Amazing listen have recommended to students and friends, different to my normal genre but still amazing

From the first chapter I was fully immersed in the world of 1930s new York.

The descriptions were so vividly I could almost smell the cigarette smoke and rhye on the air of the bars.

I hadn't realised this was a second book in a series but unlike some second books this was very easy to follow. There were a few mentions of past events but with enough detail that I didn't feel I was missing out on anything in the story.

This is the sequel to Miss Aldridge Regrets and my third book by Louise Hare. Unfortunately it was also my least favourite.

The backdrop to this novel is 1930's harlem and I felt the time and place were executed well. I could almost hear the music and see the people which was a great credit to the writing style and descriptions. Something I've consistently admired in Hare's work.

The difficulty with Lena the protagonist, is that I didn't feel any particular way about her, and this goes for both books in the series. It didn't matter too much in the first book as the genre didn't seem to require it. However, this one although it too had a mystery to solve, it wasn't the same old fashioned, whodunit style of genre, so would have benefitted from more of a character focus and development.

I liked the dual timeline, with flashbacks to 1908 and Lena's fathers life. Those parts were interesting, and to learn about her history and how she came to be, added an extra layer to the story.

The character dialogues were engaging and something that helped give pace to the narratives.

Overall, a good enough novel to pass the time with but nothing particularly memorable.

Harlem After Midnight is the second in the Canary Club Mysteries.
Whilst this book follows on from Lena’s journey to America in book one, it also acts in parts as a prequel. It follows Lena’s search for clues to her family history whilst also going back in time to tell Lena’s father’s story firsthand.
The book opens with a body on the pavement identified as Lena and goes on to describe how and why it happened. Falling from a window is it murder, suicide or an accident? You won’t find out until the very end.
A good story which flows, great characters and lots of historic references to the era including The Cotton Club, racism and the music. Looking forward to a further instalment.

A nice read, but I didn't enjoyed as much as the first one. Note that you will need to read the first one before you pick this one up, otherwise the relationship between the characters and the mentions of past events don't make sense.

I was a bit disappointed. In the first book, there's a clear build up, events that lead to the climax of the story. This one has a very slow pace, and at the center of the story is Lena Aldridge, the protagonist, looking for her family. The murder completely takes the backseat and is sometimes forgotten in the middle of all the drama. And in the end, nothing gets resolved.

I give 3 stars for the historical descriptions of Harlem with the jazz parties, the dancing in bars and the whole party atmosphere of the time.

The voice of the narrator was alright and engaging, the tone she read was good. It was just the long periods where nothing significant happens , which made me disconnect from the story.

I was expecting the story to be more about the murder in the opening chapter and it wasn't. I loved the first book so it gives no pleasure in writing this.

Hopefully the next one will pick up the pace.

Second in the Canary Club mysteries series, after really enjoying the cruise ship murder mystery Miss Aldridge Regrets earlier this year I couldn’t wait to find out what was next for protagonist Lena, quite literally fresh off the boat in New York City.
This sequel picks up where the last one left off, with singer Lena getting to grips with the Big Apple, and a brand new relationship with musician Will, while trying to find out more about where she came from.
While the first novel was a fast paced series of murders and more of a whodunnit throughout, this one starts off with a mysterious accident, (or was it?!) and is told through various flashbacks and flash forwards.
It also delves a lot deeper into Lena’s family history, and we find out much more about her late father Alfie’s background, as she tries to trace any surviving family members and find out more about his life before having her.

I would suggest reading these books in order, as there are several references in this one to the first, and you get more immersed in the story that way. I had the chance to listen to this one as an audiobook, thanks to Netgalley, and really enjoyed the different accents which set the scene and brought this to life.

Thanks to the publishers for the audiobook!

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. Audio HQ for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘Harlem After Midnight’ by Louise Hare. The audiobook is narrated by Leonie Elliot.

This is the second in her Canary Club Mysteries, a follow-up to ‘Miss Aldridge Regrets’. Actually, I would class it more of a continuation and as such I would recommend reading the books in order to appreciate how its protagonist, Lena Aldridge, came to be in New York City, her background, and events during the ocean voyage.

The novel opens with a shocking occurrence at a party in Harlem after midnight…no spoilers. We then go back nine days as Lena settles into the guest room at the apartment of Claudette and Louis Linfield, friends of Will Goodman, the handsome bandleader she had met on board the HMS Queen Mary.

During her two week stay Lena hopes to trace the whereabouts of her father’s relations as well as to learn why in 1908 Alfie Aldridge had fled to London. Lena expects that she will be more successful in Harlem staying with people aware of her race rather than ‘passing’ at a posh Fifth Avenue hotel.

Lena again serves as the novel’s narrator though there are also chapters set in 1908/09 that follow Alfie. There are also occasional flash forwards to mid September until the timelines merge.

In London Lena being biracial had been less of an issue, though she is aware that the situation is more complex in the USA, even if people remind her that New York City is ‘not the South’.

Again, Louise Hare uses the period setting to explore issues of race, class, and privilege. While there are mysteries to be solved, I felt that ‘Harlem After Midnight’ placed more emphasis upon family and community. Lena also needs to sort out ‘what’s next’, a situation that is becoming increasingly complicated.

With respect to the audiobook, English actor, Leonie Elliot, is well known for her work in various British tv series. Leonie has a warm, rich voice. This is only her second foray into audiobook narration and I had enjoyed listening to her first, ‘Fire Rush’. I appreciated how she was able to move smoothly between Lena’s English accent and the various American characters’ accents. I felt that it was a strong performance that certainly enhanced my appreciation of the novel.

Overall, I found ‘Harlem After Midnight’ an engaging historical drama. The final scenes suggest that there may be a third book at some point in the future. I have become so fond of Lena that I want to know more of her story.

Harlem After Midnight is the second Canary Club Mystery, following on from Miss Aldridge Regrets. It can be read as a stand-alone and all the information you need about Lena Aldridge, a biracial jazz singer and would be actress, is provided. Set in the mid 1930’s against a backdrop of segregation and racism with the rise of Nazism in the background, Louise Hare paints a fascinating picture of what it is to be able to pass for white in New York where being black comes with ready-made disadvantages.

Leonie Elliott reads well and judges the pacing and the tone of her characters very well indeed.

Lena Aldridge wants to know what brought her now deceased father, Alfie, a musician from New York to London in the early 1900’s. Having been afforded a trip on the Queen Mary which turned out to be rather more eventful than she might have wished, Lena is now in New York with no job, knowing no-one, except for Will Goodman, a rather handsome musician whom she met while he was playing in the ship’s band.

Will offers her a place to stay, with his friends Claud and Louis, and because she is interested in him, Lena agrees, wanting to know if this is a relationship that could develop into more than friendship.

The book follows Lena’s search for information about her father, Alfie, interspersed with a mystery about a dead body that is clutching Lena’s passport. We learn about Alfie’s life in 1908, which was both difficult and tragic.

Then there’s present day Lena. Will has a half-sister named Bel Bennett and their relationship is clearly tempestuous. After meeting Bel, it becomes clear that Will has been keeping secrets from Lena. Claud and Louis, too, are welcoming enough but there’s something reserved about their welcome for Lena and she’s not sure quite who to trust.

Lena’s biracial heritage comes up again when she and Bel go out together. Bel too can pass as white. While they enjoy the freedoms that this ability to pass gives them, it’s also troubling to their consciences, because who are they if not black? Lena wants to own her heritage and being in Harlem just strengthens that view for her.

The mysteries in this book are not always too difficult to work out, but the sheer rhythm and flow of life in Harlem is what makes this a stand out listen. (Though I’d love to hear a fully dramatised version complete with the music of the time)

Louise Hare really captures life in Harlem at the end of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when Harlem was the centre for the African American struggle for civil and economic equality and a flourishing centre of black culture, art and music. Lena goes to rent parties, where tenants hired a band to play and passed the hat to raise money to pay their rent. She visits The Apollo, the place “where stars are born and legends are made,” famous for launching the careers of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, who made her singing debut there at just at 17 in 1934. Lena explores the music scene in her search for people who knew Alfie and what had made him up sticks and leave New York and of course she and Will love to discuss music.

With multiple timelines and two mysteries to be solved, capturing the detail, music and atmosphere of the times is important and Louise Hare does this very well.

I like Lena, though she’s sometimes too soft for her own good. But she can stand her ground and she’s no stranger to plain speaking.

Verdict: Well- paced, with characters I enjoyed meeting, Harlem After Midnight is an atmospheric, historical murder mystery with an emphasis on family secrets. I came for the murder mystery, but I stayed for the beautifully created descriptions and atmosphere of 1930’s Harlem. Lena ends up back in England and I’ll be here waiting for her next adventure.

The sense of place in this book is is fabulous. While there were still a lot of problems, New York in the 1930s sounds like an incredible place to be in terms of music, fashion and opportunity. That said, Louise Hare does a really good job of showing the differences between the characters’ experiences of the city, which brings home the struggles that people of colour faced.

The murder mystery itself leaves a lot to be desired and doesn’t have the drama and impact of the first book. The characters and storytelling are fantastic, but I would’ve liked more background on the new people we meet, and their motivations (and perhaps a second body). There is initial shock at the murder, but it becomes very clear that it isn’t who we are told it is, which makes the mystery drag on a little bit.

We are offered insight into the lives of Jessi and Alfie, which although interesting, are perhaps not given as much time as expected. The coincidences are a little hard to swallow, but this does tidy up a few loose ends from the first book.

Overall, a good read but not quite as gripping as Miss Aldridge Regrets.

It was slightly difficult to understand the back-references of this book once I started listening to it. But that's not to say that it was a major hindrance. Even if you haven't read the first book, you can enjoy it as a standalone listen. It was worth a one-time listen and I quite enjoyed it. Maybe pick it up and see. I don't want to give much away than what is in the blurb since it is a thriller after all.

Another brilliant, page-turning mystery from the Lena Aldridge series. Hare beautifully transports us to 1930s Harlem with a story which oozes class and intrigue. I loved it!

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This is the sequel to Miss Aldridge Regrets and starts off with a gripping scene where a body is found outside of an apartment where a party has been held in Harlem in 1936. The story then shills back in time to the suspected victim - Lena who is arriving in New York on her transatlantic voyage with Will her boyfriend. She is staying in New York in the above apartment with Will and his friends but how will she end up falling out of the window so tragically? This is an interesting historical story with a mystery thrown in resulting in a great story. I listened on audiobook narrated by Leonie Elliott who kept me engaged from the start to the end !! Thank you so much Harper Collins and Netgalley for my copy.

Should I have read the prequel? Definitely! I was really lost a lot along the way, and while the general premise of the story was good, I was too confused to properly enjoy it. I hated a lot of the language used, I appreciate that it is a historical fiction novel, but it didn’t make me feel any less sick. I hate to leave this type of review but I value honesty and always emphasise that it’s purely my personal view, and you may very well love it. The narration was solid for a lot of the story, but the narrator seemed to slip easily back into the wrong accent for the character at times and to be honest it may have played a part in the whole thing feeling so confusing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

I had enjoyed the first book featuring these characters “miss Aldridge regrets” I liked the golden age of crime writing feel but I wasn’t overly keen on the sub plots and characters but the mystery part and the setting made up for that. When I saw there was a follow up/sequel to the novel I was interested to see where this book would go. I was delighted to be approved for the ARC but sadly the book didn’t live up to my exceptions.

Told in dual time lines in first person POV for Lena and the second POV for Alfie we move from 1930’s to 1900’s hearing how Alfie arrived in London and hearing how Lena is looking for information on her family in New York whist forging a relationship with Will. On the back of this is there also the mystery of who has fallen off the balcony at the very start on the novel and who was involved. I guessed from the get go who it was and who had done it. The writer failed to create proper mystery with this, the writing was obvious in the way it tried to lead the reader.

I felt this novel has none of what made the first book readable there was no golden age feel at all, this highlighted how weak the characters were none were likeable or even interesting. I found Lena super annoying. The plot had potential but I felt it got lost along the way there was too much going on and not a lot of made sense. The ending was predictable.

I don’t think this novel was needed. Sorry to say but this wasn’t for me at all.

I had a go with the audio version to se if could make like it more if anything it made it more boring and it dragged on and on

Narrator was good at accents but was very dull other than that, a voice to send you to sleep