This Charming Man is the second book of Caimh McDonnell's urban fantasy series, The Stranger Times. Picking up shortly after the first book, the crew of The Stranger Times newspaper become involved with the death of a vampire, which to all those in the know, definitely do not exist.
This is an exceptional follow up to the first book. Each character brings something to the story and has their part to play, new characters are confidently introduced and all seem to get at least one killer line, with Banecroft, the newspaper's editor having the most.
It is an excellent balance of comedy and tension, proving to be an increasingly anticipated series.

Firstly thank you to the publisher for allowing me an advance copy and thank you to netgalley for allowing me to use the website to gain access to the books to review.

This was a great pace book easy to read I got through this in just a few hours and I couldn’t put it down I’m joyed the story on the main characters I think this is great and would recommend to other people as this is the genre I do highly love

This Charming Man is the second in the Stranger Times series. The Stranger Times is a Manchester based newspaper that reports on anything you could happily file under the heading ‘Odd’, such as alien abduction, getting married to a motorway or vampires running amok in downtown Manchester. Everyone, but everyone knows vampires don’t exist, so what are they doing creating carnage and leaving dead bodies in their wake?

It’s been so great catching up with Hannah, Stella, Ox, Grace, Reggie and of course Banecroft. This Charming Man is as full of weirdos, misfits, odd bods and general quirkiness as The Stranger Times was before it. It’s a wonderful fusion of Urban Fantasy, mystery and laugh out loud slapstick comic moments and I absolutely loved it. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for sending an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this ebook.
To say I’m a big fan of this white haired Irish author is a massive understatement. I have read all of his other books and to have received this one very recently made my day!
I had to restrain myself from staying up all night and reading it all in one go. It’s an absolute joy and I loved it. It takes up the ‘Stranger Times’ story from where the first book left off. Thereafter we go on an outrageous tour around the wilds of Manchester, encountering all manner of baddies, goodies and some in between. The original cast are all there, getting more into themselves and being fantastic.
If you need a complete escape from whatever you need to escape from this series is quite possibly the one for you; just as long as you like the supernatural, lots of alcohol and aren’t afraid of the dark. If you are, then by all means give it a miss, but your life will not be quite as good as it could have been.
150 stars at least.

Be prepared for more wonderful adventure as the team at The Stranger Times make new discoveries and threats to it’s reporters. New characters join the adventure but where do vampires fit in?

A totally brilliant follow up. Could not stop reading and hate having to wait for the next edition. Read, enjoy and then maybe read again.

'In her head, she’d planned to say something charming and suave-sounding like, ‘It is lovely to be back’ or ‘Did you miss me?’ The carnage, however, rather threw her off her stride. ‘Grace – put that sledgehammer down this instant!’'

The Stranger Times team are back! And as you can still they are still as eccentric as ever.

‘Whatever we’re going to do,’ said Stella, ‘can we do it before somebody notices us?’‘Good idea,’ said Banecroft. ‘Don’t want people seeing the vampire we’ve just adopted.
'‘Yeah, I kinda meant the man in his underpants wielding a loaded firearm, but whatever.’

Something has created Vampires! Which even in this lore shouldn't exist. A powerful being seeking revenge throws the team through their paces.
Once again an OUTSTANDING novel! Absolutely hilarious from the first to last page. The fluid comedy in this series is a constant battle to jot laugh out loud in public. 🤣
Every single character is unique and has their own comedic presence.

5***** Best Series Ever

'Once you’ve nearly drowned on the side of a mountain, you start to realize which way the wind is blowing.’

C.K. McDonnell is back with the latest adventures of Manchester's premier newspaper for reporting on the wierd, the wild and the just plain odd.
If you enjoyed The Stranger Times you will love This Charming Man. All the elements that made the first book such a delight - compelling characters, an intriguing plot and a Liberal sprinkling of classic fantasy elements - are back again and as the author no longer has to spend time introducing everyone to us we can envelop ourselves in the action as a classic threat from legend, literature and the silver screen that 'definitely doesn't exist' somehow turns up and causes chaos for Hannah, Bancroft and their friends & colleagues.
There's a real feel of the reader being tricked and until the final few chapters I still wasn't sure which way the story would go but there is no déception, just a well plotted story that doesn't tell the reader the answer up front but slowly lays it out for them.
As always McDonnell finds a rich being of humour to mine but always in service of the story. Hannah is a great lead but it's nice to see supporting characters given a little more depth too.
I finished The Stranger Times and was desperate for the next instalment... Now I've read it and the hunger for more has just grown stronger!

Vincent Banecroft and the motley crew from The Stranger Times are back!

The Stranger Times, is a newspaper that reports the weird news, from ghosts, UFOs, the paranormal, to the completely bonkers stuff, like a woman who married a major road, or the possession of Morrissey.
The staff are investigating a new story after a tragic accident, where the victim who lies in the morgue shows all the signs of being a Vampire - fangs, claws, and a belly full of blood - not his own - but Vampires don't exist.... Do they?

This is book 2 in the Stranger Times series and it's absolutely brilliant. It's a fast paced urban fantasy set in the city of Manchester, with lots of laugh out loud moments. I love it.
I've got my fingers crossed for more. Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

This new paranormal, comedy investigative series follows the staff of The Stranger Times, a fringe Manchester published newspaper that investigates and debunks the slightly more out there stories, while also wrestling with the true nature of the supernatural,

In this second installment of the series the staff and their contact in the Police are faced with Vampires. Something both the Founders and the Folk agree (for once) Does. NOT. exist. Except, there are bodies turning up, and fangs glinting in the dark.

It's another great stand alone mystery, while also dropping more breadcrumbs for the overarching series character arcs and mysteries. I'm so eager for the inevitable book centred around Stella. The Stranger Times quickly become one of my go to recommendations when it was released last year, and the sequel does not disappoint.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for providing me with an eARC in return for a fair review.

This Charming Man is the sequel to C.K. McDonnell's The Stranger Times which I read and reviewed last year. If you haven't read it yet please do give it a go, it was a real highlight in the dumpster fire which was 2020.

Vampires do not exist. Everyone knows this. So it's particularly annoying when they start popping up around Manchester . . .

We return to Manchester, to the offices of The Stranger Times - a newspaper reporting on the strange and unusual. The narrative picks up shortly after the events in the first novel, and Hannah and the motley journalistic crew are again swept up into an investigation. This time it's vampires - despite both the Folk and the Founders agreeing that vampires do not exist.

Hannah and DI Tom Sturgess continue their hopeless attempts at flirtation, while sharing information about the case.

I don't want to say too much about this book, I would much rather you read & enjoy it yourself. I think it's enough to say that we see more development for some of the characters we already know & love and start to explore the complicated arrangement of the Accords between the Folk and the Founders. We also get a talking dog - my favourite addition to the cast!

This series is shaping up to be a favourite for me, lots of humour without slipping into parody, plenty of nods to mythology and pop culture alike.

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