The premise for the second Right Sort Marriage Bureau starts out with a counterfactual - someone is threatening to expose that Prince Phillip is illegitimate, which would scupper the royal marriage. Sparks and Bainbridge are employed to sort things out, and they do it in their own original way. I got a little lost in the details along the way, but the characters and plot are delightful enough that I didn’t mind. The ending sequence is melodramatic, but overall this is a satisfying historical mystery.

Set in the long days of summer of 1946, the second entry in the Sparks and Bainbridge series finds our intrepid heroines quite busy; it turns out that solving a murder case not only clears any nasty suspicions that may have fallen on your fledgling match-making agency, it’s actually fantastic marketing. Who knew?

All is not rice and roses yet, however; getting a decent number of people to sign up for match making is all good and well, but unless and until the people they match get married, thus earning them the success fee, their business can’t really pay much by the way of dividends to the proprietors, let alone afford them luxuries–such as a bigger premises.

Reviewing note: it’s a bit disconcerting that when there’s talk of “the Queen”, it’s not Elizabeth II, but her mother, also Elizabeth, wife to George VI and mother of then-Princess Elizabeth, heir apparent. Of course, given the setup, the novel name-drops a number of other historical figures besides.

I found the writing voice just as engaging as in the first installment; this, for example:

Their present desks had once provided a sense of ambition and optimism. Now they seemed shabby and resentful, as if they knew that the women they had faithfully served had found something better and they would soon become a distant memory. (Location 154, kindle ARC) (see footnote 1)

The characterization of our two heroines is again fantastic; Gwen, still mourning, while also fighting to regain herself as much as she’s fighting to regain custody of her son; Iris, trying to forget and forgive–both what she’s done and what was done to her, in the service of her country.

From the first scene, there are glimpses of Iris’ past, and hints to how it affects her present. While such hints are quite brief, and the narrative isn’t overburdened with detail, what is there is ominous enough. There are also references to her drinking–which she is endeavoring to curtail, thanks in large part to her friendship with Gwen.

Similarly, we see Gwen dwelling with her own sense of inadequacy–where Iris attended Cambridge and then worked as a spy for the British government, Gwen married, gave birth, lost her husband and was then confined to a sanitarium after her husband’s death.

There is progress in this front, however; after the events in The Right Sort of Man, Gwen’s relationship with her mother-in-law has changed. She must still hold her tongue, but Gwen is no longer as uncertain in her dealings with the woman–and in fact, holds her own with everyone even in the most trying circumstances.

The author conveys a lot about the other characters in the novel–some recurring, some ‘passing by’, as it were–in ways both subtle and explicit. In some cases, it’s how their accent is written down, in others it’s what they talk about, and in yet others, how they talk about that.

Archie, a gangster and Iris’ current romantic interest–who apparently is decent enough to keep some promises and not ‘take advantage’. Sally, a resourceful playwright and occasional “man of all jobs” for The Right Sort agency, who carried a torch for Iris for years, since their time together at Cambridge, who may now be carrying one for Gwen.

The Brigadier, Iris’s boss in the Secret Service, who’s trying to force Iris back into active service, makes an appearance, as does the inimitable Dr Milford, psychiatrist.

Then there are the servants at Lord Brainbridge’s house; even though of course there’s a lot of class stuff (reminiscent to Agatha Christie’s writing of the time, by the way), complete with the whole “proper servants are loyal to the family, putting their interests above their own” (in this case, the late young master’s widow, rather than the old battleaxe and her husband), there’s enough detail to make each of them individuals rather than clichés.

One of the joys of the characterization is how Gwen’s and Iris’s pasts, from upbringing to education, play into their investigative approaches. Iris goes for the formal education and war contacts, Gwen goes for the sprawling network of aristocracy connections and her knowledge of life among the upper classes.

Speaking of which, the banter between the partners is as engaging and entertaining as ever.

I must note that I found it utterly delightful that both Iris and Gwen are feminists, and how it’s shown; we don’t get any earnest (or clumsy) declarations, it’s just the way they see themselves and the world around them (see footnote 2).

In the course of the novel there are a lot of references to British literature; some of them went over my head, as I didn’t grow up in an English-speaking country, but I was pleased to realize just how much English lit canon I have absorbed through my reading over the past quarter of a century. (see footnote 3)

As for the mystery, it starts with a seemingly straightforward investigation into blackmail, but it doesn’t take long before it becomes apparent that there are a number of different threads all tangled together–even before our intrepid heroines stumble upon a dead body. From there, it’s off to the races; the novel takes place over the course of a few days (I think it’s not even a full week, in fact), but with so many things happening, one could be forgiven for thinking it covers a longer period. There are so many plot threads, being pulled by so many hands, in so many different directions!

I was absolutely delighted by the denouement, which follows in the best tradition of amateur sleuths, from the staging to the revelations. Now, I caught a number of the red herrings as they appeared, and correctly guessed the identity of some of the people involved, which made the full explanation all the more delightful as I realized how neatly I had been bamboozled about the rest.

A Royal Affair is a most excellent follow up to The Right Sort of Man; it too gets 9.50 out of 10

* * * *

1 The thing about the new office: there’s a lovely short story (“The Haunting of the Desks”), which I really should re-read and review in short order; it was published shortly before the publication of the third title in the series, A Rogue’s Company. And, just to confirm, the writing is again fantastic:

2 There’s a lovely digression about the difference in meaning between “fallen men”, which is used usually to mean ‘heroes’, and “fallen women”, which is used to mean…well, something else entirely; later, Gwen ponders the fates of all the women who served in Britain while the men were deployed overseas, only to find themselves pushed out of the work force again as soon as the war ended. I find this all the more lovely because Allison Montclair is, in fact, Alan Gordon.

3 Have I mentioned that I mostly read genre romance? One of the best things about reading is how much one can learn, especially when one is curious and follows up on interesting factoids gleaned from said reading; if one is lucky, one also discovers authors who are also historians, linguists, lawyers, academics, and so on, and through them, one’s educational gaps can be filled considerably.

I liked the first one in the series but this one did not resonate as well with me. I think I will be on to other series.

An interestingly captivating mystery read! I stayed up long into the night to finish this one! Definitely a great read worthy of recommendations.

Being the 2nd book in a series and that I haven't read the first one, I can say that this was a well written story that would intrigue a lot of HF readers.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, Allison Montclair and Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

RATING: 3.5 STARS
2020; Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press

I loved the first book in the series, and was so happy to see this would be a series. I enjoyed this novel as well, but found it a tad bit slow at times. It did take me longer to read this time. I am looking forward to more in this series. I love the friendship and banter between Iris and Gwendolyn. Each woman is so different and yet the same strength to keep going. While this is a probably considered more of a cozy historical fiction, I would compare it to Maisie Dobbs series (Jacqueline Winspear).

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

A Royal Affair is another solid and enjoyable installment in the Sparks and Bainbridge mystery series by the pseudonymous Allison Montclair. I enjoyed the first book in the series sufficiently to leap at a chance to get my hands on a digital advanced copy of this book, and was so excited to be approved. And, despite having a terrible time getting any reading done this year, mid-pandemic, A Royal Affair was one of the few books I was able to pick up and read all the way through in just a few days. It transported me to a different place and era, one to which I've never given much consideration, with interesting and often likable characters. And the writing is a masterclass on how to catch the reader up with information from the first book without being obvious, clunky, or boring.

I will admit that was initially disappointed when I saw that this next book in the series dealt with the royal family, because I thought that might detract from the story for me. Real history and famous individuals wove into fictional narratives often distract me from the focus of the story, because I'm trying to parse out what is true and if the real people would act as they were written. I'm happy to say this worked out better in this book than I expected, partly because of minimal interaction with actual famous royals. It's still not my favorite plot, especially since the prince they're tasked to fictionally investigate turned out to be a rotten husband and father in real life, so it's difficult to root for him. But it didn't distract me sufficiently from the story to diminish my enjoyment, and during a difficult time, when I wasn't able to read much, that was quite an accomplishment. And I did enjoy seeing a bit of how the Windsor's household worked behind the scenes.

What I prefer about this series, over any royal drama though, is learning more about and getting a feeling for the characters' WWII and post-WWII experiences. Sparks and Bainbridge, with their remarkably different lives and social circles, have had significantly different experiences of both eras, and their extended circle, including clients, broaden that perspective even more, from the bellowing female client deafened by her time as an "Ack-Ack Girl" shooting artillery at planes during the War, to Gwen's increasing confidence and recovering mental health, to Sparks' haunting secrets from the War, her resulting PTSD and loss of faith, and the relationships that sustained her through that time into her present. There's also the suggestion of burgeoning romantic relationships for both of the main characters, which I enjoy, but also appreciate that they are not the focus of the story.

There are some excellent lines in this book, snappy dialogue and witty turns of phrase. Gwen, for instance, speaking of her mental health issues to a relative, says, "And now I quite like myself again. I've grown quite fond of me, in fact. I've decided that I'm going to stick with me for the long haul." Or the time Sparks asks Gwen what they should do, since she's "the one with the moral compass." When Gwen protests, Sparks asks, "Have you recently become immoral without letting me know?"

This is very much a book about white London at the time. I don't remember any ethnic diversity.
There is at least socioeconomic diversity represented, strong feminist themes, and acknowledgement throughout of the different ways disability manifests itself in the lives of survivors of trauma like WWII. There was also some implication of LGBTQ+ relationships, I believe. Not an extremely diverse book, but thoughtful for what it is.

I really have no excuse for having taken more than six months to review one of the "hero books" that got me through the pandemic summer of 2020, other than that my reviewing abilities recovered even more slowly that my reading ability. And trying to review a book this long after the fact, even with my Kindle notes, will never fully do it justice. So the best I can say is that I'm grateful I had it, to keep me reading, even just for a few days, that I enjoyed it, and that I look forward to the next installation in this series, whenever it becomes available. The historical and cultural elements of the story were fascinating, the mystery was engaging, and the characters were complex and life-like, as well as generally likeable. Thank you to #NetGalley and St Martin's Press for granting me a free digital advanced copy of #ARoyalAffair to enjoy and review.

A Royal Affair is the second book from the Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it perhaps more than I did the first one. I love how the ladies often outsmarted a lot of the men and loved seeing what they would get up to next. While the mystery itself never wowed me, the strength of the characters carried much of the book. It was a lovely read during the pandemic and a nice escape.

Thank you to St Martin Press and Net Galley for the ARC.

A ROYAL AFFAIR
By Allison Montclair

“A Royal Affair” is the second in the Sparks and Bainbridge series, and what a wonderful and enjoyable read this one was for me. I really enjoy a fantastic cozy and this one was really fun read. I did not have the chance to read book one, but did not hinder my enjoying the characters and I feel that it worked well as a stand alone. I will be reading book one since I fell in love with the characters in this book.

This book had it all from a twisty mystery, to quirky funny and lovable characters, a well written historical detail, and the right amount of funny I loved. I am looking forward to the third book in the series releasing summer of 2021. Allison Montclair has quickly become a favorite.

In a Royal Affair, Gwen and Iris are back in action, this time, looking at a young Princess Elizabeth before she takes the throne. Hired to investigate Phillip’s background and suitability for the upcoming queen, the duo are led into a maze of deception and while they search for the truth. Iris’ background as a spy plays a major role in the investigation, while Gwen’s connections to high society aid the team throughout the novel.

This sequel takes the reader into the friends’ earlier lives before meeting one another and gives perspective to their current state of minds. There was not as much matchmaking as in the original, in order to provide more content regarding their credentials and person history. Though I like the stories of the people getting married, I appreciate the story Montclair researched and told. I do wonder though, did the author have to get any permission to write this tale?

(I received an early copy of this book though NetGalley and have written an objective review)

A Royal Affair: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery by Allison Montclair
Review by Sandra Murphy

In 1946 London, Iris Sparks and Gwendolyn Bainbridge run the Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Men and women, interested in marriage but unable or unwilling to meet potential mates during their day to day routines, signup. Sparks and Gwen, make recommendations, often successful.

Now they’re commissioned by Lady Patience Matheson, Gwen’s cousin, to investigate on behalf of the Queen. The Princess is about to become engaged, but the potential groom, a Prince, must be vetted as suitable before that happens. Gwen and Sparks are given the barest facts to act upon and set out to find out the Prince’s background.

A blackmail note was delivered, threatening to reveal compromising letters that would destroy the couple’s happiness. Sparks and Gwen are motivated to do what they can for the Queen, to make a decent amount of money, and most importantly, to Gwen, be able to afford expanded office space that comes furnished with a partner’s desk.

When they are contacted by the blackmailer with details of where and when to meet, along with how much money to bring, they make their plan. Unfortunately, it all goes awry when the supposed blackmailer is killed moments before they arrive.

Even with Gwen’s ability to size up people and her knowledge of society manners and Sparks devious background with Special Forces during the war, it’s not easy for them to find their way through lies, misdirection, and betrayal to arrive at the truth.

This is the second in the series. Sparks and Gwen are an odd pairing, but they work well together. After Gwen’s husband was killed in the war, she had a bit of a breakdown, rendering her incompetent to manage her own life, in the eyes of the courts and her in-laws. They now control her money, her social life, and the fate of her son.

Sparks has to come to terms with living life as a civilian or going back to Special Forces and lingering trauma, what we would now call PTSD. Reading about all the branches of the royal families is a bit confusing at first but if you pay attention, the threat becomes clear. Moments of tension are nicely balanced with humor and mystery to bring about a satisfying read. I look forward to Sparks and Gwen’s next adventure.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance readers copy of this book! HOORAY for more Sparks and Bainbridge! I absolutely fell in love with the two matchmakers slash amateur detectives in their first novel, and I was thrilled to get the opportunity to hang out with them again in A Royal Affair! They more than proved their mettle as capable sleuths in the first book, and though they'd like to get back to their day jobs - finding suitable spouses for the unmarried in London - they can hardly say no when a representative of the royal family comes asking for help! Young Princess Elizabeth is smitten with Prince Philip and hopes to marry him, but a scandal threatens their betrothal. Iris and Gwen are tasked to figure out who is doing the blackmailing and why...but of course there is so much more than meets the eye, and no one is telling the whole truth!

This is SUCH a fun series. I adore Iris and Gwendolyn and love watching them grow together, heal from their wounds, and support each other. They are different and yet understand each other so well...and when they make mistakes, they are honest and upfront with each other and never let their friendship suffer. The mystery here was just fantastic, with LOTS of moving pieces. I absolutely loved the finale - so theatrical and clever! Montclair is a fantastic writer - I definitely laughed out loud several times! The two women have the best rapport. I very much look forward to their next adventure!

Starting a new series is always a gamble, but when the second installment is just as entertaining as the first, you know you have come across a keeper that you hope will have a long life.

From the previous book, The Right Sort of Man, you met ex-military operative Iris Sparks and debutant Gwen Bainbridge. Gwen is still fighting for full custody of her son, and Iris is still delighting the readers with her history and knowledge. As co-owners of the Right Sort Marriage Bureau, their days are full of meetings and matches. Yet one afternoon, what they hadn’t anticipated was Gwen’s cousin, Lady Patience Matheson, an employee of Queen Elizabeth, walking through the door with a request to run a background check on Prince Philip. Yes, that Prince Philip, the man who is about to propose to the future Queen Elizabeth II. It appears there are letters that question Philip’s legitimacy and Lady Patience needs this sorted out before the Crown is embarrassed.

At times, there are characters and places that are a bit farfetched, but with the humor and carryings-on, the reader can’t help but to laugh out loud and shake their head. When you think that you must keep your eye on Iris, Gwen steps up, and out of character, saves the day, all with enough time to spare to make it home in time for tea.

It might have helped if I read the first story in this series. I would have known Ms. Montclair leans toward writing a cozy mystery rather than, IMHO, a historical mystery. I am not much of a fan of the former.

There were too many characters, lots of dialogue -I like more sleuthing- and I prefer my mysteries with more grit and fortitude. Unfortunately, I did not finish this story.

Thank you to Net Galley and Minotaur Books for an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review.

Our joint review appeared on Dear Author on July 29th:

“ Jayne: Janine enticed me into reading the first book in this series, The Right Sort of Man. I didn’t grade it quite as highly as Janine did but I liked it enough to want to read the sequel despite what sounded as if it might be a slightly tawdry and a bit unbelievable plot involving Prince Philip.

Janine: Yes, I liked The Right Sort of Man a lot (my own review can be found here) and like you, I was interested in the sequel. The friendship and the repartee in the previous book won my heart.

Jayne: The story begins a month after the events in The Right Sort of Man in which we are introduced to Iris Sparks and Gwendolyn Bainbridge who are poles apart but successfully running a marriage bureau in post World War II London. Cambridge-educated Iris was in British Intelligence during the war while debutant Gwen lost her Royal Fusiliers husband to a mortar blast at Monte Cassino. Her brief time in a sanatorium due to her grief allowed her cold aristocratic in-laws to gain guardianship of her young son.

The Right Sort Marriage Bureau gained some notoriety and press due to the murder that Iris and Gwen solved that involved one of their clients. Now someone arrives with a hush-hush job for them. Not only is it to be kept secret, but the person who hires them can’t, or won’t, tell them a great deal, there is a short time limit before which results are needed, and it seems to be attracting all sorts of people with several different agendas. Who can Iris and Gwen trust, who is on which side, and will they survive their investigation?

I loved seeing Iris and Gwen again. They are obviously people with vastly different life experiences. Iris is educated, freewheeling, dangerous, outspoken, and owns her sexuality. Gwen is aristocratic, quiet, well mannered, and slightly naive in the face of the situations in which they find themselves. But they’re both learning from each other and at times envy each other. Gwen now thinks about pursuing an education or at least just learning how to do research and keeps reminding Iris that she promised to instruct Gwen in fighting tactics. Iris admits to some jealousy at how easy a life debutant Gwen had before the war along with all the social connections she maintains and upper class knowledge she has.”

You can find the complete review on the Dear Author blog, here:

https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/overall-c-reviews/c-plus-reviews/joint-review-a-royal-affair-by-allison-montclair/

Two unusual women ... and intrigue!

This continuation of the series is as good as its predecessor. London 1946 and The Right Sort Marriage Bureau owners Iris Sparks and Gwendolyn Bainbridge who were both affected by the war, although in different ways find themselves investigating a potential groom in a whole new way. Both women have their own devils to conquer. Their joint business venture is one way of moving forward. But this is something from left field.
Gwen seems like a privileged ex debutante, wife and mother, but she'd done a stint in a sanatorium when the love of her life was killed, leaving her small son Ronnie in the care of her in-laws. They are now a major problem!
Who are these Iris and Gwen? There's an air of desperation in both them. They have both served their country in unusual ways. That's left a mark. Both have hidden scars.
When Gwen's cousin Lady Matheson asks them on behalf of the Palace to investigate the man who's captured Princess Elizabeth's heart, one Prince Philip of Greece, they take the assignment. They need the money. They're loyal citizens and after all it pretty much the same game except the groom has already been chosen. When the princess becomes Queen, the Palace wants no skeletons appearing from the closet.
An investigation, a plot and 'surprise, surprise,' a body, possibly murder, has them sharpening up their investigative skills in a whole new way. Another cracker of a tale!
I so enjoy these two!

A St. Martin's Press ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

I loved Allison Montclair’s first Sparks and Bainbridge mystery, The Right Sort of Man, and anticipated the second. Is there anything better than a summer holiday, with only a modicum of work obligations, to enjoy an anticipated book?

A Royal Affair takes Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge out of their humble business start and into the highest echelons of royal matters, to the possible engagement of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Someone, however, doesn’t want this to take place. A blackmailer, with damning letters involving the prince’s mother, Princess Alice, and intrigues implicating Greek leftists (anti-monarchist, of course) and those who would restore Greece’s ersatz (sorry, my side is showing) royal family, who, where I come from, are neither royal, nor Greek. This lent a moue of disappointment reading the mystery novel, but it is strictly a personal one and I can still heartily recommend the series and this addition to it. To set the scene, Lady Matheson, Gwen’s cousin, arrives at London-based Right Sort Marriage Bureau with a task for Gwen and Iris: to search out the person, or persons, who seek to destroy the union between the handsome Greek prince and their queen-to-be.

With a hefty fee with their success and the ambition of new business digs with sufficient funds, Iris and Gwen throw themselves to the task. What they unearth is unsavory in every way: government agents playing many sides, shifty leftist and royalist Greeks showing up dead and too-dangerously-alive, mercenary, shadowy figures seeking advantage; self-interest and political expediency are encountered at every turn, with an occasional ghostly appearance by the thorns in Gwen and Iris’s pasts. Our intrepid heroines, however, are the defenders of true love and see it through to a glorious end.

Monclair’s accomplishment lies in her creation of two utterly delightful amateur detectives, Gwen and Iris and their feminist, banter-filled partnership. Women crime fiction writers have created the lone detective figure in a female; the cozy has its share of amateur bakers and gardeners finding poison in the cupcakes and a corpse in the copse, but I delight in Montclair’s central focus on this female partnership, friendship, and business association. Gwen and Iris’s banter is quick, smart, and witty, especially in this slyly subversive “rejection” of the Holmes and Watson formula:

“You like me being the Watson to your Holmes, don’t you? said Gwen. “What? Where did you get that silly idea?” “Our first adventure. You flouting your education and your secret training while I trailed along, taking all my cues from you and blundering about.” “I had the education and I had the training,” said Iris. “You roped me into that mess because I had them and you needed them. So you was following whom?” “You enjoyed every moment of it, playing your characters, getting into rows, putting your life on the line … ” “Saving yours,” Iris reminded her. “Yes, and don’t think I’m not forever in your debt for that,” said Gwen. “But we were equal partners in that investigation, and we should be equal partners in this one.” “Fine, you’re not Watson,” said Iris. “If I’m Holmes, who are you?” “I’ll be Bulldog Drummond,” declared Gwen.

This is mere introduction to Gwen and Iris’s developping relationship. In this volume, we see Gwen taking the forefront (indeed, it’s her sleuthing that makes for a magnificent revelation scene at the end) and Iris expresses a vulnerability only glimpsed in The Right Sort of Man. The emphasis on equality and acknowledging and admitting each other’s unique qualities and skills becomes the core of how their partnership evolves. There’s a beautiful moment when Iris gives the floor to Gwen and basks in her success.

In my preferred crime fiction, no matter how flawed in personality, the detecting figure(s) must have a moral compass and it must point towards justice. Because there is a flair of romantic readiness in Gwen and Iris, justice is intermingled with a service to love. Though not a romance, Sparks and Bainbridge are romance’s ladies-not-in-waiting, but in-service. I adored this exchange between Iris and Gwen working out their businessn’s purpose and meaning, as they tried to decide whether to take Lady Matheson’s case and, more importantly, why. It had to fit with their mission:

“What is it that we are doing at The Right Sort, Iris?” “We run a marriage bureau,” said Iris. “Exactly. We bring people together. We each came to this enterprise from a different direction but with the same goals — part altruism, part fun, part profit, part whatever. Part friendship, I would hope.” “That, for me, is the largest part.” “For me as well,” said Gwen. “But what we do here is in the service of love. It sounds corny, I know, but it’s the truth. Don’t you agree?”

Because Gwen and Iris’s cause is just; their hearts, true; motives, pure; and, their friendship, forged with the deepest bonds of affection, fun, and shared values, we travel with them to the assured HEA, not theirs, but their client’s. And the client, well, you’ll see … it’s a marvellous scene. Lastly, while I loved A Royal Affair, I do have a bone to pick with Montclair and it’s this:

Gwen held out her hand. Iris placed the flask in it. “I say,” said Sally as she tilted it back. “Go easy. That’s hard to get.” “It’s terrible,” said Gwen, replacing the cap. “What is it?” “Canadian.” “We never should have colonised the place,” she said.

I will tolerate Greek pro-monarchists for a good read, but insult my country’s whiskey, you’re getting a downgrade, Montclair. 😉 Still, Miss Austen swayed me and we say A Royal Affair is the stuff of “a mind lively and at ease,” Emma.

Allison Montclair’s A Royal Affair is published by Minotaur Books. It was released on July 28 and may be found at your preferred vendors. Please note I received an e-galley of A Royal Affair from Minotaur Books, via Netgalley.

I loved the characters in this! Iris and Gwen were what kept me engaged in this, not putting it down until I was finished. The sharp, quick banter between them was one of my favorite parts of the book. Yes, this is also a good, twisty mystery, but the characters are really what sold me on this one.

I have not read the first book in the series - yet - but I had no trouble falling into the flow of this one without having that background knowledge. But there are enough mentions of their last adventure to push readers to go back and pick up what they missed.

Cozy mystery fans, historic mystery fans, and fans of smart and witty female characters should be sure to check this one out!

This was a truly enjoyable second entry in the series. I hope there will be many more.

*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a delightful read with mystery, intrigue and spirited heroines as well as a wide cast of characters throughout London society. As I haven't read the first book in the series, I will have to go backwards and read it now. Just the right type of book to read during this difficult pandemic time. My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.