Most of the people who come to the Right Sort Marriage Bureau are people trying to start (or restart) their lives in post-war London. But Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge have a new client who is very different. She is a happily married woman who wants them to find a new wife for her husband. Dying of cancer, she wants to ensure her entomologist, academic husband finds someone new to share his life with.
Not long afterward, the woman is found dead in Epping Forest, the victim of an apparent suicide, and that makes absolutely no sense to Sparks and Bainbridge. However, Gwen Bainbridge's attention is focused on her pending appearance in court to regain legal control of her life. All is not going well; the man appointed as her conservator has not been managing her assets in her own best interests. When the conservator is found dead, Gwen naturally becomes the prime suspect.
Solving two deaths at once will be no easy task, but if anyone can do it, you can count on Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge.
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Once again, Allison Montclair [pseudonym of Alan Gordon] has a winner in the newest Sparks and Bainbridge historical mystery, The Lady from Burma. The various clients who walk through the doors of the Right Sort Marriage Bureau keep readers firmly in tune with post-World War II London and all the types of people who are trying to put their lives back together.
The solutions to the deaths of the client and the conservator certainly kept me guessing, but I was even more interested in Gwen Bainbridge's fight to regain legal control of her life. Gwen basically came unglued when her husband was killed in the war, and the depth of her grief caused her husband's aristocratic family to take away custody of her young son and to have her committed to a mental institution. It's been an uphill battle, but it is obvious to all the readers of this series that it's more than time for Gwen to be back in charge. Her relationship with her in-laws has evolved slowly, and she's made the effort to learn how to deal with her income once she has it in her own control. What's maddening is her reaction-- in court and directly afterward-- to the machinations of her conservator. I wanted to give her a little shake and yell, "Snap out of it!" Not that I've fallen under the spell of these characters or anything...
An absorbing mystery, the engrossing lives of the two main characters, a pitch-perfect setting, and witty dialogue that absolutely sparkles. I love this series and hope that it continues for a good long time. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge, I suggest you begin at the beginning with The Right Sort of Man. These two very different women make quite a formidable team.
The Lady from Burma by Allison Montclair
eISBN: 9781250854209
Minotaur Books © 2023
eBook, 336 pages
Historical Mystery, #5 Sparks & Bainbridge mystery
Rating: A
Source: Net Galley
What an interesting premise for a story, Cathy! Fighting to get legal control over one's life must be such a difficult thing to do, especially at a time when people made a lot of assumptions about women's capacities (well, too many people still do ). And the idea of finding a new wife for one's husband....I can see why one would do that, but I don't know how I'd go about that myself.
ReplyDeleteGwen Bainbridge's fight for control over her own life has been an engrossing and integral part of this series.
DeleteThese two women do make a great team! This is a good series; I really need to get caught up in it. (;D I seem to say that a lot these days.)
ReplyDeleteI wonder how common it is for male writers to take female pseudonyms. Historically it's almost always the other way around, but it's easy to understand the choices to do so either way. Do you think women readers would be less likely to read this exact novel if they knew it was authored by a man? I kind of do.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you, Sam, although I'm not one of the women in that particular camp. And if they do refuse to read it because of the author's gender, they're missing out on an excellent series.
DeleteAnd the TBR list keeps growing!
ReplyDeleteI always find myself comforted by the knowledge that I will never run out of reading material.
DeleteI'm looking forward to this one!
ReplyDeleteI think you're going to like it, FR!
DeleteI wanted to wait until after I finished the book to read your review. I have now finished it and can't agree more with your wanting to shake Gwen in her reactions to her conservator. This series continues to be a good one! I like the characters more with each book.
ReplyDeleteSo do I. I really like what the author is doing with this series.
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