“Harlem after Midnight” by Louise Hare attempts to transport readers to the atmospheric scene of Harlem in the 1930s, promising a blend of mystery and historical fiction. However, the novel falls short of its potential, leaving readers feeling unsatisfied.

The novel opens with a crime scene, as the story unfolds, the plot is divided into two distinct threads that never quite come together cohesively.

While the book maintains an air of mystery throughout, it fails to provide satisfying resolutions to the mysteries it presents. There are numerous references to past events that are confusing and never adequately explained or clarified, leaving the reader frustrated.

“Harlem after Midnight” is the second installment in a series, but it lacks the standalone quality that would allow new readers to jump into the story without feeling lost, it relies too much on knowledge from the first book.

While “Harlem after Midnight” offers a promising setting and an initial intriguing crime scene, it ultimately fails to deliver on its potential due to disjointed plotlines, unresolved mysteries, and a heavy reliance on prior knowledge from the series. This lack of cohesion and explanation makes it an unsatisfying read for those not already invested in the series.

I liked Harlem After Midnight more than the first book featuring Lena Aldridge, Miss Aldridge Regrets. It's atmospheric and while there's a bit of backstory from the incidents of the first, I thought this was a more tense and satisfying read. Nice set up with the opening scenes and then a build up to the ending, with interesting characters.

I found it difficult to get into this book. Maybe it’s because I missed out on reading the prequel. However I am sure it will appeal to those knowing more about the characters.

September, 1936. Night club singer Lena Aldridge, fresh from her brush with murder during her London-New York passage on the glamorous Queen Mary, finds herself with time on her hands in the Big Apple. Staying in Harlem with friends of Will Goodman, the pianist who turned her head on the voyage, Lena is curious to see where their relationship will lead during her visit, and whether it will make her rethink her plans.

In many ways Harlem is very different from the world Lena has left behind, but under the surface there are similarities with the gritty Soho scene she knows so well... and it is the perfect location for her to try to discover more about her father Alfie, and what made him flee from his life here as a musician to London in 1908 - while trying to work out how this all fits with the shocking truth about the identity of her New York society mother. As Lena's investigation into Alfie's past unfurls she is unsettled to find that there are a lot more secrets he kept hidden from her than she thought. She also begins to realise that Will has secrets of his own - secrets that will lead her into danger.

The action picks up a few days after Lena's arrival in New York, with a young woman falling from the window of a third storey apartment in Harlem - the very one that Lena is currently staying in. The unidentified woman is clutching Lena's passport in her hand, and she does not look likely to survive. Hare then cleverly weaves a dual timeline story flipping between 1936 with the tale of Lena's dangerous New York adventure in the days leading up to the tragedy - cut with dramatic events of the aftermath - and 1908 when we finally learn the truth about what made Alfie leave his homeland and flee to London. Both timelines are full of intricately woven threads of mystery, with deliciously echoed themes of family secrets, betrayal and carefully plotted, cold-hearted revenge. Hare keeps you guessing about the how events will play out in the past and the present with well-conceived twists, turns, and well timed reveals, set against the heady tapestry of the city that never sleeps, until she floors you with a truth that you will not see coming.

You really do have to have read Hare's first Lena Aldridge mystery, Miss Aldridge Regrets, before coming to this book, as so much of what happens leads on from Lena's London life, the murderous events aboard the Queen Mary, and the knowledge that knocked her for six on the voyage. As Hare's first foray into the Golden Age crime genre, it is lots of fun too, full of atmospheric ocean liner glamour and intrigue. This second Lena Aldridge mystery has a different feel, with a greater injection of the noir vibes that I love, and it also brings with it more of the kind of weighty themes that Hare explored in her stunning debut This Lovely City, especially when it comes to class and the barriers thrown up against people of colour.

Hare is very much warming to detective fiction in this book, balancing character development, slick plotting, and emotional power to perfection. First and foremost though, this is a story about family, friendship, love, and sacrifice.... with a big dose of jazz! I loved it!

The second book in the Canary Club Mysteries works best if you have read the first book, 'Miss Aldridge Regrets.' It begins with a tragic mystery and then backtracks nine days to solve it. It is predominately a historical family drama with socio-political insight into 1930s New York society. Lena, a Jazz singer, wants to trace her father's family, and the story, told mainly from her perspective, also has excerpts from Alfie, her father's point of view, which bring the story to life. How Lena got to New York is explained, but to appreciate her backstory, read the first book.

The setting evokes my perception of 1930s New York's prejudices and social class divides. Its characterisation is believable, with suspenseful mystery reveals, but this is a gently paced, historical, literary mystery rather than an action-packed historical crime fiction. I like the historical setting, the socio-political insights and the characterisation.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

My thanks to HQ for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Harlem After Midnight’ by Louise Hare.

This is the second in her Canary Club Mysteries, a follow-up to ‘Miss Aldridge Regrets’. Actually, I would class it more of a continuation and as such I would recommend reading the books in order to appreciate how its protagonist, Lena Aldridge, came to be in New York City, her background, and events during the ocean voyage.

The novel opens with a shocking occurrence at a party in Harlem after midnight…no spoilers. We then go back nine days as Lena settles into the guest room at the apartment of Claudette and Louis Linfield, friends of Will Goodman, the handsome bandleader she had met on board the HMS Queen Mary.

During her two week stay Lena hopes to trace the whereabouts of her father’s relations as well as to learn why in 1908 Alfie Aldridge had fled to London. Lena expects that she will be more successful in Harlem staying with people aware of her race rather than ‘passing’ at a posh Fifth Avenue hotel.

Lena again serves as the novel’s narrator though there are also chapters set in 1908/09 that follow Alfie. There are also occasional flash forwards to mid September until the timelines merge.

In London Lena being biracial had been less of an issue, though she is aware that the situation is more complex in the USA, even if people remind her that New York City is ‘not the South’.

Again, Louise Hare uses the period setting to explore issues of race, class, and privilege. While there are mysteries to be solved, I felt that ‘Harlem After Midnight’ placed more emphasis upon family and community. Lena also needs to sort out ‘what’s next’, a situation that is becoming increasingly complicated.

Overall, I found ‘Harlem After Midnight’ an engaging historical drama. The final scenes suggest that there may be a third book at some point in the future. I have become so fond of Lena that I want to know more of her story.

Disjointed & Confusing, I presume there was a prequel to this book which if you hadn't read made the reading of this book quite unpleasant.*************************************************************************************************************************

I really enjoyed this book, more so than the first instalment, and I think this was helped by the fact that there were fewer characters and a less claustrophobic setting. I liked seeing the glamour of New York in the 1930s, mixed in with the social divides that still existed. In this story, Hare really brings the historical element alive.

This story continues just after the first book and I definitely recommend reading this series in order. It helps to get an understanding of Lena’s past life and what happened before she left for America. Some familiar faces make an appearance, otherwise the rest of the story is about Lena trying to find a mysterious Aunt that she believes she has… as well as readers finding out who was murdered at the beginning of the story.

Not only this, the book becomes a dual-timeline with flashbacks to Lena’s father. I enjoyed this part of the story because it made this character more realistic and I felt like I understood more about Lena’s motives. Furthermore, the racial divisions and how society treated people differently were more prevalent; I felt this helped inform the modern setting of the 1930s.

Some may consider this quite a slow book but I thought it was like a pan set to boil: it bubbles over time until it simmers to an intensity. I found the last quarter of the book to be most immersive as answers are revealed with both timelines. I enjoyed how the plot concluded and wonder if there is opportunity for Hare to continue this beyond a two-parter.

This was an interesting mystery but not of the cosy variety because it has some deeper topics. I liked this element of the story because I thought it added layers to the narrative and I enjoyed seeing how Lena adapts to her new environment – not just adjusting to life in New York after such a turbulent sea-crossing, but learning more about Will and the people she is living with. Finding about her past was just as intriguing but it was the opening scene that really grabbed me the most, wondering how and why there was a body with Lena’s passport in their hands.

Definitely more enjoyable than the first, this was a historical mystery set in the 1930s in a tough climate. The racial differences are still palpable in both timelines and I found myself rooting for Lena to learn more about her family.

With thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review Harlem After Midnight in exchange for an honest review. Firstly, what a stunning cover, it is absolutely incredible. This book is such a great one for exploring the relationships between the characters, it is rich, descriptive, just an all around fantastic read.

A woman falls from a third storey window, clutching a passport. She looks like the woman in the picture would if she had just fallen head first onto concrete steps. Is she Lena Aldridge, the name in the passport? Well, given that Lena is the heroine, it is no surprise to discover that it is not her. Instead, it is Bel, the sister of Lena's boyfriend, Will, so the first question is why did she fall but the second is more pertinent, why is she clutching the passport? All of this action is taking place in Harlem, NY, in September 1936, and all of the protagonists are American citizens except Lena, who is British, although her father, Archie, came to the UK from Harlem when he was in his early twenties. Lena is a jazz singer who has come to the USA ostensibly with a job offer, but really so she can try to trace her father’s family, of whom he never spoke. She met Will, Jazz singer and pianist, on the Queen Mary and they had become intimate. Now she is lodging with Will’s friends, Claudette(Claud) and Louis the owners of the flat from which the unfortunate Bel fell. The police finger Will as the killer, and Lena must try to prove them wrong. Interpolated throughout, are vignettes of Archie’s life, as she discovers each incident which led to his coming to the UK, and acquiring a daughter while totally estranged from her mother.
On the face of it we have two mysteries in one story: Who killed Bel and what did Archie do? But there is actually a third mystery: why does Lena have a bag full of money? The latter is not really a mystery if you have read the first book in the series, but there is just about enough supplied her to let this book work as a standalone. Running as a solid foundation throughout, is the fact that all of the above-named characters, and most of the others in the book, are Black, and in 1936 there are massive prejudices affecting the actions of all of them. These were even more extreme in 1909, Archie’s time period, and could be said to have been the precipitating factor for all of the drama in both of the books. The music culture, the clubs, the performers, are well described, provide useful insights into character and motivation and are, as far as I can tell, historically accurate. The writing is in keeping with the overall flavour. The plots are smoothly constructed although, overall, Lena’s progress through life is a bit of a stretch for the imagination. However, it is an interesting and entertaining tale and I anticipate a sequel.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for an advance copy of Harlem After Midnight, the second novel to feature singer Lena Aldridge, set in New York in 1936.

Lena’s promised job on Broadway has fallen through, so before returning to London, she decides to spend some time in New York with her new boyfriend, Will Goodman, and goes to stay with his friends, Louis and Claud(ette). While there she decides to look into her father’s past, only to find he has lied to her as has Will and his lies will put her in danger.

I struggled to get through Harlem After Midnight as it didn’t hold my attention. There are several reasons for this and many of them similar to my thoughts on its predecessor. The novel opens with a bang when an unidentified woman falls from an upper apartment window, but then it goes back several days to build up to this event. This build up is extremely slow and quite narrow in its focus, revolving around Lena, Will, Louis, Claud and Will’s stepsister, Bel. There is a maelstrom of emotion hiding behind all the secrets and lies, which will interest some readers, but I found myself getting impatient for action, or even a development.

The narrative is set mostly in 1936 and told from Lena’s first person perspective with intercuts from her father, Alfie,’s life in New York in 1908/9. I’m not sure that I see much difference in the quality of life between the two eras except, perhaps, more money and less stress about it, but that was the 20th century way, each generation doing better than the one before. Both stories have a twist in their resolution, but I felt it took too long to get there. It is a wordy novel without much really happening and that makes it slow going.

Harlem After Midnight is a story about relationships more than crime fiction, so it’s not for me.

This book starts almost at the point where Miss Aldridge Regrets ended. For that reason alone, I recommend that you read these books in order. I’m not saying you can’t read this story as a stand-alone, but you’ll get a lot more out of it if you’re familiar with what has happened before. What’s more, events come full circle in Harlem After Midnight.

And while I’m on the subject of how this book starts; I hope you’re ready for a shocker. The first scene of the book features a young woman on a Harlem pavement. She appears to have fallen out of a window and is clutching Lena Aldridge’s passport. What on earth is going on?

Actually, it will take some (reading) time before you discover what happened in that prologue. The timeline of the story moves back nine days, and we join Lena after she has moved in with friends of her lover, Will. Over the next few days, we follow Lena as she tries to find out about her father’s life in New York before he travelled to London. At the same time, she tries to figure out what her future should look like. Does she return to London and her friend Maggie, as she originally planned, or could there be a future for her in America after all…a future with Will?

Slowly, through meeting his family and from stories told by his friends, Lena gets to know Will better and it isn’t long before she realises that Will has a few secrets in his past. Not that she can complain about that. It is not as if she has told him all her secrets either. But, over the nine days, the atmosphere around her goes from friendly and welcoming to fraught and a little hostile, although Lena has no idea why.

Things come to a head on the night of a party with a woman falling from the window of Will’s friends’ apartment and Will being the main suspect.

Since I try to avoid spoilers at all costs, that’s all I’ll say about the mystery. As for the story, it is just as fascinating as the prequel. Except that in this case there is more than one mystery from the start. While most of the story is told from Lena’s perspective and focusses on her stay in New York, other sections are set in 1908 and voiced by her father and one other character who will remain unidentified in this review.

I’m obviously not going to reveal how any of the mysteries in this story are resolved, but I do have thoughts I want to share about those resolutions. For starters, I found the resolution to the mystery of the fallen woman as dubious as the one in Miss Aldridge Regrets. The answer is provided and makes sense but whether or not you’d call it satisfactory depends on your personal opinion. As the word dubious implies, I remain to be convinced. Furthermore, while the reader finds out exactly why Lena’s father left New York for London, it is a little unclear whether or not Lena herself was aware of his ultimate goal. Then again, for her sake, I’m inclined to hope that she didn’t figure it all out.

Having said all of the above, the story did fascinate me. The setting, the characters, and the interactions between them grabbed my attention. The book is very well written, and my reading experience was smooth and enjoyable. While this book may not completely satisfy the mystery purists, I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy a combination of captivating characters, a rich historical setting, and enough intrigue to keep them on their toes.

I wonder if there will be more Lena Aldridge mysteries. While this book could easily be the end of her story, I wouldn’t be sorry if Louise Hare decides to feature her in future books. Reservations or not, Miss Aldridge has gotten under my skin.

Harlem after Midnight jumps straight in to the drama, literally page one. A woman falls from the window above clutching a passport with the name Lena Aldridge, we take a step back nine days and our story really begins. Lena has found herself in Harlem after her plans fell through. Lucky for her she met the lovely Will who has arranged for her to stay with his friends Claud and Louis and he cancels his next trip back over the ocean with his band. Lena decides to take this opportunity to find out more about her father, who didn’t like to talk about his past in America, something happened to him in 1908 and Lena is desperate to find out what. There are secrets hidden in every corner, will they ever learn the truth?

I have always liked novels with a time jump and this one did not let me down, I found it very easy to keep up with which time zone we were in. The tension in each time zone was written so well that each time I came to a new chapter and time I had to read through to get back to the previous time to find out what happened next.
I really enjoyed this book and would love to give it a 5* however I felt the end was rushed and there were loose ends I didn’t feel were tied up. This being said, since finishing I have found that this is actually book two in a series, I didn’t realise this as the characters were written so well that I felt I knew them.
I really did enjoy this book, so much so that book one, Miss Aldridge Regrets, is now on my tbr list.
Louise Hare is certainly a talented writer and I am looking forward to reading more from her.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reading copy.

I loved 'Miss Aldridge Regrets', the first novel by Louise Hare to throw singer Lena Aldridge into a new role as detective on board a transatlantic liner bound for New York in 1936. This second book, 'Harlem after Midnight', picks up the story of Lena's arrival in New York with new beau and ship-board musician Will Goodman.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This book opens in dramatic style: a woman has fallen from a window at a party in Harlem. Clutched in her hand is a passport bearing the name Lena Aldridge... The narrative then moves back 9 days to Lena's arrival in New York when Will arranges for her to stay with friends of his, Claud and Louis. Instead of Will returning to England on the ship, he decides to take some leave, something that gives Lena hope that they can work out whether their relationship has a future. However, things are far from smooth due to Will's awkward sister, a host of family secrets and Lena's inability to decide whether she can find a home in Harlem. Added to this, Lena is in investigative mode as she tries to uncover her own family secrets about what happened to her father in New York in 1908 that caused him to leave for England.

It took me a while to get used to the time-hopping between the night of the accident, the events beforehand (both 1936) and Lena's father in 1908. However, it cleverly built the tension towards the main mystery: who pushed the woman from the window and why? Along the way, there's lots of fabulous period detail about the Harlem social whirl, the nightclubs and music scene - an aspect I loved.

As before, I liked the character of Lena Aldridge. She makes a compelling main character as she tries to do what is right by everyone - herself, Will, her new Harlem friends, the memory of her father and her best friend at home in London. She's at a kind of crossroads in her career and life so we get lots of insight into her thought processes and begin to root for her to have her happy-ever-after ending.

Hare explores the race relations of the era in an interesting way - Lena is of mixed heritage but passes as white, yet Will is black. This partnership is mirrored elsewhere in the novel - with Alfie (Lena's father) and his white girlfriend, plus in what Lena uncovers about her family's past. In each case, Hare draws out some contemporary reactions to such relationships, touching on society's expectations and prejudices, the awful lynchings in the South and the exploitation of black women by powerful white men. There are some really sobering moments in the novel for this reason and it's far from being a cosy crime novel..

The central mystery was well sustained by the use of flashbacks and the diversions into Lena's family's past. I didn't find the mystery quite as compelling as the first novel, but appreciated that more space was given to developing Lena as a character.

I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoyed 'Miss Aldridge Regrets' and would suggest that this second book is more easily accessible to those who have read the first novel - there's lots of references to the revelations in that first book and several of the characters reappear. It's a well-researched slice of historical fiction and an engaging read.

Harlem After Midnight by Louise Hare
I have read Miss Aldridge Regrets and I think that it would be important to read this book first if you are to make sense of this novel. I think that you do not have enough information about what happened aboard the Queen Mary to read this as a stand-alone.
The novel opens with a woman falling from a window in Harlem clutching a passport in the name of Lena Aldridge and then the book goes back over the weeks leading up to this event. We also learn more about Lena’s father Alfie and the time which he spent in New York before coming to London.
Lena is to spend a couple of weeks in New York after disembarking form the Queen Mary. Her job as a singer has fallen through and she is keen to spend time with Will the piano player she met on-board. She is taken in to his friends’ apartment and meets up with his sister. There is friction in the family and Lena tries to find out the cause.
The historical detail is very good and it is well researched but I found the ending of the story a little abrupt although there is the potential for a follow up. I did not enjoy it as much as her previous novel or the wonderful This Lovely City. Many thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest, unbiased review.

The sequel to ‘Miss Aldridge Regrets’ picks up right after Elena’s ship has docked. It begins with a fall in which we wonder if she is going to survive (Elena’s passport is gripped in the hand of the woman who has fallen). Elena discovers her fathers backstory and that of an aunt she never knew existed. Will’s story is revealed too and for a while the reader can hope for a happy ending.
This wasn’t as twisty a tale as the previous book concentrating on several different stories within the whole, but I found it more interesting because of that. This was a good story and I look forward to reading more of Lena’s adventures in another book to follow I would think.
Thank you netgalley and the publishers for an opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

This book focuses is the second book in the Canary Club series and is focused around Lena Aldridge who has just disembarked from a ship in 1936 New York and is searching around for someone who knows of Alfie (her Dad). She realises there are lots of holes in her Dad’s stories as she uncovers her past

This story had a lot of promise and I really wanted to fall in love with the characters, but which the plot was enjoyable I didn’t find myself gelling with the characters. I know lots of people will enjoy this book I just personally didn’t fall in love with it

Harlem after midnight

On an autumn night in Harlem a passing policeman finds a woman lying on the pavement. She has fallen from a third floor window and is clutching a passport. The name on it is Lena Aldridge. Sadly the woman dies and, in flashback, the reader learns of the events that led up to it.
Lena narrates in the first person as she settles into New York life. She has two weeks in the Big Apple after disembarking from the Queen Mary and after her promised Broadway debut falls through, she has plenty of time on her hands. Will Goodman, the bandleader on board the ship and whom she has fallen in love has found her a room in the apartment of his two old friends, the Linfields, Claudette and Louis. She meets his stepsister, Bel and her young daughter, Joey and senses friction between her and Will despite him supporting them financially.
But there’s the whole of New York to explore from the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings, the Apollo and the Savoy and she begins to wonder if there could be a life for her in the big city. Lena is also taking the opportunity to try and find out more about her father, Alfie, by asking anyone who might have played with him in clubs and at parties years earlier.
He came originally from Jacksonville and migrated to New York to find work but may have had other darker reasons. She discovers that he had a sister of which she knew nothing about and is sadly shown where she is buried.
But with the discovery of the woman who fell, everything changes for Lena and for Will. She no longer feels welcome and begins to wonder if she has any reason to stay…..
This is the second of The Canary Club mysteries featuring the glamorous nightclub singer, Lena Aldridge and it seems strange to describe a book set in the 1930’s as ‘historical fiction’. There are echoes of the first book, ‘Miss Aldridge Regrets’ and if you haven’t read it then you will soon be up to speed with events. I thought that the reference to Lena being able to ‘pass’ due to her being so light skinned was an interesting facet to the story as it emphasised her being caught between two worlds.
It’s well researched and I felt as if I was exploring New York with Lena and Will. She is very conflicted about whether to return to the familiar world of London and her friend Maggie or take on a new life in a new city. But when she catches Bel going through the money that she has stashed in her carpet bag she realises that there are undercurrents that she is being pulled into.
There is also another plotline which is that of Alfie’s struggle in 1908: he is trying to make a living with his music and supporting his sister, Jessie, until her untimely death and then his desire for revenge. I would have liked these excerpts to have been longer as I felt that the author enjoyed writing about him. The book is a slow burner and in parts perhaps it was a little too slow and got bogged down into dialogue and no action. But it had another glamorous cover as with ‘Miss Aldridge Regrets’ and a dramatic opening scene that made me want to read on and become part of Lena’s world again.
I wonder what Miss Aldridge will get up to next?

DNF. I am devastated as I lived for the first book in this series but unfortunately this one I just couldn’t get into it. I couldn’t relate to Lena anymore who seemed to have no development which I was really hoping for. Maybe I will come back to it one day but for now it’s a no

Engaging and enjoyable, I had read the first book, enjoyed it but forgotten the details but didn’t find that detrimental. Good story, good characters and the door left open for another one.