A story with different angles. It drags you straight in. I found this a bit different (in a good way) to my usual thriller. Definitely will be recommending this and looking out for more. 5/5.

In the California summer of 1959, housewife Joyce Haney disappears leaving behind two small children, and a pool of blood in her kitchen. The only people who seem to care what happened to Joyce include disgraced Detective Mick Blanke, and Joyce's housemaid and confidante Ruby Wright. The two team up to try and figure out what happened to Joyce, and if they can bring her back to her family.

This was an interesting, fairly engrossing read that I definitely recommend for summer time as the setting is a very hot, sticky summer in California. Tensions are high and stifling for a myriad of reasons including arguments and secrets among the housewives themselves, racial issues ramping up that effect Ruby and put her in danger, and the ever increasing fear that something terrible has happened to Joyce, and someone close to her knows exactly what that is.

I mostly enjoyed Ruby's POV in this book as I feel like as a character, she felt like the most fleshed out and real. She was someone with a history and a family, a young woman on the cusp of potentially changing the course of her life for good, and a desire for change as well. The racial issues were a slow, burning fire behind everything in this story and for a moment we do see Ruby almost get wrapped up in it - and we see the rage and the passion behind all the injustice in her boyfriend Joseph who despite my fears, turned into a good egg in the end - and I think it all set the scene really well for a Black community who were sick of being treated as second class citizens, and what would become the bigger civil rights movement in the 60s.

Detective Blanke was fine, if a bit bland. I had to appreciate that out of all the people on the force, he was probably the nicest and the one that was most likely less racist because of his New York background, and slightly less misogynistic (thought it's the 50s so we can't hope for miracles. There was still some deep set misogynistic problems there, and problematic moments).

I liked the trajectory of the story. I liked the gaze on both the civil rights movement, as well as the feminist movement that was happening within the housewife community (albeit be it a very white, privileged form of feminism). I find stories around the typical 50s housewife utterly fascinating and this didn't disappoint in that manner, and made me hunger for similar.

The way the mystery tied up wasn't very surprising, thought still satisfactory. I recommend for someone looking for a light mystery with not too much violence or darkness to it.

I have to admit that the cover put me off reading this one but I'm so glad I eventually picked it up. This is an evocative example of literary crime fiction and an engaging and satisfying read.

The Long, Long Afternoon starts with the mysterious disappearance of Joyce Haney from her beautiful, picture perfect house in an exclusive suburb of 1950’s California. Ruby, the Haney’s cleaner, arrives at work to find the two young Haney children left on their own, with no sign of Joyce apart from a large bloodstain in the kitchen. Detective Mick Blanke starts investigating the case, but will he be able to crack open the sunny facade of the neighbourhood to discover the secrets and mysteries that lurk beneath? And will Ruby be able to help him?

This is an intriguing, enjoyable mystery which slowly unwinds against a vivid backdrop of race relations and detailing how far people will go to keep up appearances in front of their friends and neighbours. The story was good but I did find it a bit slow moving, although it did have a satisfying conclusion, and not one that came out of left field - the clues were available for the reader to pick up on. Although I enjoyed the story, I don’t think a lot of the characters had that much depth to them - I wasn’t really sure of a lot of the motivations for a lot of their actions, but this didn’t really stop me from enjoying the story!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a superb book. Its gripping from start to finish and handles some difficult issues of relationships, race and general stereotypes in a sensitive manner. The story is set in small town America in the fifties when racial tensions were high and when there's a mysterious disappearance of one resident and blood in the house its easy to blame the hired help. Highly recommend this book.

1950s California and a murder mystery told from multiple perspectives. An enjoyable thriller even though it involves domestic violence, sexism and typical 1950s attitudes. A recommended read.

Summer of 1959, Sunnylakes is the perfect town with the perfect wives, but not all is what it seems. At some point during one long, long afternoon, Joyce Haney, wife, mother of two, vanishes from her home, leaving behind a bloodstain on the kitchen floor.

Ruby Wright, the family's 'help', is keen to help not only because there is a reward, but also because she considered Joyce a friend, even though that is not allowed or well seen by Sunnylakes community. Will she solve the mistery of Joyce's disappearance and unearth the town secrets?

I really enjoyed this very well written debut novel, love the settings, the atmosphere and the characters.

An easy read - but with some disturbing topics - domestic violence for example.

The characters seemed a bit two dimensional and they didn't quite get under my skin.

It's a good historical mystery set in the 1950's and there are plenty of twists and turns and although i found it dragged a bit in the middle, it was worth carrying on.

Set in 1959 California a book of mystery and intrigue .
Yesterday, I kissed my husband for the last time . .
Joyce Haney goes missing leaving a blood stain and her children behind .
It is an easy read and I was able to finish this book during a day.
Some of the reviews describe this book as 'a cosy Sunday afternoon read'. However there are some issues raised within the book violence towards women and children, racism, depression, poverty, adultery but the characters are not real enough to carry these issues through.
Some of the characters were not great but as a who done it it was ok

A beguiling picture of 1050s suburban America, rife with bored housewives, hidden secrets, unfulfilled desires and prejudices.. An explosive mix which makes for a page-turning murder mystery. Couldn't put it down!

I wanted to like this book and really liked what the back cover said. However this was just an ok read and I found I did not connect with the characters. Sadly this was a disappointing read for me.

I really enjoyed this one. Had a bit of a stepford wives feel, I loved Ruby & Genevieve both strong female characters from completely different walks of life. I wasn’t expecting the ending so it was a big shock. I like multiple povs & liked that it jumped to just before the crime to after. It kept me guessing. Great book

This book kept me guessing the entire way through, so I was pretty much unsure of the truth until all was revealed. It was really easy to read and I loved how the chapters were told from different perspectives, it really helped you get an insight into the characters and their story. I would highly recommend this book.

This book was alot more than the 1950's domestic mystery it appears to be on the surface.
It takes a look at race, sexism, the female role with in the house and their roles as a wife and mother, mental health, freedoms , social class and fidelity among others. Which at times made for very uncomfortable but important reading.
This would make a great read for a mystery reader looking to get into literary fiction and vice-versa.

The Long, Long Afternoon is a historical mystery set in the 1950's in California. A woman has gone missing and a vast number of people become suspects in the police investigation - including the woman's husband.

The story is told from various perspectives of these subjects - a black nanny and a white housewife being just two of these people we follow, the story highlights the issues of racism, mental health and the many pressures that society places on people as a whole.

I found the story enjoyable to read, however I did find the plot somewhat predictable and was able to come to a conclusion as to who was responsible rather early on. The characters were well developed and each of them had complex lives and stories to tell. The setting was brought to life wonderfully by the author, allowing the reader to picture the scenes playing out before them.

The Long, Long Afternoon is a historical mystery with a lush setting. Set during the 1950s in a suburb in sunny California, the location and time period are brilliantly illustrated. It lets me imagine what it was like to live during that time. A woman is missing and a number of people become suspects including her husband, her nanny, and her neighbours. Told from the POVs of a white housewife, a Black nanny, and a white policeman, the book touches on issues like racism, gender disparity, mental health, and societal pressure on mothers.

While I liked the writing, I thought the mystery itself fell flat and the villain predictable. I also felt like certain scenes are deliberately created for maximum emotional impact which feels forced. I prefer to have a natural emotional reaction when I read a book, not because a point is pushed in graphic detail (in this case, an infant death). I thought Ruby, the nanny, is the most interesting character and I liked seeing her character grow. Joyce, the missing woman, is a tragic figure but she is also an unreliable narrator so I didn't really warm up to her. Mick, the detective, is bland with a male savior complex, who spends a lot of his time wishing he can save vulnerable women. I didn't feel he brought anything to the story and I would have loved it if the book had focused only on the women in the neighbourhood. Overall, I thought the book works better as a historical slice of life than a crime fiction but this will still appeal to mystery readers.

Oh my goodness what a page turner ! The tension just builds and builds. I found myself holding my breath at the end. The plight of the black characters and the obvious racism makes for uncomfortable reading. Accurate for the time though. A real whodunnit !

I absolutely loved this atmospheric literary crime fiction set in 1959.

Joyce is a housewife who suddenly goes missing one afternoon. Her Maid came to work and found her babies alone with no sign of Joyce. Alarm bells went off when she also found a blood stained kitchen. Where is Joyce? Did someone take her? Did she just up and leave? Whose blood is on the floor and how did it end up there? I had so much fun seeking answers for these questions.

This is my first read of a literary crime fiction set in the 1950s. I like how the author brought the setting and time period alive through her vivid description. I could visualize the time then and especially the place of women in society. This was also a time that was marked with racial inequalities and this was evidenced in the portrayal of different characters and themes. The author managed to portray all these dynamics without losing focus of the mystery at the heart of the narrative.

The character development is this story was done quite well. I liked Ruby. She was a black Maid working for the white families. We saw her being forced to be subservient despite maltreatment and disrespect. There was a lot of heartbreak in her story as we get to witness the racism that she experienced. However, there is also strength, love and courage. I adored this brilliant character. I also really like the Lead Detective, Micky, who tried to rise above the racism and treat everyone equally. There are quite a number of other characters who stood out for me.

The mystery was captivating. I couldn’t guess what happened to Joyce as there were so many red herrings. At some point, I thought she had been taken. Other times, I thought she had just walked out on her marraige. I know I would have. Being a Housewife in the 1950s and dealing with the male dominance was enough to drive any woman crazy. I was surprised by the reveal about what really happened to Joyce.

This is such a well-written, evocative, fast-paced narrative. I loved the setting, characters and vivid description of the time period. I truly enjoyed reading The Long, Long Afternoon by Inga Vesper.

Inga Vesper, The Long Long Afternoon

Inga Vesper’s The Long Long Afternoon is a beautifully atmospheric and wholly absorbing crime novel, set in 1950s Santa Monica. Vesper’s title conjures up the placid, unbroken calm of a Californian idyll – a sun-drenched suburban life, where affluent housewives display their domestic accomplishments, their blue pools, their May-green lawns. But – as any reader of Chandler will suspect – we will inevitably discover that underneath this claustrophobic, carefully constructed surface there are hidden lies, transgressions and bloodstains on the kitchen floor:

“The sun beams through the curtains and paints the ghosts of daisies on the tiles. Blood on them, too, smeared and sticky, dreadful as the devil’s tongue.”

Joyce Haney, suburban wife and mother of two, has vanished from her Sunnylakes home, leaving her little girls behind. Has she been abducted? Or murdered? The blood in the kitchen is discovered by the Haney’s black maid, Ruby Wright, who travels daily to the suburbs from the other side of Santa Monica, hoping to earn enough to pay her tuition at teacher training college. Ruby’s acute intelligence goes unobserved in Sunnylakes, because, to her employers, she is invisible - merely the hired help. But when Mick Blanke, the detective investigating Mrs Haney’s disappearance, asks whether Ruby can give him any information, he finds that her sharp perceptions lead him towards an understanding of what has happened.

Struggling to make headway with his interrogation of suburban wives, Blanke feels like he’s “surrounded by sharks in starched blouses”. Ruby explains to him,

“’The Sunnylakes folk, they live in dreamland. And they don’t want anyone popping that bubble. They . . . play-pretend. You must have noticed.’ ‘Yeah . . .’ He frowns. ‘Kinda.’ ‘So you gotta stop expecting them to help you and start digging at the deep, dark secrets that they’ve got.”

The “the dark stuff, that stays hidden” is only gradually brought to the surface in a narrative that moves back and forth in time, giving us the perspectives of Ruby, Joyce and Mick. Both Joyce and Ruby have been thwarted in their lives by misogynistic assumptions and prejudice; both have longed to do things outside of conventional expectations. Before Joyce goes missing, they reach across the barriers to find hidden affinities. As they confide in one another, Joyce suddenly gives Ruby a hug, and Ruby reflects that she

“…had never been hugged by a white woman, but she didn’t even have time to be surprised, because Joyce told her a secret so big it bonded them forever…Joyce’s and her life were so far apart the gap could never be bridged. But they had stuff in common, too. Things they both wanted and couldn’t get. Dreams that kept going unfulfilled.”

The Long Long Afternoon is an engrossing mystery story, but also a penetrating exploration of both racial barriers and the position of women in a society that traps and stifles them. Before her disappearance, Joyce thinks about the unexpected bond she has formed with Ruby:

“We have some laughs together, her and I, and we’ve cried together, too, over our mothers who were killed by men who saw them as trash. I told Ruby things I never told anyone. That she does not have to forgive, that she should be angry over the injustice of it all. That she is allowed to hate.”

Inga Vesper’s remarkable debut novel is thoughtful, wonderfully crafted and highly recommended.

Reviewed on Crimeculture, ttps://www.crimeculture.com/?p=7407

Bit of different book to what I usually read but I must admit I did really enjoy it. With a whole host of colorful charectors you can't help but get sucked in by this book, I especially loved Ruby the somewhat hero or the story. The story is about a rich lady that has gone missing, when her 'help' Ruby turns up at her house to work as normal Ruby finds the lady, Joyce, missing , her children are all alone and there is blood all over the kitchen making it seems as though something sinister has happened. A good twisty book.