Brighton Belle
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
'Feisty, intelligent and charming' James Runcie, author of the The Grantchester Mysteries
1951, Brighton.
With the war over and the Nazis brought to justice at Nuremberg, Mirabelle Bevan (retired Whitehall secretary) thinks her skills are no longer required. After her lover's death she retires to the seaside to put the past behind her and takes a job at a debt collection agency run by the charismatic Big Ben McGuigan. But when the case of Romana Laszlo - a pregnant Hungarian refugee - comes in, Mirabelle soon discovers that her specialist knowledge is vital. With enthusiastic assistance from insurance clerk Vesta Churchill, they follow a mysterious trail of gold sovereigns and corpses that only they can unravel.
'Beneath that prim exterior lies a fearless, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of gal. One part Nancy Drew, two parts Jessica Fletcher, Mirabelle has a dogged tenacity to rival Poirot' Sunday Herald
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mirabelle Bevan, the heroine of this entertaining series launch set in London and Brighton in 1951 from British author Sheridan (Secret of the Sands), worked in an intelligence unit during WWII and was deeply in love with her colleague Jack. The war ended, Jack died unexpectedly, and Mirabelle finds herself the only employee of a Brighton collection agency. Her life is one of routine and a certain numbing sadness. When her boss leaves her in charge of the office for a few days, life suddenly changes for plucky, resourceful Mirabelle. Soon she's off on an adventure that calls on all of her considerable skills as a linguist, arms specialist, and connoisseur of fashion. This is a wonderful book for those who like to take a peek at life in the 1950s, including the mores, manners, and clothes. For example, before going undercover at a race course, Mirabelle has to put on a snappy hat because no lady would go to the track without a hat, and Mirabelle is indeed a lady, even when she's climbing over back fences and knocking back whiskey.
