A review by booksteacupnreviews
The Quality of Mercy: A Lady Evelyn Mystery by Malia Zaidi

lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

The Quality of Mercy was intriguing cozy mystery, set in 1920s London, revolved around two murder cases that Evelyn’s new detective agency solved. It was about dysfunctional family, secrets and scandals, fallibility of humans and their complex nature, friendship, and love.

There were layers along with them main theme about impact of war on people and businesses, how it changed them, class differences, unemployment, upper class drama, fault in justice system and Christianity. Streets of London, difference of East and South and West London was as important as everything else in the book.

The twist and turns were brilliant. In case of Devlin’s case, I thought the prologue gave the idea why Devlin was murdered and I was sure I know the name of the culprit at 50% of the book but I was totally wrong about it. As for West case, it was clear Wilkin was innocent but I couldn’t figure out what he was hiding and who the real culprit was until it was revealed. Climax was surprising. I couldn’t guess what happened in last 20% of the book. The end, after harrowing revelations and encounter, was sweet with a wedding and announcement of upcoming wedding. I can say this won’t be the end of the series so I hope author don’t prove me wrong in that case.

Overall, it was fun and compelling cozy mystery that captured 1920s London and culture aptly with fascinating characters and mysteries to solve.

Read full review on my book blog by following this link - https://booksteacupnreviews.com/2020/09/09/bookreview-the-quality-of-mercy-a-lady-evelyn-mystery-5-by-malia-zaidi-thequalityofmercy-ladyevelynmysteries-maliazaidi-damppebbles-damppebblesblogtours/