Step abroad the British ocean liner, Queen Mary traveling to NYC, for murder and mayhem.

Miss Aldridge Regrets is a historical fiction mystery set in the 1930's. A young singer and actress has been promised her big break on broadway and sets sail to NYC. There on the ship, Lena befriends a wealthy family that brings murder to her cabin door.

The story alternates between the ship, and the past seven years of Lena's life that lead her to this moment in time on board the Queen Mary. Lovers of the game Clue or Agatha Christie novels will appreciate this story. Miss Aldridge Regrets is a glamorous murder mystery.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for the advance reader copy.

Set mainly on the Queen Mary, a British ocean liner sailing from England to New York, Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare brings mystery as well as racial and class differences to life in this historical mystery set in 1936. The story features Lena Aldridge, a mixed-race singer, dancer, and actor whose theatre career hasn’t lived up to her expectations. She’s singing in a basement club, her married lover has left her, a murder occurs at the club, and she’s being kicked out of her lodgings. When a stranger offers her a starring role on Broadways and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary, she ends up accepting it, despite knowing very little about the opportunity or the people. When a similar death occurs on the ship, Lena wonders what is happening.

Lena has ambition and is resilient. While she supposedly has common sense, she didn’t ask many questions of Charlie Bacon, the stranger with the offer. She accepts things at face value. Is this reasonable given her situation in London? Probably, but she did have alternatives that could have been explored. She’s definitely a flawed character, but she eventually shows growth. Readers become familiar with the main secondary characters overs time through conversations and actions.

This story captivated me from the very beginning. While most of the story is from Lena’s viewpoint, there are interspersed thoughts recorded in a diary by another person. Readers know this person is important to the plot, but will they be able to deduce who it is? The author brought the characters and the cultural lifestyles of the times and place to life. She provides clear physical descriptions of people, clothing, places, and food. While this is helpful in understanding the times, these could have been more concise and would not have slowed the pace as much. The book also switches timelines (multiple times) between the current trip on the Queen Mary and the events of a week before.

The plot has more layers to it than one might think. While the book did not leave me with a sense of astonishment and wonder, it did provide great insights into many factors of the times such as racism, drug addiction, drinking alcohol to excess, family dynamics, friendship, glamor, class dynamics, music, smoking, politics, attitudes about women, and much more. There is a strong sense of time and place giving the overall read great atmosphere.

Overall, this book was an enjoyable historical mystery and character journey. Readers that enjoy historical mysteries and the glamor and pitfalls of the 1930’s should check out this novel.

Berkley Publishing Group and Louise Hare provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for July 5, 2022. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Lena Aldridge is a singer who used to have her father by her side until he passed away and without him her life has completely changed. She is currently performing in a semi sketchy club that is owned by her friend's husband when a chance encounter with someone who can fulfill her dreams of performing on Broadway enters her life. After a "bit" of drama in the club she takes the job and hops on the Queen Mary to head to the US. This is where the story really begins.

This book reminded me of the Agatha Christie book that was just made into a movie - Death on the Nile; people stuck on a boat and one by one they are dying and who is the killer. I often judge the mystery books by the resolution and while I won't spoil, I was pleased by the culprit, it came together at the end, but I didn't guess too early. Their reason for the actions was plausible and I liked the twists and turns to get there.

After saying what I did like, I have to say I don't know if it was me or my timing of when I read this book or the book itself, but I felt as though the story's pacing was so slow and just kind of went on and on. There were as an enormous cast of characters where half were related and it was confusing and hard to get engrossed in the book. I also know my reading time is limited these days and to capture my attention beyond the things that I need to do right now is difficult, so I wonder if I read this at a different time would I react the same way. I would like to read another book by this author and decide if it is me or the writing.

I really liked this mystery. It has Agatha Christie vibes and it kept me guessing until the very end.
I enjoyed how the chapters kept alternating from the present day to a week prior. It really gave a lot of insight into how and why things went down the way they did. I must admit to putting the book down after every chapter in order to process what had happened. I paired the physical book with the audiobook. Great narrator.

Thank you to PRHaudio for my complimentary audiobook.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing, NetGalley and Let’s Talk Books Promo for my arc copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Wow, this book was so full of things happening, and I loved it! This is a historical mystery follows Lena Aldridge, a young nightclub singer. When her boss is poisoned and dies in front of her, and it looks like she could have done it. As she travels from London to New York City, she tries to figure out who is the actual murderer.

I really enjoyed Lena's characters. She's strong and determined, and she isn't going to let things get in her way. I loved her! There are quite a few other fun characters throughout the story. It's a who-dun-it style story that mystery readers are going to love!

I received a gifted galley of MISS ALDRIDGE REGRETS by Louise Hare for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the opportunity!

MISS ALDRIDGE REGRETS follows the titular character. Lena Aldridge is a mixed-race, white passing young woman somewhat at loose ends. She has recently lost her father, so when she gets an offer from an old friend of her father’s to go to New York to perform on Broadway, she can’t say no. She quickly finds herself leaving behind her old life, setting sail in a first-class cabin aboard the Queen Mary.

When death strikes a member of the wealthy family that Lena has just begun to get to know, the mystery draws Lena in. It seems that this has ties to dark secrets in her own past and Lena worries she may wind up high on the list of suspects.

I really enjoyed this mystery! It has some very Agatha Christie vibes for me, especially given the closed setting of the ship and the cast of characters with many secrets among them. We also get glimpses of Lena’s life before setting sail and some of the mysteries in her past as well, all of which kept me very intrigued to find out what was going on. It also delved into how Lena felt about her mixed race heritage and the decisions she had to make in declaring her own identity on board the ship and as she planned for her new life in New York.

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook for this one and I binged the whole thing in the course of a weekend. The author did a fantastic job of peppering in reveals that satisfied, while also opening up more questions. We’re following along in Lena’s head and we do get to have a level of trust in her, but there were also questions I had about her past that kept me wondering how much I could rely on her innocence!

I definitely recommend this to the historical fiction and mystery fans!

Lena grabs the chance to leave London in 1936 after her friend's husband is murdered in the Club where she works and she knows she's going to be a suspect. The chance to travel on the Queen Mary to New York and star on Broadway, well those are real pluses. What she didn't count on was the actual travel, how she would be treated on the ship and more importantly that she would find herself in a snake's pit. This is both a murder mystery and an interesting look at race and class during the period. There is indeed an Agatha Christie vibe to the basic plot but the subtle social commentary adds to that. I wasn't a fan of the ending but endings are always something readers quibble about. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Looking forward to more from Hare.

This has a good premise, and I appreciate the work done to explore race in the 1930s within a mystery. But the Christie-esque cozy style is just not for me, and there are too many characters for me to care about. It’s also deathly slow, with the pacing bogged down even more with flashbacks.

This is a wonderfully fast paced mystery that is set on the high seas voyage between London and New York. Where anything can happen if you are lucky enough. Lena has been feeling a bit low and down on her luck lately. Her father Alfie, who was her everything has just passed from tuberculosis. She is working for her best friend Maggie's husband, who owns a basement bar. Where sticky floors are the best thing going for it. She wonders if she should continue singing or try a new gig. All of these thoughts and emotions are swirling around her mind when her boss dies right before her eyes while she is onstage. Was it a heart attack, or was he involved in something he should not have been? Before the truth comes out Charlie Bacon approaches her and says he has a job of a lifetime waiting for her in NYC, a Broadway show no less. Lena jumps at the chance and boards the Queen Mary to her new destiny.

What Lena encounters is anything but what she imagined. Her and Charlie begin dining with a wealthy family who are shrouded in mystery and drama. When Lena finds herself becoming entangled and bodies begin to pile up around her. She is left to her own devices to discover who is behind all of this madness. Louise Hare does an amazing job of having a cast full of characters who all have their own mysteries and issues. Which left my mind spinning and constantly changing who was responsible. I was left with my mouth hanging open when the killer finally reveals themselves.

This is a fun read, given its content. I enjoyed stepping back to 1936, when ocean travel was a delight and all of the wealthy took part. The contrasts between the rich and the poor are extremely vivid. Lena struggling to fit in not only with the first-class passengers, but with her own race and identity. Being of mixed race and the ability to pass off as either has left Lena in limbo. Not really fitting in on either side and leaving her to question her own identity. Thank you to Louise Hare, Berkley Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this head spinning mystery.

Lena escapes a London, a town that is pulling her down, to go to New York after a once in a lifetime opportunity is offered to her. Get on the Queen Mary, head to New York, and star on Broadway. The trip to New York introduces her to a very influential family where things are not quite what they seem.
I knew from the beginning of the trip to New York that there would be more to the story then just calm sailing. I did not know what was going to happen, but I was excited to see where I was heading. There was murder, family drama, and family secrets. I had no idea who the killer was, what the reasoning was but I knew that I would enjoy figuring it all out.
There were times that I felt like the storyline slowed down, got away from the main storyline too much, and at those times I would skim the page or put the book down to come back to in a few hours. Overall, I enjoyed the book and the characters but I did not feel any great connection to either of them.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I love the premise of this one - felt very Agatha Christie-esque with her “Murder on the Orient Express” cast of characters. That being said, it was a little challenging to keep up - this one had a LOT of characters and I kept forgetting who was who. This story also uses flashback scenes, with a large chunk of the book taking place on a ship, but having occasional chapters flashback to a week ago. That made it a little tough to keep up, and I kept having to remember who was the person who died and what timeline I was on. I’m a pretty fast reader, but because I really had to second guess where I was in the story, it took me a little bit longer.

Overall, this was a nice story that had an intriguing plot if you like classic, ensemble-style mysteries. Thank you again for allowing me to review this book! Pub date - 7/5/22

In 1936 London, Lena Aldridge’s theatre career hasn’t worked out. She’s singing in a basement club in Soho, and her married lover has left her. She’s also of mixed-race and passing for white.

She’s feeling hopeless until a stranger offers her role on Broadway and a ticket on the Queen Mary. After her
boss is murdered, the timing couldn’t be better, and Lena jumps at the chance to escape England. But death follows her onboard when the wealthy Abernathy family draws her into their fold just as one amongst them is killed in a familiar way.

Closed door mystery on the Queen Mary in the 30s? Sign me up.

But this was slow, Lena wasn’t close to intelligent and does zero detective work, everyone was flat and unlikable, the descriptions were excessive and dull, and the ending was implausible and disappointing. So much clunky backstory shoe-horned in combined with the long-winded descriptions and meandering made this a plod that wasn’t with it in the end.

Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare is glamorous historical fiction set on the famous ocean liner, the Queen Mary. Most of the action takes place on the ocean liner, with flashbacks to London. Miss Aldridge Regrets is a family drama and a murder mystery all in one.

Lena Aldridge is an aspiring bi-racial actress in 1936, in London. After trying for years to make a career, she’s starting to realize that she just might not make it. When she’s singing in a club in SoHo, she witnesses a murder. The murder of the abusive husband of her best friend. Knowing she might be implicated in the murder, she jumps at the chance, when a stranger gives her two first-class tickets on the Queen Mary and a promise of a Broadway role.

Charlie Bacon, the mysterious man who promised Lena a Broadway part, accompanies her on the cruise. He insists they sit with a wealthy American family, the Abernathy’s for dinner, and as she gets to know this wealthy American family, she realizes they are very dysfunctional. However, when another murder happens at sea, on the way to New York, to one of the Abernathy family members, Lena starts to wonder if her own life is in danger.

I enjoyed this story and the mystery very much. I loved the setting of the Queen Mary, and the author did a wonderful job of describing life on the ocean liner. I also liked that Lena’s love interest is a member of the staff of the ship, and that made for some interesting scenes from the working class. The Abernathy’s were quite an interesting, obscenely wealthy family, and although none of them were very likable, they were very interesting.

I liked that the second murder happened on the ship, in the middle of the ocean, with no place to escape, so we knew the murderer had to be on board the ship. As for the murder, I was surprised and didn’t figure it out until the characters did. Although there were plenty of clues.

I recommend Miss Aldrige Regrets to anyone who enjoys women’s fiction and mysteries. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A suspenseful historical thriller that takes the reader aboard a transatlantic ocean voyage on the Queen Mary in 1936.

Lena Aldridge is fleeing the scene of one murder when she runs right into a second. Even worse, both men die in the same way.

Lena's been singing at a small, sleazy club when a man offers her the chance to star on Broadway. Lena hesitates, until her best friend Maggie's husband is murdered right in front of her. To protect her secrets, Lena takes her chance to get out of town. On board the ship, she's in a luxurious first class carriage, but her accommodations come with a price - the man traveling with her wants to ingratiate herself with the wealthy Parkers. When the patriarch of the family is murdered, Lena discovers that the secrets the Parker family are keeping run deeper than she ever imagined.

Lena's a biracial character who can pass as white, and the book isn't afraid to take on issues of class and race as Lena reflects on her impoverished - but filled with love - childhood with the black father who raised her. Lena also befriends Will Goodman, a black singer onboard the ship, but both hesitate to link themselves publicly, albeit for different reasons.

This book is a page-turner, filled with suspense and twists and turns as Lena struggles to find out who would frame her on this ship filled with strangers and why.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3 1/2 🌟s. An Agatha Christie closed room mystery meets film noir. Set the the 1930s, London jazz singer Lena Aldridge is offered a show in NYC on Broadway and travels in cabin (1st) class on the Queen Mary. The story starts with a murder in the sleazy London nightclub she is escaping, and murders continue on the ocean crossing. The POV is Lena’s in both past and present tense, with mysterious interjections from the unknown mastermind as a device to further the plot. Well written and I enjoyed the characters, I would have like better if the ending had been a more satisfying Christie-like ending.

I love mysteries and I was very excited to read this one. I thought it was pretty good.

Set in the 1930s, I really enjoyed it and appreciate that the story doesn’t take place during WW2. As so many historical fiction books do. It was nice to read a book that takes place in a different time in history, even if war is just around the corner.

I loved the setting. The juxtaposition between the grandeur and opulence of the Queen Mary versus the London Soho district Lena calls home, was well done. The casual racism and classism were equally frustrating and upsetting. Some of the characters were so misogynistic and disgusting that you sort of felt like they got what was coming to them. The looming threat of Hitler on the horizon also adds a certain chill, as we, the readers, know what’s coming.

I enjoyed the little nods to Agatha Christie and other golden age mystery writers, and that Lena was a fan was a nice touch. It gave her that little extra bit of personality.

Lena was a wonderful character overall. She was strong but vulnerable. Intelligent but a little naive. The love for her father and her family of choice was really nice.

The title of the book is really appropriate for the way she sees herself and her choices. Regret. I felt like she had grown so much as a person by the book's end.

I had a few issues with the story, but nothing major. I felt it was a little overlong and slow to get going in places. There were several povs, and the story jumped back and forth between different points in time. It was a little jarring sometimes and hard to keep track of, and I felt that some of the povs gave the mystery away.

I did think that Lena was a little too trusting for the way she is portrayed, but her desperation about her situation gives her a pass.

Finally, I liked the ending. I had figured out the "who", but the "whys" still managed to surprise me. There were a few threads left hanging, and I feel like there could be room for a sequel.

I would recommend this book for mature readers, as there are a lot of sensitive and difficult subjects.

Many thanks to the publisher for the advance copy. My opinions and thoughts are my own.

This book by Louise Hare was absolutely phenomenal. Her characters, the story, and the mystery of it really pulled me in and kept me reading even when I should have been sleeping. This is definitely a 5 star read for me.

Miss Aldridge Regrets is a historical mystery about a mixed-race young jazz singer named Lena Aldridge, who is offered an all expenses paid trip aboard the Queen Mary from London to New York City to pursue a dream chance at making it big on Broadway. But while aboard the ship bad things start to happen…and people start dying.

What I liked: I liked Lena and her backstory was interesting and different. The Queen Mary was an interesting setting for a mystery.

What I did not like: The author completely lacks in using detail and description, I had zero clear visuals in my mind of what any of the characters looked like including Lena. The persons behind the mystery I kind of guessed at but their reasoning behind doing what they did was a bit ridiculous. The characters are a bit stereotypical and flat.

I think if you like historical mysteries set in the 1930s or are looking for more diverse mysteries to read then give it a try. For myself, I don’t think I’ll read the next book in the series, I like more overall details in the booksI read, especially the mysteries.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review.

This book sparkles like a champagne cocktail. I quickly fell in love with our protagonist, Vera. She's headstrong, ambitious, and street smart-- yet she's also vulnerable, alone, and desperate to leave the seedy London nightclubs in which she (barely) makes a living for a vague promise of stardom in New York. Yet the trouble she is trying to leave behind in London follows her onto the ocean liner that will take her to her new life-- and some new trouble pops up to boot. Vera finds herself in the middle of a locked room murder mystery in which she is not only occasionally a suspect, but also a potential target of the mysterious killer stalking the wealthy Abernathy family and those in their company. Heightening the tension for our heroine is the fact that she is a Black woman passing as white in the elite and exclusive world of first-class international cruising. Louise Hare evocatively conjures up a vivid historical fiction and a scintillating mystery with lots to say about race, class, and how the world perceives us.

Lena Aldridge is a mixed-raced jazz singer struggling to make a name for herself. She gets by singing at her best friend's husband's club, but when he's murdered, Lena is desperate to flee England before being pulled into the investigation. It seems that luck is on her side when a stranger offers her a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary and a starring role on Broadway. Lena hopes to put miles of ocean between her and her problems, but she quickly realizes that her troubles are far from over. Just as Lena becomes friendly with a wealthy family on board, one of them is killed in a very familiar manner. Lena will have to put on the performance of a lifetime if she hopes to unravel the family's mysterious dynamic and make it to New York alive.

I was drawn in by the premise and the murder mystery aspect of this. It felt very Agatha Christie-ish. I thought the setting was great. The ship lent to the feeling of opulence and grandeur while also driving home how isolated the passengers were. I also liked how Hare touched upon the racial and class differences of the time. The story is broken down into different parts, and I was a little wary about it because I thought it might make it feel disjointed, but the narrative flowed well. There were times I was a little bored, and plot twists I was able to figure out, but it was entertaining. I think the characters could've used some work as they all fell into those stereotypical murder mystery character tropes. While I would've liked more suspense, it's a fun read if you enjoy cozy mysteries.