Harlem After Midnight is a well written historical mystery and the second in a series by Louise Hare. Released 29th Aug 2023 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
Told
in first person PoV as well as through parallel chapters in 3rd person PoVs, this is a subtle and engaging mystery set in 1936.
The author is adept at setting and description, and she does a great job of calling forth the spirit of the interwar years and the
"golden age" of mystery. Readers of Marsh, Christie, Blake, and Crispin
will find much to enjoy here. It's *not* those authors.. but you can see them in the writing.
The
writing is more than competent and the mystery, clues, and plotting are
well engineered and intricate. One codicil. This is absolutely not a standalone book and to understand context, characters, their interrelationships, and to get much out of the book, it should be read subsequent to the first book in the series.
Four stars. This is an engaging and beautifully written period mystery with an incredibly intricate denouement which would've done E.C.R. Lorac proud.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment