Audiobook Review: The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair

The Right Sort of Man
Author: Allison Montclair
Narrator: Sarah Nichols
Series: Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Blackstone Audio, Inc. (July 4, 2019)
Length: 8 hours and 44 minutes

Description: First comes love, then comes murder.

In a London slowly recovering from the ravages of World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair - The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, avuncular and unmarried, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world.

But the promising start to their marriage bureau is threatened when their newest client, Tillie La Salle, is found murdered and the man arrested for the crime is one Dickie Trower, the prospective husband they matched her with. While the police are convinced they have their man, Miss Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge are not. To clear Trower's name - and to rescue their fledgling operation's reputation - Sparks and Bainbridge decide to investigate on their own, using the skills and contacts they've each acquired through life and their individual adventures during the recent war.

In this charming, compelling mystery, Allison Montclair blends meticulous research with two brilliantly imagined main characters into the first in a wonderful new series.

My Thoughts: Just after World War II, two women decide to open a marriage bureau to help people find new happiness after a difficult war. The war was hard for both main characters. Gwen Bainbridge lost her beloved husband Ronnie, suffered a breakdown, lost custody of her young son to her aristocratic in-laws, and is living on their charity. Iris Sparks has a past she can't talk about since she was involved in military intelligence. She's also having an affair with a fellow spy who happens to be married and is rather self-destructive.

When one of their clients is accused of murdering another of their clients, they face the possibility that their new business is going to fail even before it really starts unless they can find out who killed Tillie. Scotland Yard, in the person of one of Sparks' ex-fiancés, is sure they've got their main in Dickie. Iris and Gwen don't believe that is true. 

Finding out more about Tillie leads them to black market dealings ranging from fiddles to get new nylon stockings to counterfeiting clothing coupons but not, unfortunately, to Tillie's killer. It also introduces Iris to Archie who is a black market kingpin and criminal. Gwen also meets a man in Tillie's cousin but her situation with her son and her deep love for her Ronnie along with their vast differences in social class doesn't make a new romance likely. 

I enjoyed the setting and really enjoyed the characters in this historical mystery. Once I tuned my ears to the various English accents in this story, I also really enjoyed Sarah Nichols' narration. 

I bought this one from Chirp. You can buy your copy here.