Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery Series
4/5
()
About this series
Sparks and Bainbridge of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau return in this short story from Allison Montclair as their expansion into a new office - and acquisition of a new desk - results in unexplainable phenomena that can only mean that their new digs are haunted!
In London, 1946, The Right Sort Marriage Agency is off to a good start and their early success means that Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge can now afford to expand into the long-empty office across the hall. And with that long closed office comes some more professional furniture - including a partner's desk from Harrod's. But something is afoot in that office - strange noises at unusual hours, some of the furniture seeming moved around and cleaned, all behind a locked door. The building's janitor is convinced that this is proof that the office is haunted.
But Sparks and Bainbridge are not so sure that's the only, or even the correct, conclusion. Instead, they suspect there's something going on related to the locked partner's desk and the long closed office. With their detective hats on, Sparks and Bainbridge are determined to uncover the truth about the mystery of the haunted partner's desk...or die trying?
Titles in the series (4)
- The Right Sort of Man: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery
1
From debut author Allison Montclair comes an engrossing historical mystery novel set in post-war London, The Right Sort of Man. In a London slowly recovering from 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, quick-witted and impulsive, 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 their promising start is threatened when their newest client is found murdered and the man arrested for the crime is 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 his name—and to rescue their fledgling operation’s reputation—Sparks and Bainbridge decide to investigate on their own. Little do they know that this will put their very lives at risk. *BONUS CONTENT: This edition of The Right Sort of Man includes a new introduction from the author and a discussion guide
- A Royal Affair: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery
2
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.
- A Rogue's Company: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery
3
In Allison Montclair's A Rogue's Company, business becomes personal for the Right Sort Marriage Bureau when a new client, a brutal murder, two kidnappings, and the recently returned from Africa Lord Bainbridge threatens everything that one of the principals holds dear. In London, 1946, the Right Sort Marriage Bureau is getting on its feet and expanding. Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge are making a go of it. That is until Lord Bainbridge—the widowed Gwen's father-in-law and legal guardian—returns from a business trip to Africa and threatens to undo everything important to her, even sending her six-year-old son away to a boarding school. But there's more going on than that. A new client shows up at the agency, one whom Sparks and Bainbridge begin to suspect really has a secret agenda, somehow involving the Bainbridge family. A murder and a subsequent kidnapping sends Sparks to seek help from a dangerous quarter—and now their very survival is at stake.
- The Haunting of the Desks: A Sparks & Bainbridge Short Story
5
Sparks and Bainbridge of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau return in this short story from Allison Montclair as their expansion into a new office - and acquisition of a new desk - results in unexplainable phenomena that can only mean that their new digs are haunted! In London, 1946, The Right Sort Marriage Agency is off to a good start and their early success means that Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge can now afford to expand into the long-empty office across the hall. And with that long closed office comes some more professional furniture - including a partner's desk from Harrod's. But something is afoot in that office - strange noises at unusual hours, some of the furniture seeming moved around and cleaned, all behind a locked door. The building's janitor is convinced that this is proof that the office is haunted. But Sparks and Bainbridge are not so sure that's the only, or even the correct, conclusion. Instead, they suspect there's something going on related to the locked partner's desk and the long closed office. With their detective hats on, Sparks and Bainbridge are determined to uncover the truth about the mystery of the haunted partner's desk...or die trying?
Allison Montclair
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. She is the author of the Sparks & Bainbridge historical mystery series, which begins with The Right Sort of Man.
Related to Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery
Related ebooks
A Christmas Peril: Theater Cop Mysteries, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dazzle of the Light Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScot and Soda Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnjust Judge, An Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Detecting Duchess: Victorian Bookshop Mysteries, #5 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: A Brock and Kolla Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on Principle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Royal Affair: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder, Sweet Murder Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Rogue's Company: A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder at Barclay Meadow: A Rosalie Hart Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Darkness Beyond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Fatal First Night Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cozy Up to Murder: The Cozy Up Series, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCarmel Cove Detective Agency Box set Books 1-3: The Carmel Cove Cozy Mystery series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Haunting of the Desks: A Sparks & Bainbridge Short Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Counterfeit Lady: Victorian Bookshop Mysteries, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dead Detective Mysteries Boxed Set: The Dead Detective Mysteries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSomething Shady at Sunshine Haven Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScot on the Rocks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLady Rample and the Lady in the Lake: Lady Rample Mysteries, #12 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Historical Mystery For You
Spider's Web Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Stranger in the Lifeboat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sentence Is Death: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Watchmaker's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Word Is Murder: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Herb of Death: A Miss Marple Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Find Me: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories: A Miss Marple Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Have Always Lived in the Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady of Ashes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Courting Dragons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder for Christmas: A British Holiday Murder Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pearl Dagger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mystery of Mrs. Christie: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Untitled Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Line to Kill: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The ABC Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Under a Red Moon: A 1920s Bangalore Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Librarian of Crooked Lane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Things in Jars: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Guardian of Lies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Last Jew in Prague Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Apothecary's Poison Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Universal Harvester: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lady in the Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Between Earth and Sky Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries Volume One: Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness, and Unnatural Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery
166 ratings0 reviews