Published By: Baskerville
Pages: 352
Released On: 05/11/2026
It’s May 1935, and while the rest of Birmingham is decked in red, white and blue for the silver jubilee, the detective agency in Needless Alley remains unpatriotically down-at-heel.
Into the office walks respectable spinster, Myfanwy Davies. She is dying, has cash to spare, and her last wish is to be reconciled with her estranged little sister. Miss Davies believes detectives William Garrett and Phyll Hall can help.
With the bailiffs at their door, William and Phyll are relieved to take on what appears to be a straightforward and lucrative case. However, their search for the missing woman leads to a complex web of murder and intrigue, as they journey through the glamorous world of Britain’s burgeoning film industry, the sinisterly genteel headquarters of an apocalyptic cult, and the murder of the heir to England’s most revered acting dynasty. Who is Myfanwy Davies? Where is her little sister? And why has death cast its long shadow over their investigations?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Baskerville for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is book three, following Needless Alley and The Red Hollow. It was a decent read but it did suffer from the same issue as the previous two which is a lack of direction. Or actually, it’s the desire to fit so much in that it doesn’t always know what it’s trying to be.
Once again, Natalie has depicted the 1930s perfectly and given it that dark, nostalgic, noir type feeling, and it’s so clear that it gets right in your bones. There’s a feel of Peaky Blinders about the series, which isn’t surprising given that it’s Birmingham in the 30s, but it doesn’t hit the same heights.
I read all three books over the weekend and there’s good things and bad things with that. It can get a bit samey and difficult to differentiate themes. But it also meant I could live in this world and get a proper feeling of it and the characters without having to remind myself what happened previously.
I wasn’t sure about the main characters in the first book, I actually found William Garrett quite unlikeable – although I seem to be in the minority with view – but by this one he had grown on me slightly, we’ve seen different sides of him which made him more interesting to read. But I still wouldn’t say he’s a particularly likeable or gripping protagonist.
What I found surprising is how much I liked the female characters. The 30s were still a time where men ruled the roost and women were not meant to be seen as sexual or independent or anything other than the family woman. And whilst that is touched upon, they actually held a lot of strength which I enjoyed.
The first book I liked, the second one dipped somewhat, but this one brings it back to the same level as book one. It feels more sure of itself, even though there were flaws.
I’m not 100% sure if this is to be the final book in a trilogy or if it’s just the latest instalment of a long series. Whilst I think this one is probably the most enjoyable of the three, I don’t se the series having much more to give, and I think it might get tiresome so personally I would finish it here, although there is scope for more.
At 350+ pages, it’s not short, and at times I found it dragging and so it felt even longer. I feel it just needed tidying up a bit.
