travelling the world with her in tow, and suddenly she had to return to England to live with an Uncle who was never there, in a great big English country Hall with rules and social expectations she didn’t understand. Swiftly (pun intended) she’s shipped off to boarding school which was hell on earth. When she was old enough she hopped on a bicycle and travelled the world, running into a man who hired her to explore strange new places that his travel company could use for the holidays for the wealthy elite.
Smart, funny, capable, remarkably down-to-earth, Ellie gives us a series of books about an English lady that aren’t really about an English lady because she’s not your typical noble woman. She creates a found family in her staff and treats them (in so far as she’s able) as equals, while regularly lavishing them with gifts and treats.
Is it realistic? No.
Does it make me tear up every time they all have a ‘moment’? Absoluuuutely!
Gladstone
You will find when Bane is finally released in November that I am a huge fan of dogs as characters in books. Dogs who are not simply a mentioned presence as an afterthought, but whose characters are as detailed and well rounded as any human. Lady Swift has Gladstone, a leather slipper-obsessed, sausage snaffling, slobbering, ageing yet wonderful bulldog. She inherited him from her Uncle at the start of A Very English Murder, along with Henley Hall and all her staff. Instantly taking to the bulldog he becomes a faithful companion who is, on occasion, actually instrumental in plot developments. This is so well done. It’s not over the top, or done too much. He’s more like a human comic relief character who regularly pops up throughout and just occasionally says or does something that proves helpful.
Romantic Non-Romances
While I’m a huge fan of mystery romance novels, these are quite definitely cosy mysteries as opposed to romantic mysteries. All that being said they do have hints of romance throughout in that Eleanor is attracted to and develops love interests throughout the course of the books. How this will pan out I don’t know yet, but so far it’s been done very well. There has been some instant attraction, but no insta-romance wherein she becomes overly invested in anyone. She’s kept her options open, and while her thoughts may turn to her romantic frustrations several times throughout each book, the romance elements are so minimal I’d hesitate to call them the sub-plot.
After the first couple of books I quickly noticed the plotting pattern at work: there’s a main mystery plot, a secondary plot that involves something personal to Ellie but not romantic, and then there is a love interest (or two) that wanders in every now and then, getting her attention as and when she has time with everything else going on.
I found this thoroughly enjoyable and refreshing. You get invested in her relationships and root for her to get her man and get what she needs from a man. But at the same time, it’s an incredibly slow-burning element of the stories.
The result of this is that you have to read the next book in order to find out what happens next with the love interest. You can’t not, it’s an open loop, your brain won’t allow it. Your brain needs to know who she ends up with, if she gets her romantic happily ever after. And yet, when you reach the end of the book that is (at least so far as I’ve read!) still an open question.
So you have to read the next one in the hopes that you might actually find out!
It’s actually quite masterfully done.
The Side Characters
Ellie (naturally) has a trusty side-kick (as all sleuths should!) in the form of Clifford the Butler. Interestingly I read an interview with Verity Bright (or at least, the female half of the husband-and-wife-duo that make up Verity Bright) in which she reveals Clifford was originally a woman, and Ellie’s maid rather than her Butler. Evidently another cosy mystery (not super popular) came out just before A Very English Murder was published that featured a lady and her maid and the almost scrapped the series completely. At the last, they switched the character to a man, and promoted him to Butler status. I, for one, and inordinately grateful that they did.
For some reason I can’t see the books having anywhere near the same dynamic if the sleuth and her side-kick weren’t Ellie and Clifford. The Butler takes on an almost surrogate father/uncle role as the books progress, growing increasingly fond of and invested in Ellie’s happiness and safety. He’s also very droll, very serious, a wonderful contrast to Lady Swift’s personality.
Beyond Clifford there are the aforementioned love interests: Lancelot and Hugh.
The former is a very loveable if rather ridiculous character, while Hugh is the grumpy to Eleanor’s sunshine.
Also around are the rest of the staff at Henley Hall, a Mrs Trottman, the cook, Mrs Butters, the housekeeper, Polly the maid, plus a groundskeeper, a gamekeeper and several lords, ladies, and assorted villagers and police officers who appear and recurring throughout.
Even the smallest character has been carefully drawn, from the urchin children Ellie occasionally enlists to help her, to the postmistress’ mother who suffers from dementia. Having such a great cast of supporting characters who also keep reappearing is great fun. It makes each book familiar even while it’s new, and leads to a lot of running jokes and cute details.
Long-Running Mysteries
From the start of the series there are several enigmas surrounding Lady Eleanor Swift herself that beg to be solved. Her parents vanished; will we ever find out where or how? Might they still be alive? Uncle Henley died before the start of the series, while Ellie was abroad and it was months before she received news and returned home. How did he die? Was it really natural? Given the residents of Chipstone are dropping faster than the denizens of Midsomer it seems highly unlikely but what’s the story there? And what about Uncle Henley himself? A mysterious character who did a lot of unspecified adventuring, potentially for reasons beyond personal motivations. Could he have been a spy? How is it that Clifford became Cliffod? How are Polly’s parents?
We’re desperate to know! Each book gives us breadcrumbs that fill in some gaps, yet we seldom get a definitive answer about any of these questions.
So we keep reading to find out more and, hopefully, have the riddle eventually solved!
All The FOOD
I’m a huge foodie. I appreciate good food. These novels are, in many parts, love sonnets to food. Lady Swift herself has a voracious appetite and is constantly eating, snacking, or planning her next opportunity for fruit cake. It’s really so nice to have such detailed descriptions of food and drink become part of the fabric of the tale. They’re not intrusive or annoying, they’re enjoyable and generally make me very hungry.
I’m also incredibly motivated to discover if it’s actually possible to brew all the concoctions Mrs Trotters comes up with in the form of Parsnip Perry, Chesnut Liqueur, and various other seemingly lethal brews that Ellie partakes in while partying with her staff on special occasions.
All The Lady Eleanor Swift Mysteries In Order
With nineteen books in the series (and counting!) it’s tough to know which to read next. And, believe me, this is one addiction that will see you ending one and immediately reaching for the next. So, it’s good to know what order they’re supposed to go in!
Book 1: A Very English Murder
Lady Eleanor Swift, recently returned to England after globetrotting adventures, inherits Henley Hall. While acclimating to her new aristocratic lifestyle, she witnesses a murder during a storm, only to find the body vanished and the police sceptical of her story. Determined, Eleanor, with her bulldog Gladstone, resolves to solve the mystery herself.
Book 2: Death at the Dance
At a masked ball she’s attending, Lady Eleanor encounters murder when the host is found dead beside an open safe. The police arrest her new beau, Lance Langham, but Eleanor believes in his innocence and starts investigating high-society suspects with Gladstone to clear Lance’s name and uncover the real killer.


Book 3: A Witness to Murder
During a village dinner party, a local politician dies under suspicious circumstances, rumoured to be poisoned. Eleanor dives into the investigation as the cook is unjustly fired and accused. With Gladstone’s keen senses, Eleanor digs deeper when another murder occurs, racing to solve the case as she becomes a target.
Book 4: Murder in the Snow
A festive Christmas at Henley Hall turns perilous when a guest dies mysteriously during a traditional fun run. Initially deemed a heart attack, Eleanor finds clues suggesting murder. With the whole village as potential suspects, she must solve the crime quickly as more incidents occur, threatening her own safety.


Book 5: Mystery by the Sea
On a holiday in Brighton, Eleanor’s relaxation is interrupted when a fellow guest at her hotel is found dead. The twist? The victim appears to be Eleanor’s presumed-dead husband. Driven by shocking revelations and questions about her past, Eleanor, with Gladstone, probes into a complex web of family secrets and deceit.
Book 6: Murder at the Fair
At the local fair, the celebration turns grim with the death of a beloved villager. As Eleanor investigates, she discovers the victim’s unexpected ties to a historic village conflict. Delving into rivalries and old grudges, she needs to catch the killer before more harm comes to her community.


Book 7: A Lesson in Murder
When Eleanor is invited to speak at her old school, the event takes a dark turn as a beloved teacher is found murdered. With the help of Gladstone, Eleanor navigates through school secrets and student rivalries to uncover the truth, learning that the killer may be closer than she thought.
Book 8: Death on a Winter’s Day
A wintry stay at a castle among friends turns deadly when a party game ends with a murder by the fireplace. As the police arrest the host, Eleanor, urged by the Baroness, works to clear his name. Amidst icy conditions and familial secrets, she unravels the complex motives to prevent another death.


Book 9: A Royal Murder
At a regal regatta, Eleanor faces royal intrigue when the host dies under suspicious circumstances, sparking a scandal that implicates high society figures. Tasked by royal command, Eleanor uses her wit and resources to delve into hidden gambles and debts, racing against time to restore peace and prevent further chaos.
Book 10: The French for Murder
Vacationing in the French Riviera turns dire when a murder in Eleanor’s villa leads to Clifford’s arrest. Stranded without her butler, she must navigate the glitzy underbelly of film stars and high stakes to prove his innocence, uncovering more than just the identity of the killer.


Book 11: Death Down the Aisle
Eleanor attends a friend’s wedding only to have the groom arrested for a murder just before the ceremony. Delving into the victim’s connections and hidden motives, she races against time to find the real killer and save the wedding, all while uncovering deeper secrets in her friend’s seemingly perfect life.
Book 12: Murder in an Irish Castle
Invited to an Irish castle, Eleanor’s holiday spirit is dampened when a body is found, setting off a chain of deadly events. With the castle filled with secrets and a legend of hidden treasures, Eleanor and Clifford sift through clues and histories, determined to solve the murder before the killer strikes again.


Book 13: Death on Deck
On her first luxury cruise, Eleanor expects relaxation but finds murder instead. When Detective Seldon is implicated, she must prove his innocence by unravelling a tangle of aristocratic secrets and alliances, learning that on the high seas, everyone has something to hide.
Book 14: Murder in Manhattan
Eleanor’s New York adventure turns into a murder investigation when a doorman is killed. Teaming up with a local cop, she dives into a world of wealth and secrets, where solving the murder means digging through layers of deceit and danger in the heart of the bustling city.


Book 15: Murder by Invitation
A royal celebration turns deadly when a committee member is murdered, thrusting Eleanor into a mystery involving bunting, hidden photographs, and village scandals. As she untangles the web of secrets, the festive mood turns sombre, pushing her to solve the murder to prevent another tragedy.
Book 16: Murder on the Cornish Cliffs
A winter getaway to Cornwall involves Eleanor in a murder investigation when she finds a body on the beach. The death unveils a tangled plot of family secrets and betrayals, leading Eleanor through dangerous twists as she tries to uncover the truth before the killer strikes again.


Book 17: A Death in Venice
A Venetian vacation turns deadly when Eleanor witnesses a murder during a gondola ride. Caught between feuding families and a centuries-old rivalry, she unravels a plot involving stolen heirlooms and masked threats, racing against time to catch the killer amidst the city’s hidden canals.
Book 18: Murder in Mayfair
During a high society event in London, Eleanor is drawn into a murder investigation tied to a stolen pearl necklace. Posing as a governess, she navigates through the upper echelons of society to uncover a network of thieves and liars, with her findings leading her dangerously close to the killer.


Book 19: Murder on the Nile
Eleanor’s Egyptian holiday aboard a Nile cruise is disrupted by a murder linked to a stolen treasure. With ancient sites and modern sins intersecting, Eleanor deciphers clues that delve deep into the past, risking everything to solve the mystery before her trip becomes a permanent stay.