Allison Montclair

Allison Montclair: Fire Must Burn

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Sparks & Bainbridge #8

I just love this series.  It has two wonderful main characters, spectacular plotting, and, in post war London, a fascinating time period and setting, making it simply one of the best contemporary traditional detective series out there. In this outing, our two heroines, Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge, are tasked by English government intelligence to assign a woman through their marriage bureau (The Right Sort) to act as an agent as a means to discover if a certain diplomatic employee is loyal to their government or perhaps another. read more

Best of 2025

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Best of the year lists are so difficult!  I’ve given myself leeway to divide books into categories – cozy, historical, best all around – giving me a chance to spotlight more great reads.  All of the reviews appear either on this website or over at Deadly Pleasures (or both).  Deadly Pleasures also features my pared down top 10 list.  Here are 30 great reads culled from the 100 or so books I read each year.  My standard is simple – a book that stays with me long after I finish it, great writing, great characters.  There are veterans and newbies here.  Dive in! read more

Allison Montclair: An Excellent Thing in a Woman

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Sparks & Bainbridge #7

This is one of the best series going at the moment, and even though it’s the seventh, this installment retains the freshness and originality of the very first.  It follows the adventures of Gwen Bainbridge (a widowed socialite) and Iris Sparks (a former WWII spy), who together run The Right Sort, a marriage bureau in central London.  It’s now 1947, and as London recovers from the horrors of war it still finds new things to celebrate, like the dawn of a new technological miracle – television.  Gwen’s beau Sally, a giant sometime playwright, works at the BBC, and is willing to take Gwen, Iris and Gwen’s son and cousin on a tour of the studio. read more

Reviewer’s favorites 2024

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Vicki Kondelik’s List

Better the Blood, Michael Bennett  (2022).

Night Flight to Paris, Cara Black  (2023).

What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust, Alan Bradley  (2024).

To Slip the Bonds of Earth, Amanda Flower (2024).

Moonflower Murders, Anthony Horowitz (2020).

A Fatal Reception, Kathleen Marple Kalb (2024).

Blood Sisters, Vanessa Lillie  (2023).

The Last Hope, Susan Elia MacNeal (2024).

Murder at the White Palace, Allison Montclair (2024).

The Grey Wolf, Louise Penny  (2024). read more

Favorite Reads of 2024

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This year was a slow burn – sometimes I find a book early in the year that I’m completely passionate about.  This year I didn’t find “the one” until November, when I devoured Christina Lynch’s utterly original Pony Confidential.  I read lots of other great books along the way though, some by tried and true writers – Elly Griffiths, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Ann Cleeves, Anthony Horowitz, Deanna Raybourn and Ragnar Jonasson – and particularly in the historical novel category, lots of wonderful debuts that give us lots to look forward to. These recommendations are divided into categories.  Full reviews for all of these can be found on this website, just search by title or author. read more

Allison Montclair: Murder at the White Palace

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Sparks & Bainbridge #6

Simply put, the Sparks & Bainbridge historical mysteries are among the best of their kind being written at the moment. In the uncertainty of post-war London, series protagonists odd couple Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge run The Right Sort, a marriage bureau. Iris is a working-class woman who operated as an espionage agent during the war, and Gwen is a titled member of the upper class, a war widow raising a son with the intermittent help of her former in-laws. The yin and yang of Iris and Gwen works perfectly, and they have drawn ever closer through the now six books in this wonderful series. read more

Allison Montclair: The Lady from Burma

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Sparks & Bainbridge #5

July has been almost too delicious for words.  First was the long awaited return of Sujata Massey’s Perveen Mistry series; and then, just as eagerly anticipated (by me) is the new book in Allison Montclair’s Sparks and Bainbridge series. Five books in, fans of the series know that Gwen Bainbridge and Iris Sparks run The Right Sort marriage bureau in postwar London.  Iris did undercover work during the war; Gwen lost her husband, fell apart, and was literally declared a lunatic by her husband’s family, who have custody of her child and have put the portion of the family company she’s inherited from her husband under the control of the lunacy court.  It looks like, in book five, that the form of purdah Gwen finds herself in is about to be lifted. Her lawyer is hopeful and so is Gwen. read more

Summer reading: Book Club picks & dates

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Join us this summer for some reading!  In June, we’ll read S.J. Bennett’s All the Queen’s Men, meeting in person on Sunday, June 25 at 2 p.m. and on zoom on Wednesday, June 28 at 7 p.m.  In July, Allison Montclair will be joining us on zoom on Sunday, July 23 at 2 p.m. to discuss her new book, The Lady from Burma.  While it’s not necessary to have read any of Ms. Montclair’s books before the discussion, I recommend them highly!  It’s a wonderful series set in London just post WWII.  And spoiler, Allison Montclair is a pen name – tune to discover her (?) true identity.  In August, we’ll be reading the much award nominated Shutter by Ramona Emerson, meeting in person on Sunday, August 13 at 2 p.m. and on zoom on Wednesday, August 16 at 7 p.m.  Anyone is welcome – please message us on facebook or twitter or email us at store (at) auntagathas.com for more info or for a zoom link. read more

Best of: History Mystery 2022

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One reason I love historical mystery fiction so much is that the characters are operating without technology – they are using old fashioned deductive reasoning to solve their cases.  This year there was an incredible variety of wonderful work to choose from, embracing periods from just pre-WWII America in both the Southwest and in LA; to the East Coast in the 50’s; to Ohio in the 20’s; to Emily Dickinson and her maid investigating a crime close to home.  And of course there are some new installments of some always excellent series fiction, as well as two break outs with first in series books. read more

Allison Montclair: The Unkept Woman

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This series goes from strength to strength. Set in just post WWII London, Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge run The Right Sort, a marriage bureau (apparently something that existed at the time). Iris worked in intelligence during the war, and Gwen, a daughter of privilege, is a bereaved widow who lives with her in-laws and young son as they have had her declared mentally incompetent.  The two find solace and purpose in running a business together, and my only actual quibble with this book was that there was really none of the marriage bureau in the plot (or very little). read more