A true step back in time as I definitely felt like I was involved, and had gone back in time, involved in the nitty gritty, grimy goings on in the streets of 1930’s Birmingham. Any changes made can be done at any time and will become effective at the end of the trial period, allowing you to retain full access for 4 weeks, even if you downgrade or cancel. This was a time where life was stacked against women (you may argue it still is) with limited rights and divorce laws favouring the husband.

Needless Alley (William Garrett, book 1) by Natalie Marlow Needless Alley (William Garrett, book 1) by Natalie Marlow

With the help of his best friend – charming, out-of-work actor Ronnie Edgerton – William sets up honey traps. The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice. The bridge between the two is William Garrett - Billy - a private detective whose trade is to facilitate divorces for husbands who wish to be shot of their wives. Tightly plotted and beautifully written, a world of Blackshirts and misogyny with a flawed, human detective who I took straight to my heart.I always like these descriptions as it really helps to solidify location and differentiate between places in my mind and in the story. Ronnie is a tall, elegant, theatrical, Ivor Novello like, dipsomaniac, and Billy pays him to act as seducer in the honey-traps he sometimes needs to engineer. When he can find no evidence to present to his employer, Billy sets up a honey-trap, using Ronnie in his usual role. The first part focuses, primarily, on his relationships, namely those with Clara and Ronnie, and the part ends on an interesting footing for them all.

The Bookseller - Rights - Baskerville signs two books in

If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. i did not expect to enjoy this book as much as i did, the plot was so intriguing and the story itself was incredibly well-written.Yet, the subsequent parts utilise a considerably different tone- one I didn't connect with in the same way. He's a private detective who usually takes on divorce cases but when he's hired for a job with a difference something feels off and let's just say he should have trusted that instinct! William Garrett has been my own private detective for quite some while now, and it feels momentous to send him out into the world.

Natalie Marlow (Author of Needless Alley) - Goodreads

The characters dreamed up by Marlow are so compelling that I found myself wishing the book was just a little longer, so I'd have more time with them. I. setting up rather sordid encounters with women so he can provide photographic evidence of infidelity for husbands who wish to divorce their wives but then turns into something much darker; pornography, BDSM, drug dealing, murder. I'd highly recommend 'Needless Alley' by Natalie Marlow and can't wait to add a hardback to my book collection in 2023. Unlike Ronnie, his childhood friend and wartime comrade, for whom Billy maintains an avuncular interest.The book ends with three main characters, William, Phyll and Queenie , in place for the next book in the series. e. someone who crept covertly into enemy trenches for ‘clearance’ purposes, a task that required a strong will. Drenched in evocative period atmosphere and starring an unforgettable cast of characters, Needless Alley takes the reader from seedy canal-side pubs, to crumbling Warwickshire manor houses, and into the hidden spaces of Birmingham’s Queer, bohemian society. My work draws on the history of detective fiction to speak on contemporary issues, and I can therefore think of no better home for Needless Alley than Baskerville, John Murray.

Needless Alley: The critically acclaimed noir crime debut

Its outlook is more modern though and touches on themes such as the personal damage of war, misogyny, and pornography, not the staples of the novels of the period. This is a great, vibrant and twisty read, with its social and political commentary of the historical period, a treacherous story of vengeance, fear, bad blood, grudges, sorrow, grief, love and hate. I will not be able to visit Brum again without catching a glimpse of Billy, Queenie, Ronnie or Phyll in dark and bygone corners of the city. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. The grim back alleys, the filthy, stinking canals, the lasting effects of the war and the injustices felt by all but Birmingham's elite, these are all the minute details that breathe life into this twisted tale of oppression and revenge.

Ronnie is an attractive man, a little fey and living a bohemian life, like a streetwise Oscar Wilde but with a deep libertine streak.