This Charming Man by C K McDonnell
I give this book 4 stars

Vampires do not exist. Everyone knows this. So it's particularly annoying when they start popping up around Manchester . . .
Nobody is pleased about it. Not the Founders, nor the magical people hidden in plain sight who only want a quiet life. And definitely not the people of Manchester……..step forward the staff of The Stranger Times Newspaper.

This is book 2 (l hadn’t read book 1 but will be now)
Delve into the worlds of ordinary Manchester and a dark,secret supernatural Manchester.This book is well written,brilliant and totally entertaining.l loved the mix and match bunch of characters all unique and likeable in their own way.A quirky mystery with a healthy portion of humour and mishaps!
With thanks to Netgalley,CK McDonnell and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press for my chance to read and review this book.

The staff at The Stranger Times is back at it again, navigating and reporting on the inexplicable and downright weird happenings around Manchester. I absolutely loved this book. Finding it equal parts thrilling and hilarious, I was hooked from the very beginning. Add to that, unparalleled storytelling and vividly unique characters; I was delightfully entertained from start to finish.

This series has a stand-out cast of characters that you can’t help but fall in love with. The crew at The Stranger Times are wonderfully eccentric and undeniably unconventional. Vincent Banecroft, the cantankerous and foul-mouthed editor-in-chief had me laughing out loud with his hilarious new way of cursing. I also admired the grit and take-charge attitude of the assistant editor, Hannah Willis.

I think this series could be enjoyed by most readers of science fiction and fantasy. C.K. McDonnell has a style and tone that is evocative of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. He has undeniable wit that borders on sarcasm. I am extremely picky when reading this genre of books, however, I found this book blithely entertaining; so much so that I immediately went back and bought the first book in the series. I can’t wait to read it!

I very much enjoyed this book. It is the second in the Stranger Times series and is an entertaining thrill ride featuring humorous eccentric characters and set in a newspaper who’s subjects are the paranormal and supernatural. There is a mysterious outbreak of vampirism which does not exist even in this fantasy world. I particularly enjoyed the humorous extracts from the magazine such as “husband divorcing dead wife who is haunting him” I would also recommend the Dublin Trilogy by the same author. I look forward to the next book in the same series..

The second installment of The Stranger Times. This Charming Man continues from where the first installment finished (no surprise there I guess).


We join the gang about a month on, with a week to printing and no viable content.


Vampires do not exist, everyone knows that including those in charge. So when they start running amoock in Manchester, heads start turning. And, questions are being asked (and not the easy ones to answer).


Manchester police are very close to opening tbeir own x-files department. With the apparent upturn in inexplainable goings on. And they are getting more bizzare.


As the builders have been in at Stranger Times HQ, a trap laid, but discovered. A man on a barge whom can't touch dry land (or the water surrounding said boat as he found out). Who can tell no lies, a talking dog that isn't owned. A haunted cinema and an apparition hell bent on destroying man (not wo) kind.


A tale, of friendship and virginity. Who would have known that this edition of the Times was going to be so high in content.


Condiment for the book - (stake with) garlic mayo


Status: Completed

Rating: 4.8/5.0

Witty take on toxic masculinity through the supernatural and vampires. I'm happy I read this book soon after the first to get some of the continuity comedy, although still good as a stand alone I believe.

The Stranger Times team in this escapade investigate the recent vampire sightings for their newspaper. Is everything as it seems?

This Charming Man is the second in Caimh McDonnell's Stranger Times series, set at a paranormal newspaper in Manchester.

Vampires do not exist. Everyone knows this. So it's particularly annoying when they start popping up around Manchester... The Stranger Times needs to investigate!

Like its predecessor novel, This Charming Man is fast-paced and hilarious with a cast of compelling characters. If you like the author's Bunny McGarry novels, you'll recognise the wit and humour - if you haven't read them, there's a treat in store for you there too.

A five star recommended read from me, I can't wait for book three!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

It was only after I received an #arc via #netgalley of "This Charming Man" that I realized this is actually the second book in a series.

So I bought "The Stranger Times" and then devoured both books in a span of two weeks. I don't know exactly what it is that kept me reading - the plot in both cases seems a bit flat to me with no surprises. But the characters are so quirky and colourful that they alone are worth your time.

So what's this about? The Stranger Times is a newspaper in Manchester, filling it's pages with news of the weird and wonderful - mostly weird. Hanna Willis starts her position as assistant editor in the first book and comes face to face with dark forces she never imagined to be real.
Part two hits it off with a creepy vampire sighting, even though everybody knows there is no such thing as vampires (they are made up by the media). Soon the Stranger Times crew have to investigate again and fun ensues.

I like "This Charming Man" better, the prose, the character development is more refined. Usually second books are the weakest - not true in the case of C. K. McDonnell.
This book is right for you if you like light stories and humor or if you're a fan of Terry Pratchett. You shouldn't read it if you expected a story packed with magic systems and dark, epic wars.

"This Charming Man" will be published in February 2022.

//ARC received in exchange for an honest review//

This is the second novel in the Stranger Times series which I didn’t realise until I was about halfway through, however not reading the first novel did not detract from my enjoyment of this one.
This Charming Man would not be my usual kind of read although I did have a period in the past when I read many of the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett and to me this had a very similar whimsical feel about it. I look forward to a sequel.

After reading Stranger Times by the same author and really enjoying the style of humour, following up with the next book was a no-brainer. I wasn't to be disappointed.

This book picks up soon after the previous one finished and includes several familiar characters, but there's a new storyline to follow and discover as it unfolds. I have to admit, I didn't remember everything that had happened in the first book as there was a lot of time between, so some references to previous events went past me.

However, there was a jaw dropping moment of character development about halfway through that I found really astounding. This has definitely become a series and the end leads into new territory to explore in the next book, but if this one is anything to go by, the genuine supernatural aspects are becoming more real as we go along. I'm not sure how I feel about that as the ambiguity of what's real and what's just people believing in weirdness was much of the charm of the first book.

Chances are I'll read the next one though. The laugh out loud one liners alone are worth the effort.

This is the second book in The Stranger Times series and the moment I had read this one (courtesy of #netgalley, thank you very much), I had to go and buy the first one, so that’s a rare accolade.

The Stranger Times is a Manchester-based newspaper which reports on paranormal, strange and otherwise peculiar goings on around the world, edited by the intermittently malevolent Vincent Banecroft, a stupendously vile person with few saving graces who reminded me of nobody so much as Jackson Lamb in Mick Herron’s equally brilliant but entirely different Slough House series.

In this book, vampires (which everyone knows don’t exist) start popping up, there are plumbing / kidnap complications and a running gag based on a swear-by-numbers board that I’m severely tempted to adopt just for the fun of it. It’s clever, funny, unexpected and keeps you turning the pages. And, like I say, I enjoyed it so much I had to read the first book in the series and can’t wait for the next one to appear. Brilliant.

Hannah, assistant editor of The Stranger Times, has it on unimpeachable authority that vampires do not exist. She also has indisputable evidence that they do. Banecroft, the editor, has been asked by the owner and general bad person to investigate this dichotomy. Meanwhile Stella continues to have undocumented and inexplicable powers, Grace is resigning again and Simon's ghost still regularly appears. Add in a man cursed to tell only the truth and his companion bulldog who is actually a man trapped in a dog's body and you have the recipe for a thoroughly entertaining novel.

But it does help to have read the previous book 'Stranger Times'.

I was so excited to be reading this second book in the series. The first was so fresh, so bizarre, and so funny! This is still bizarre. Whether it’s the heatwave going on in the Manchester of the book’s setting, or Hannah’s run to work only to find the office shower is u/s, which leads to suggestions of hygiene problems throughout the book, I don’t know. It wasn’t as fresh, though. And although there were sparks of brilliance and some funny peculiar situations, it wasn’t funny ha-ha, or at least not for me.

There are flashes of literary genius. Most chapters end with a story or excerpt from the Stranger Times (the newspaper where these characters work, reporting on paranormal activity). This one had me chuckling with admiration for a good few minutes.

'Mr Fairburn is not a charlatan, and referring to him as such was grossly unfair to charlatans everywhere. He can be more accurately described as a moneygrabbing, parasitic, penniesoffadeadman’seyes lowlife with the moral rectitude of bacillary dysentery, who shamelessly milks money from the grieving with cheap parlour tricks and a level of dishonesty not to be found outside of the political realm.'

Fresh and funny aside, the plot is first class. The twists and turns are suitably tortuous. The imagination and invention are second to none. I just got many of the characters mixed up, which suggests that the characterisation is not so good at times.

This Charming Man is a good follow-up to a great first book in the series. I liked it. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as the first.

This is book two in The Stranger Times Series. I had not read book one, yet this book worked as a stand alone. However, it was such an enjoyable read, I immediately purchased book one, and will be eagerly awaiting a follow up to book two! The Strangers Times crew are a motley crew of newspaper folk, reporting on, well stranger things. Their reporting has led them into the midst of some very strange goings on indeed. But when men start running around with fangs, an aversion to daylight, and a desire for blood, there can only really be one conclusion, right? Except all their new found supernatural adjacent friends are quick to point out that vampires don’t exist.

So it is left up to the Stranger Times gang to figure it out. Not by choice. They have an unpleasant visit from a representative from a secret organisation who emphasises that unpleasant things will happen to them if they don’t figure it out and ideally sort it out discreetly. Oh and then a ‘doesn’t exist’ vampire turns up at their office door.

This book was an absolute delight to read. Funny, entertaining, self deprecating, dark humour, and more. It was excellently paced, keeping you engaged and entertained from cover to cover. I can’t wait for more installments in this series.

*I received this book from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

This was most unusual, but I enjoyed it. I’m a bit biased, living in Manchester. I liked the abrasive character of Banecroft and it was a humorous take on vampires. I haven’t read the previous book in the series and it took a few pages for me to get into it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

As someone who has largely avoided vampire influenced books and movies since I watched a few (OK a lot) episodes of Buffy and Angel back in my school days (giving away my age a bit) it comes as a bit of a surprise to me that everything I seem to pick up lately involves them in some way or other - whether it be my choice to read Carmi0lla in the run up to Halloween, or my decision to watch What We Do In The Shadows (movie and subsequently the TV show) without knowing what they were about.

It was then, with some trepidation, that I started the second book in the Stranger Times series by C.K. McDonnell - This Charming Man. It didn't take too long to guess what kind of supernatural beings that would be the topic here, the cover is a bit of a give away. Yep, more vampires.

I was about to put it away until closer to release day, and also to clear my mind of vampires for a bit, but of course I HAD TO read the first few pages of Caimh's latest (I always do as soon as they arrive) and I was hooked.

Not one to rest on his laurels the story opens straight away by introducing our first vampire. I'm not going to give anything away, but lets just say these opening passages don't exactly end well for those involved. Obviously, this isn't something the police are used to investigating, and the folk at The Stranger Times get dragged into things.

The author brings back all of the characters who were in the first book, who essentially pick up from where they left off. Banecroft and Grace still have their "special" relationship. Hannah is still in her position of assistant editor, and the rest of the gang are essentially how we left them.

While the main focus of this story is that surrounding vampires (DO THEY EXIST? WHO KNOWS!), there is also a sub plot that involves Sheila which is excellent, and feels like it may become the back bone on which the series lies in future.

The story here is fantastic and delivered with the same mix of humour and action we have come to expect from Mr. McDonnell.. I loved the relationship between Banecroft and his staff, and even though he is a bit rough around the edges it is clear that he has love for them. I thought this was great from beginning to end, and I hope you get a chance to check it out.

This second book in the series was just what I've been waiting for. I needn't have worried whether it would live up to my expectations (the first book in the series was one of my highlights of last year).

Great characters, clever, and laugh out loud funny.

Thank you, NetGalley, for letting me read this book.

I enjoyed it a lot. It's an urban fantasy set outside of London (which makes a nice change) - in Manchester, in fact. It's an urban fantasy with added comedy, but there's enough new folklore being created here to pull you in and give you a proper sense of jeopardy.

I haven't read the first book in this series (I think I might have to), but This Charming Man works as a stand alone novel - though the epilogue leaves us nicely set up for the next book in the series. It feels like this could be an extended series - there are some great characters, the set-up is well done, and there are various serious threats out there that could be explored further.

Definitely worth a read.

I thought The Stranger Times showed a lot of potential, and glad to say that continues through to this one. McDonnell writes with a lot of warmth, and his worldview, which celebrates ordinary humanity while excoriating its worse excesses, is not a million miles from Terry Pratchett’s. This is an entertaining and lively read, with a cast of characters you will be rooting for. Here’s to more Stranger Times books!

Since reading the first novel I’ve discovered all the books CK McDonnell has published as Caimh McDonnell. They are lacking the supernatural elements but the voice and humour is the same, and they are all terrific fun and well worth a look

Oh, and Vincent Banecroft is totally the supernatural’s very own Jackson Lamb.

There seems to be a rash of sharp-toothed people running around. The real question, of course, is how this could be as everybody agrees that there's no such thing as a vampire. Add some in some attempts to kidnap one or more members of the Stranger Times staff, and you've got yourself another rollicking adventure with the staff of that old rag _The Stranger Times_.

This follow-up to the first _The Stranger Times_ book is everything I hoped it would be, and perhaps a little bit more. Because the main characters have already been introduced, precious prose didn't need to be wasted; the story was able to get off to a rousing start and keep going through the end.

Like the first book, it's written in an easy-to-read, humorous style. I found myself reading excerpts aloud to my partner when I got to particularly funny bits. I'm very pleased with this one, and now I just have to wait to see if Caimh McDonnell can do it again in a third book. Then perhaps a fourth. And a fifth, please. And while you're at it, maybe some more as well?

I love this series so much. It’s precisely my cup of tea with its blend of the ridiculous, wry humour and world building. I’m sincerely hoping there are at least another four or five books to come. It’s scratching my Chronicles of St Mary’s itch despite being nothing like those books in terms of setting, story or theme. Awesome stuff – highly recommend.