Book Description
More goes wrong than could be imagined when Iris Sparks and Gwendolyn Bainbridge of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau are unexpectedly engaged to dig into the past of a suitor of a royal princess in Allison Montclair’s delightful second novel, A Royal Affair.
In London 1946, The Right Sort Marriage Bureau is just beginning to take off and the proprietors, Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, are in need of a bigger office and a secretary to handle the growing demand. Unfortunately, they don’t yet have the necessary means. So when a woman arrives—a cousin of Gwen’s—with an interesting and quite remunerative proposition, they two of them are all ears.
The cousin, one Lady Matheson, works for the Queen in “some capacity” and is in need of some discreet investigation. It seems that the Princess Elizabeth has developed feelings for a dashing Greek prince and a blackmail note has arrived, alluding to some potentially damaging information about said prince. Wanting to keep this out of the palace gossip circles, but also needing to find out what skeletons might lurk in the prince’s closet, the palace has quietly turned to Gwen and Iris. Without causing a stir, the two of them must now find out what secrets lurk in the prince’s past, before his engagement to the future Queen of England is announced. And there’s more at stake than the future of the Empire —there is their potential new office that lies in the balance.
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
A ROYAL AFFAIR (A Sparks and Bainbridge Mystery Book #2) by Allison Montclair is an exciting historical mystery addition to the Sparks and Bainbridge Mystery series featuring the owners of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau in post WWII London. Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge are two women with very diverse backgrounds who work perfectly together as co-owners of their new marriage match business and as unlikely best friends. These first two books can be read as standalones, but the main characters continue to evolve and I suggest you read them in order.
With The Right Sort Marriage Bureau becoming more successful, Iris and Gwen are looking forward to being able to move to larger offices down the hall in their current office building. When Gwen’s cousin, Lady Matheson, who works for the Queen arrives with a profitable proposition, they are more than happy to take on the job.
Lady Matheson has intercepted a black mail note addressed to the Princess Elizabeth concerning her choice for her prince. Wanting to avoid palace gossip, Lady Matheson hires Iris and Gwen to discreetly investigate if the information in some private family letters is true which could be damaging to the Greek prince and Elizabeth’s choice for husband.
What Iris and Gwen don’t realize is that they are not the only party looking for the letters. A dead body, British intelligence, Russian spies, and Greek government officials are all tangled together in this intriguing investigation. Iris and Gwen ready to assist the Crown and Princess and get their new office, too.
This is a great addition to this series, and I enjoy reuniting with Iris and Gwen. These two characters just jump off the page with their friendship, witty dialogue, and unique to their station and background skills. I quickly fall into the story of both their business and personal lives and feel as if I am a fly on the wall. Iris and Gwen feel like friends. The plot for this mystery is very intriguing and twisted. The use of historic figures with a “what if” scenario which could be very plausible kept me completely invested in the story. The secondary characters are fully drawn and quite believable. This has become a must-read series for me, and I am looking forward to following Iris and Gwen on their next adventure, because you know they just cannot stay out of trouble.
I highly recommend this historical amateur sleuth mystery!
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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.
