Miss Aldridge Regrets: from the bestselling author of This Lovely City comes a new gripping historical murder mystery in 2022!

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Lena is unapologetically independent and nearly all her decisions are self-protective or self-advancing in nature. I understood her, even though at times the things she turned a blind eye to were hard to ignore. Glamour and grit combine in this smartly plotted, wonderfully atmospheric historical murder mystery, with a heroine I won't forget. I loved it." - Frances Quinn

Lena is a complex character, both strong and vulnerable. She makes the reader wonder exactly how they might respond, in her place, to the events that befall her.

Its also a book about self discovery and its all wrapped up in this murder mystery format which is quite a lot to take in. Hare’s well-crafted second novel oozes glamour. It is set in 1936 aboard a luxury liner bound for New York. When a member of a wealthy American family is murdered, it feels horribly familiar to one Lena Aldridge, a young Soho nightclub singer who is bound for Broadway. Lena has secrets of her own. Not only is she “passing” as white, but she also had to get out of London fast after a murder at the club, its victim none other than the philandering husband of her childhood best friend. Did someone mention Agatha Christie? Yes, but with the welcome bonus of subtle reflections on race and class. Dinner Party I really liked Lena, but the poor girl was always in the middle of something. Someone was trying to harm her, and she had no idea why.

Harry Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer team up to exonerate a woman who’s already served five years for killing her ex-husband. Charlie Bacon, the mysterious man who promised Lena a Broadway part, accompanies her on the cruise. He insists they sit with a wealthy American family, the Abernathy’s for dinner, and as she gets to know this wealthy American family, she realizes they are very dysfunctional. However, when another murder happens at sea, on the way to New York, to one of the Abernathy family members, Lena starts to wonder if her own life is in danger.

A fabulous Christie-esque mystery. Brilliantly written, so evocative, and keeps you guessing all the way through’ Charlotte Levin, If I Can’t Have You The ending! I don't mind what happens, exactly, and I applaud an atypical conclusion. But it just felt like it was underwritten, and certainly I needed more reasoning and feeling behind the choices that are made. And while I also don't mind that Lena is not the detective and largely reacts to things throughout the story instead of acting--this felt right, as a passenger--I do think that at the end, we needed more of an emphatic statement and proactive decision-making from her. These characters get very little depth other than their basic descriptions above, which is too bad – even when secrets are revealed about this family, they don’t progress or change my perception of the family members and staff. The book opens she is on stage, singing when her boss/ her best friend’s husband Tommy Scarsdale dies in front her eyes. He’s poisoned and she might be involved with the murder. I liked that the second murder happened on the ship, in the middle of the ocean, with no place to escape, so we knew the murderer had to be on board the ship. As for the murder, I was surprised and didn’t figure it out until the characters did. Although there were plenty of clues.

Well, well this is thrilling mash up of Woman in cabin 10 meets Titanic with Agatha Christie vibes ( it reminds me of Death on the Nile without its brilliant Belgian detective )Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Lena’s iffy moral choices lend the novel a touch of noir moodiness but also make her a difficult protagonist for me to attach to. The club she worked at was attached to a brothel (same building, owner, and many shared customers) that victimized very young girls. Lena was one of many that knew about it but chose not to report it – not only for her own protection but because the owner, Tommy, was bribing the police anyway. She covers up a murder, she uses cocaine, she lies, she drinks heavily, and she’s kind of a crappy friend. In short, Lena is not an evil or amoral person by any means, but she is focused on her own survival and although she is capable of feeling a great deal of compassion for people, she is also capable of ruthless behavior. This one was enjoyable overall. I suppose its a murder mystery and it did have the feel of an Agatha Christie novel at times but I saw it more as a social commentary piece and the prejudice of not only race but also class and indeed sex. It’s such an exciting, riveting historical fiction meets thriller- whodunnit mystery that fully enjoyed and devoured in one sit that I highly recommend! Full of intrigue and tension, Miss Aldridge Regrets is anexpertly plotted, beautifully set novel. With every character hiding something, Louise Hare builds the story in a way that iscompelling and completely unputdownable.”