My thanks to 4th Estate for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘A Little London Scandal’ by Miranda Emmerson.

This is a follow up to Emmerson’s 2017 debut novel, ‘Miss Treadway & the Field of Stars’, set in London’s theatre land during the mid-1960s.

London. 1967. Nik Christou has been a rent boy since he was 15. He considers himself street savvy. Then one summer night his life is turned upside down, first by violence and then by an accusation of murder.

Anna Treadway, a dresser in Soho’s Galaxy theatre, knows Nik from his visits to the Alabora Coffee House, located next door to Anna’s flat. From past experience she doesn’t have much trust in the police and is convinced that Nik is innocent. She is determined to find him an alibi.

Anna searches for clues amongst MPs, actors, members of gentlemen’s clubs and a hundred different nightly clients. Will anyone be willing to come forward and save Nik from his fate? Anna teams up with DS Hayes, who she knows from her previous bout of amateur sleuthing.

Also involved is Merrian Wallis, the devoted wife to an MP with a tarnished reputation. She is seeking proof that her husband wasn’t involved, yet fears that he may have a secret life. The novel also contains flashbacks that explores quite movingly how Nik came to be on the streets selling his body to strangers. There are a few scenes in this respect that were uncomfortable to read.

Although this is set during the summer when homosexual acts between men was finally decriminalised, there was still a great deal of prejudice as well as secrecy. Class divisions were also explored along with how protected certain people were from the consequences of their actions.

Overall, I found this a highly engaging character-led murder mystery and felt that Miranda Emmerson recreated London of the Swinging Sixties with great precision, capturing its optimism and vibrant culture.

After reading and enjoying this so much I immediately purchased ‘Miss Treadway & the Field of Stars’.
 
4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

A Little London Scandal by Miranda Emmerson is set in London in 1967. A young “rent boy” is found murdered close to an exclusive gentleman’s club in St James while Nik another “rent boy” wakes up near to the scene of the murder after a battering from a famous client in denial. The police are looking for a quick solution that will avoid any scandal and Nik is the perfect candidate. Fortunately he has a friend and a rebellious police officer who not so sure that Nik is guilty party.

A Little London Scandal evokes the awakening hip culture of 60’s London very well. It is a novel about class and power which portrays the secrecy and denial imposed on gay men at that time. It is atmospheric, pacy and quite thought provoking, particularly if like me you grew up in London in the 60’s – I was surprised how little of this I recognised.

Pretty good, well worth a read, I am going to explore Emmerson’s previous novel soon.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a great cover, it totally encapsulates the feel and era of the 1960s.

This is the first book I have read by this author, I would probably have been best to read the other books first. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this. A rent boy is found dead in suspicious circumstances and the police want a quick conviction. Set in the time when homosexuality was illegal-the police procedures that follow makes an interesting read.,. Dark in places, but full of detail and characterisation. Recommended.

I am sure none of what I have been reading was in the preview otherwise I wouldn't have requested it.. The story is very descriptive and I really don't want pictures like that in my head. I am sure others will find it interesting but not for me I'm afraid. I will not transfer my review elsewhere.

It took me a long time to get into this novel. It is well written, and the two worlds it is set in, the world of theatre, the world of the dresser and stage-manager, and the world of the rent-boy in 1960s London, are evidently either well known to the author or particularly well researched.

My problems were two-fold. First of all, I do like to be able to identify with one of the principle characters in the story. Anna Treadway, who after a lot of dithering on the part of the author, jumping the poor reader from one viewpoint and setting to another, emerges finally as the protagonist, would be the obvious person for me to idemntify with. However, she is so wet, so hopeless, that I wanted to slap her not identify with her.

The second problem was that continual switching of viewpoint.

In all honesty, if I hadn't agreed to write a review I would have given up on this book long before the halfway point. Conversely, by that point I was familiar enough with the various viewpoints and settings not to be thrown with each switch, and I grew so accustomed to Anna Treadway's stupidity that it became almost endearing.

Would I recommend it? I don't know. The reader would need to be someone without my aversion to multiple viewpoints and with infinite patience for the Anna Treadways of this world.

I've read through all the rave reviews and wonder if I've completely missed the point of this book. I couldn't get past the first two chapters. Maybe as a child of the sixties, my recollections are clouded in alcoholic fumes.

I'm delighted that so many people have raved about it for the author's sake. Unfortunately, I can't. The characters irritated me from the offset.

I admire the fact that sexuality in the sixties is the main storyline. How did homosexuals cope - always having to hide their true feelings and identity?

Bluebell.

What a brilliantly written story. Without realising it at the beginning, all the characters lives are intertwined, leading to very believable plot.
Set in the heady 60s, when homosexuality was something whispered about, with young rent boys, aging queens, politicians and theatre land all rolled into a very neat package.
Living near London and being a baby boomer, this book came to life in my mind, as I saw the areas it described, the clothes of the time, a very different way of life.

I really enjoyed Miranda Emerson’s first book featuring Anna Treadway and this second one has developed the characters, deepened the sense of time and place and basically just got even better. Superb writing, this is literary, character based thriller that doesn’t flinch from difficult, dark subjects. Nik is a rent boy and we learn why he ended up like this, and why He is being accused of the murder of another rent boy. Anna makes a great amateur sleuth and familiar characters contribute. Not a comfortable, cosy read but so good.

I am very fond of books set in the 60s, 70s & 80s and I’m sure that’s what made me want to read this book. When I picked it up to read I couldn’t remember why I had chosen it. It wasn’t by an author I’d read before - however as soon as I started reading it I was transported to 1967. The story is told from many points of view & to see each character’s description of London, of the times & their attitude to gay men. It’s a moving book & so thought provoking. It’s just such a great read. I can’t wait to read the authors previous novel. If you like modern history, LGTB themes & a crime investigation twist I can’t recommend this enough.

I really enjoyed Miranda Emmerson’s debut novel, Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars. In fact, it was one of the first books I reviewed on this blog. Many of the characters from that book make a return in A Little London Scandal, although it works perfectly well as a standalone. There’s Ottmar, owner of the Alabora cafe, and the actors and backstage staff at the Galaxy Theatre where Anna works as a dresser. Sergeant Barnaby Hayes, whose partnership with Anna enabled them to solve the mystery at the heart of the first book, also returns although his involvement in that earlier case has not been without its consequences.

Anna’s boyfriend, Louis (or Aloysius if you’re being formal) has less of a starring role in this book, having returned to Jamaica on family business. Theirs is a long-distance relationship for the time being, conducted by means of the exchange of touching postcards and letters.

Anna’s innate sense of justice means she cannot stand by when Nik, whom she knows from the Alabora cafe, is arrested and charged with a murder she is convinced he did not commit. She enlists Barnaby’s help again and, alternating with the progress of their investigation, we learn the story of Nik’s troubled teenage years and adolescence. It takes the reader to some dark places inhabited by seedy individuals – about as much fun as the prospect of a colonoscopy.

Given Anna’s occupation, I liked how the theme of performance or playing a part is woven into the book. With homosexuality yet to be decriminalized, many are forced to hide their sexuality and to pretend to be something they are not for fear of arrest or blackmail. (It made me think of the film Victim starring Dirk Bogarde, who in reality led a somewhat double life.)

Merrian, wife of MP Richard Wallis, knows all about playing a part – the part of perfect wife and mother. She’s a really sympathetic, believable character who has sacrificed a lot in order to advance her husband’s career and present the outside world with the picture of a traditional family. What she knows, or suspects, about her husband’s secrets she keeps to herself until, she too, is drawn into Anna’s search for justice and shows unexpected mettle.

I loved the way Anna’s natural empathy, drawing on what we learn about her own troubled past, enabled her to gain Nik’s confidence and trust. And I admired her bold, if slightly reckless, willingness to take action.

The book perfectly captures the atmosphere of 1960s London – Carnaby Street, miniskirts, late night jazz clubs and coffee bars. (There’s even a scene in a Wimpy bar. Remember those?) The story takes the reader on a journey from exclusive gentlemen’s clubs, via Wormwood Scrubs and the nightlife haunts of down and outs and rent boys, to illicit music events on Eel Pie Island. (Incidentally, this is the second book I’ve read featuring Eel Pie Island as a location. The first was The Secret Life of Alfred Nightingale by Rebecca Stonehill.)

The book has lovely little touches like the quirky chapter headings, my favourite being “Very Expensive Penguins”. (Sorry, Miranda, there was no way I could get Jerry’s third word into my review.)

A Little London Scandal combines an intriguing mystery with a vivid portrait of London at a time of change.

It was really interesting to read about life in London in 1967. This story is well written, informative and an eye opener in places.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

This is a multifaceted and very enjoyable book. If you like a twisting mystery investigated by an amateur sleuth (with policeman side-kick) – it is for you. If you like reading about the interplay between social class, politics and gay rights in the 1960s – it is also for you. Vignettes on bullying, sex trafficking, family relationships anyone? But, more than anything it is a book about friendship – friendship in extremis. The whole book is very strongly character driven. By the end you feel you really know the main characters, Anna and Nik, and underneath their prickly, protective exteriors, you find people you would feel privileged to know. The Soho area of London in the late 1960s is another very vivid character, peopled by immigrants from abroad and from elsewhere in the UK. People who have been lucky enough to make it, those still yearning for a break, and those just trying to survive:
“What London sold was not pleasure itself but the promise of it. People came and they brought their hunger with them”
Nik is a rent boy, who is accused of murdering another rent boy. He is found beaten near where the body is found in the grounds of a gentlemen’s club. The police put two and two together to make eleven, and arrest him. Afterall, rent boys are all amoral criminals, so much more likely to be violent and guilty, than any upstanding member of the community – case closed: the officer who found the body
“‘obviously did his best on the night. Rent boy in a gentlemen’s club – all the makings of a messy one – but it seems he kept it as clean as he could.’”
The police have found their designated culprit, and the rich and powerful should be protected at all costs. Only, Anna (an acquaintance of Nik’s from his local coffee shop) and Hayes (a policeman with an unusually strong sense (for the time) of justice) do not believe he is guilty. Nik does not try to defend himself, as he cannot give an alibi, without incriminating the man he was with (since homosexuality was illegal)
“It wasn’t only that it was the right thing never to name another man; but his earnings, his reputation were built upon the idea of discretion.”
You really want to find out who killed Charles, and why. Suspicions are raised very early on by Anna, and as the reader you will easily concur with her hunches. But, is she correct (you definitely want her to be, as the guy is not very nice) or are we all falling into another trap of judging someone by their class, profession, social group etc. And will Anna and Hayes ever manage to get Nik out of jail before it is too late. There are a couple of very surprising twists to come before this mystery is done and dusted.
This was an excellent book – on so many different levels, and I can highly recommend it.

I adored this book. As somebody who lives in London and is enamoured with it, I always go for books that give me an insight (albeit very fictional) about different times and decades in the city. Fabulous.

Vivid descriptions of London and characters bring this sinister plot to life. An absorbing read of sex, power and loss.

A Little Local Scandal transports us to a dark corner of London life in the 1960s. Although homosexual behaviour was illegal, a numbers of young men and boys offered sexual gratification services Many came from impoverished and/or abused backgrounds lured to London and the bright lights. .Piccadilly Underground Station was a well known place for meet ups where the Vice Squad made frequent raids in search of both Rent Boys and Punters. After one such raid, a Rent Boy (Cahrlie) was found murdered near bye,. another Rent Boy (Nik) is picked up and charged with his murder, his protests of innocence seemingly brushed aside.. A young woman (Anna) working in Theatre land knew Nik and did not believe him to be a murderer and so determined to find the truth. Politics and Gentlemen's Clubs enter the scene, Newspapers suddenly lose interest in the case. There was wall of silence with parts of society wanting a cover up whilst Rent Boys chose not to incriminate their clients

But what is the truth? Miranda Emmerson painstakingly takes through the search. Societal problems are revealed with a fine conflict between honesty and corruption. This is an important and well written book providing, as it does, an insight into a particularly unsavoury part of the Swinging Sixties. Given its subject matter, it is hard to say it is a book to "enjoy", but do read it and see how good fictional literature can provide important pointers to our aspects of our history. which textbooks may gloss over.

Recommended. .

. .

I remembered reading the first book featuring Anna Treadway ,a theatrical dresser and the policeman Barnaby Hayes,so it was good to meet them again. I loved this book,although the subject matter is quite dark.Set in 1967 it tells of Nik,a rent boy in London who is accused of a murder he didn't commit.It also involves Merrian Wallis whose MP husband has some knowledge of the events on the night of the murder but who doesn't want this to be known.Anna once again tries to find out what happened in order to save Nik,with the help of Hayes.
The book paints a very different picture of 60s London,dealing with the seamier side of life there but also with the way gay men were treated by the law making homosexuality illegal.Yet again it seems that the privilege enjoyed by the wealthy upper classes made them immune to prosecution .
I loved the character of Nik- he was portrayed very sympathetically and the circumstances which led to his way of life were truly moving.Anna Treadway is a wonderful character too,with her dogged determination to help him.The author had clearly done a great deal of research into 1960s London and it feels very authentic.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review which reflects my own opinions.Highly recommended.

A Little London Scandal is a mystery set in London in the 60's when homosexuality was illegal ,Nik is a teenage rent boy who is in the wrong place at the wrong time when another young rent boy is murdered and he is accused and charged with murder.Anna Treadway is a Dresser in a local Theatre who knows him and is determined to fight for justice for him.I realised after awhile that I had met Anna before in "The Field of Stars" and thoroughly enjoyed that book and this book was just as good capturing the atmosphere of those times .I was brought up in Twickenham and remember Eel Pie Island well but in those days you had to get a ferry over to the island to watch the bands of the day The Stones Bowie etc so that part brought back good memories .An excellent read I look forward to reading more about Anna Treadway .Many thanks to the Publisher the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

Another adventure for Anna Treadway, protagonist also of Miss Treadway & the Field of Stars - which I enjoyed immensely. I enjoyed this tale of 60s London as well. The writing is superb and the details vivid.

I did feel the ending was perhaps a little rushed, and not entirely convincing, but by that time I had had the pleasure of a good read so it was not so important.

Others have described the story, so I won't go into it again here.

A very good read.

As the blurb says - sex and the Sixties. The cover plus that blurb caught my eye and as I was alive then...! A boy is found dead in the gardens behind an exclusive London (gentlemen's) club. No one really saw anything much but another boy was running away from the area and arrested. It looks as though this might be a good way for the police to close the case particularly as both of them were rent boys. However Anna, a dresser in a Soho theatre, knows the boy, Nik, who has been arrested and she thinks him innocent. Add in an MP with a slightly tarnished reputation and his worried wife Merrian and the key ingredients are there for this book.

I liked the start of this book. The boy who was found dead was running away from a police raid and was scared. Nik was working on the streets. Anna is dealing with actors and actresses. The whole thing managed to feel fairly much like the Sixties. The book follows Anna's attempts to find out what happened and the MP's wife is interested in some answers too. Ann comes across a policeman who she met during a previous case she was involved in - will he help?

If there was nothing very outstanding about this book equally I would not have dreamed of stopping reading it. The characters were good enough - particularly so in the case of both Nik and Anna. Nik's background emerges during the story and is well presented. I also found it convincingly atmospheric of the Sixties. The attitudes towards those who were not male, wearing suits and in decent jobs was telling - if anything understated. Definitely a decent read.

This is the second book featuring Anna Treadway and, although events and characters from the first book do pop up every so often in this, I believe that if you haven't already read it then that shouldn't mar your enjoyment of this book. It is a good read though so you might want to put it on your TBR.
Set in the 60s, in London, we follow Nik on an eventful night out. So eventful that it ends up with him being accused, arrested and charged with murder. He's a rent boy so he really doesn't have too much on his side to defend himself. Apart from, that is, the indomitable Anna Treadwell, a theatre dresser, who knows Nik from a cafe they both frequent. She believes in his innocence and, from previous experience, has learned not to wholly trust the Police. She's also well placed to investigate being surrounded by the glitterati, and with her connections and street smarts fully in force, she begins her own investigation in earnest, determined to clear Nik's name.
As with the first book I thoroughly enjoyed returning to the wonderful London 60s. OK so I am too young to know it first hand but, from what I understand, it all came across, and indeed felt very real. As more of Nik's story came to light, it was a bit heartbreaking. Being a rent boy in that time was a bit of a scary thing. Also, with the establishment being as it was, especially with homosexuality being illegal, and with many still in the closet, it was also an eye opener to see how the mighty protected their own. Anna however is a very formidable character. I gelled with her in her first outing and that relationship continued through this one. Other characters revisited continued to develop and grow as the story progressed, especially Anna's friendly policeman Barnaby Hayes, a man with his own colourful past. In this book we also meet Merrian, the wife of a politician. She has her own crosses to bear as we soon find out. I felt for her too and her predicament reminded me of events in A Very English Scandal - not a spoiler, it's in the blurb!
All in all, a cracking read that grabbed me from the off and held my attention nicely throughout. Spitting me out at the end pretty much an emotional wreck, but wholly satisfied. I'm now itching to see what the author throws Anna's way next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.