When you request a book from NetGalley, written by an author you don't know, you take a risk that the blurb and/or reviews written by others are an accurate reflection and that the book will be something that you like. That was the situation I was in with this book. I was a little bit unsure and didn't know whether I would be thrust into a seedy version of the London underworld. Its not like that at all. This is a fantastic, fast paced, well researched, well written novel with a great storyline.

Nik is a teenager, working on the streets of London. Anna is his acquaintance who he knows through a local cafe. There are two timelines describing Nik's story. In one he is aged 15, being bullied at school and eventually thrown out by his parents. In the current timeline, in 1967, he is 19 and living in London, getting by by selling himself on the streets. He is arrested one evening as he is close to the scene of a murder and although there is no evidence, he is charged.

This book takes you back to the sixties and the prejudices that surrounded homosexuality. But it also exposes you to kindness and goodness within people. Anna goes out of her way to help Nik in the most extraordinary way which left me wondering whether I would ever have attempted something similar. And then there is the perspective of the MP, Richard and his wife, Merrion. Is he the good, hardworking, family man he appears to be or something else altogether? And then there is the kindly policeman, Barnaby Hayes, who together with Anna, pieces everything together. This book makes you think about society and how it has changed, not just in terms of attitudes towards sexuality but also race, religion and the way we live our lives today. It was a great read. I didn't realise there was a previous book featuring Anna - I will definitely read that and I will be looking out for another one in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed ‘A Little London Scandal’ by Miranda Emerson however I kept feeling I was missing something specifically around the character of Anna Treadaway. It felt as if I should have known her history. Also who is Aloyisius. I did some digging and realised there was a previous novel which had the same characters. I did feel it would have been better if I had read this first.

I'd read (and loved) 'Miss Treadway and the Field of Stars' a while back, but picked 'A Little London Scandal' up without realising that it featured the same characters. It doesn't matter too much if you haven't read the first book, but you would be missing a treat.

In this book, the sixties are swinging, but for Nik and the rent boys based around Piccadilly Circus, all is not so bright. Police raids and violence threaten their livelihoods and the murder of one of them, Charlie, near an exclusive gentlemen's club, cause them to come under some unwelcome scrutiny. When Nik is arrested for the murder, Anna Treadway, dresser at the Galaxy Theatre in Soho, steps in to prove his innocence. Her investigations take her into the heart of seedy London but also reveal corruption within high society.

This is another great read. The 1960s setting is lively and well-researched and Anna herself is an appealing protagonist. It is quite sad in places as the prejudice against gay men is depicted and the reader is shown that the 1960s were not all about free love and tolerance as they have been presented. The early pages are a little slow, but once the story really gets going then it is addictive! I raced through the majority of the book and will be keenly looking out for more titles in the series.

One of the many attractions if this book is that it is a reminder of how things have moved on. Set in the 1960s,the homosexual upper class men and their rent boys are breaking the law. The whole idea of homosexuality is socially unacceptable. That is the life Nik finds himself falling into as his father ejects him because of trouble at school. Then he gets caught up in a murder charge for which he has an alibi no one has examined.. Fortunately,he knows Anna who supports his cause as an official police person. She also knows the wife of a member of Parliament who is known to dabble in the gay scene. The story moves to an unexpected ending. The basic story line is not hugely original but it is handled sensitively and with well drawn characters. It makes important social statements and Isis an informative catchup on the history of that decade.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and 4th Estate for the advance copy of this book.

Having finished the book I have discovered that this is the second novel featuring several of the main characters; perhaps more detail is given in the first novel but I found that I just didn't get to know Anna so I couldn't really understand why she felt that she wanted to get involved with the people involved with the incident(s) at the heart of the story. Her relationships left me confused and I felt it unlikely that she would be be accepted quite so easily into the various groups of strangers she encounters.

Having said this I did enjoy the read; the author's research gave an authenticity to the locale and her descriptions of clothes and styles seemed spot on. It's just that everything and everyone seemed rather cold and distant, and to be honest I wasn't particularly invested in the outcome.

A great read. Drags you through gritty damp back alleyways into scenes of secret rent boys and quick tricks .Takes you on a mystery trip after a body is found weaving back stage theatre and meeting places of MPs and men only clubs. Gives of a good feel of the sixties, atmospheric and smoky. Who did the deed? Read and find out.

Thank you very much to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it; from the first page, I wanted to know what was next, from meeting the characters - Nik, Anna, Hayes, Merrian, Richard - to how they’re all connected in a way that is both tragic yet also, in some cases, life-changing. The undercurrent of just how scared so many of the characters were of the fact they’re homosexual is still something many people can relate to, even with the way society is changing. At first, I wasn’t sure of the relevance of Anna’s relationship with Louis, but as the book drew to a close and I thought on it more, I realised that it represented the fact that, what you’ve done in the past or where you’ve come from, does not automatically decide your present or your future. And then I realised also that this was the case of all the characters; from Nik and his turbulent childhood at the hands of high school bullies, to Richard pleading with Merrian to not tell anyone about his somewhat accidental yet somewhat intentional role in Charlie’s death. Charlie and Nik got justice; I hope that, post-ending, Richard got his too. Overall, it’s sad - and the ending is sad, but the final scene is very apt for that purpose, but there is just this little glimmer of hope.