When my best friend alerted me to the series of mysteries by Allison Montclair, she did it with a warning not to start until I have time to read, read, read. She wasn’t kidding, I read from the first through the fourth in a weekend. The novels take place shortly after WWII and with the army being demobilized, men are taking their jobs back leaving women who had been activated during the war at loose ends. Iris Sparks is impulsive, intuitive, and full of intrigue about what she did during the war. Gwen Bainbridge is methodical, organized, and technically not sane in the eyes of the courts. Grief at her husband’s death led to her commitment to a sanitorium. Her in-law’s have custody of her son and a law firm controls her inheritance. When the two meet, that mysterious alchemy of friendship leads them to start a marriage bureau together. It’s call The Right Sort and they are confident their contrary methods, when they converge on a candidate, will find the right sort for marriage.

Their adventures begin in The Right Sort of Man when a client is indicted for murdering the woman they picked for him. A Royal Affair finds them investigating a potential husband for the Queen. A Rogue’s Company centers on Gwen’s family. Her father-in-law returns from Africa and brought trouble with him. When a woman is murdered in Iris’ apartment in The Unkept Woman she is the obvious suspect. She needs to find out the truth and quickly.

The Sparks & Bainbridge series of historical mysteries is a complete winner for me. These are fair play mysteries that we can solve because we know what Iris and Gwen know. They follow the rules of the Detection Club, though not the stricter rules of S.S. van Dine written in 1928. After al, there are two detectives and a bit of romance as well.

I like Iris and Gwen who are temperamentally polar opposites but have similar values and dedication to justice. I like how they support each other and other women. I like the historical details that add valuable color and context to the stories. I am so far behind on my reading, I am postponing the new release The Lady from Burma until I can read it without guilt. And then in a year, there will be another, Murder at the White Palace. I can hardly wait.

The Right Sort of Man at Minotaur Books | Macmillan
A Royal Affair
A Rogue’s Company
The Unkept Woman
Alan Gordon – author site
Introducing the Real Allison Montclair at Jungle Red ( )

Iris and Gwen are clever, amusing and intrepid. A great series! ( )

Loved this! Sparks and Bainbridge are delightful, fully-fleshed characters with distinct skill sets but a common goal: the survival of their agency as a reputable, moral company.

Loved spending time with these two again, as they investigate the background of a "dashing Greek prince" who may be in line to wed the Princess Elizabeth. Such fun! ( )

Iris Sparks & Gwendolyn Bainbridge run a marriage agency.... It's after WWII and it seems as though the only people who are not having problems finding mates, is the upper class (of which Gwen is one).

Gwen is a widow and Iris worked for HMSS... but when letters alluding to the legitimacy of Prince Philip of Greece (who is wanting to marry Elizabeth) turn up, it is Gwen who is contacted by her cousin, one of the Queen's Ladies in Waiting and asked to retrieve the letters & deliver the ransom.

Alas, the blackmailer is found dead and the letters appear to be forgeries.....

Pretty interesting; it really held my interest, and I pretty much liked the characters. ( )

1946 Miss Iris Sparks, ex-spy, and Mrs Gwendolyn Bainbridge, war widow, are owners of the The Right Marriage Bureau. They are approached by Lady Matheson to inquire into Prince Phillip, the possible future husband of Princess Elizabeth to determine the truth of the rumour of some scandal attached to him.
Unfortunately it took over the half way point for the first death. At times I did find the conversations between the two main females somewhat tiresome and didn't really find their characters that appealing.
Really a story about intrigue, rather than a murder mystery.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )