MixedHistorical Novel SocietyLouise Hare’s second novel is a lovingly-told yarn. She creates a likeable main character in a mystery which does not airbrush uncomfortable truths about the past. Instead, race and class are well integrated into the plot, although the theme of \'passing\' could have been developed even further ... At times the pace feels slow, with long descriptions, particularly of food, that interrupt rather than deepen the sense of atmosphere. There is a lot to recommend in this homage to the Golden Age of mystery writing, but it could have benefited from a sharper editorial knife to bring out the kernel of an intriguing book.
