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MISS ALDRIDGE REGRETS - Louise Hare
Berkley
ISBN: 9780593439258 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 9780593439258 (eBook)
JULY 2022
Fiction

London and Aboard the Queen Mary - 1936

Lena Aldridge, singer and wannabe actress, is not thrilled about where her life is going. For the present time, she's singing in a trashy nightclub run by her best friend's low-life husband. Her budding career in the theater has gone nowhere, and now with her father dead, Lena wonders what's next. But everything seems to come to a head when, as she's singing on stage, she watches in horror as her boss drops dead in the front row. And then, as if by magic, a stranger who claims to represent an old friend of her father's offers her the opportunity of a lifetime. She suddenly has a job on Broadway in New York, and a first-class ticket on the Queen Mary. Lena, who is of mixed race, and has been passing for white in London, isn't sure what to do. Should she trust this guy? 

Lena's best friend, Maggie, who just lost her finagling husband under strange circumstances, urges Lena to take the job in New York. With the investigation into the death under way, it may be a good idea to get out of England, even though Lena had nothing to do with the man's death. She does wonder whether Maggie did, however. 

Boarding the Queen Mary with the man from New York, Lena is assigned a posh cabin. Charlie, her escort, gets them seated at a table with the Abernathy family, and he urges her to be friendly to them since their money could help with the play on Broadway that her new boss has hired her for. Confused, Lena reluctantly goes along with the plan, but feels very uncomfortable with the scrutiny by some members of the family. Especially the old man in the wheelchair who suddenly begins to stare at her intently. 

It's only when the old man suddenly collapses and dies at the dinner table one night, that Lena begins to worry. But then another member of the family is found dead in her cabin, and she is attacked. Things go downhill after that.

MISS ALDRIDGE REGRETS is an Agatha Christie type mystery with any number of suspects. Told in the first person by Lena, as well as the killer, the story moves from the present to the past, with hints about the real reason for the murders, and the accompanying charade. But get ready to be surprised when the culprit is revealed.

A thoroughly entertaining tale, MISS ALDRIDGE REGRETS is terrific. 

Jani Brooks

 
   
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