My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
MURDER AT THE WHITE PALACE (A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery Book #6) by Allison Montclair is an intriguing historical mystery that has not one, but two mysteries, past and present, that may be connected and many personal changes occurring in the lives of the two main protagonists. Each book has a unique mystery that is solved, but the main characters continue to evolve and for continuity, I feel these books are best read in order of publication.
The Right Sort of Marriage Bureau is doing well, so Gwendolyn Bainbridge decides she and her partner, Iris Sparks, should throw a New Year’s Eve party for their clientele. With limited availability this close to the new year, they look at an old club being repaired by Iris’ boyfriend, Archie Spelling. While investigating the basement, a wall crumbles and a long dead body is discovered.
Though they both want to be done with murder investigations, the recovered body matches some information surrounding that of a missing thief from a trio of robbers from before the war which all tied back to Archie and Des’ murdered fathers. Are they safe as they investigate the cold cases, or could the past be coming back to clean up any ties to a murderer among them?
The murder mysteries, past and present, are intertwined throughout a more intense and personal character driven story line than previous books. Gwen is now free to control her own life and destiny and is finding freedom intoxicating, while Iris is on track to make more permanent decisions regarding her personal life. The duo’s true friendship, no matter their differences or what occurs in their personal lives, is a reason that I love this series. This story leaned more towards the protagonist’s development, which could change the direction of the entire series, than the mysteries, but the mysteries themselves were interesting and well plotted. This addition to the series does leave a bit of a cliffhanger, but it is in Iris’ personal life and not a part of the mystery plot line.
I highly recommend this historical mystery series and continue to look forward to following Bainbridge in Sparks.
***
About the Author
ALLISON MONTCLAIR grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. She now spends her spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of her own. The Right Sort of Man is her debut novel.
Allison Montclair is a pseudonym of Alan Gordon.
Website: https://www.alan-gordon.com/
I’ve read several of these. I never knew the author was a man!
I didn’t either until I saw him on a Poisoned Pen Bookstore video. He writes female characters and their relationships very well in my opinion.