A good read that with a few tweaks could be a great read. Quite slow to get going and a bit circular at times but a good read. I'm enjoying Lena and hope that there will be more books. Writing could be a bit tighter. Overall a very good and enjoyable read

I had read the first book in the series and was interested to see how the story would progress. As the first book was set on the Queen Mary the author managed to reflect both the ambiance and class distinction of the time. This story is set in Harlem and alludes to the inequalities of the time but there is no real depth to the plot or the characters. Although the story mentions the first book (many times) it can be treated as a stand alone novel. Not a book for me I am afraid.
Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the advance copy of this book.

I am excited to read more of this author after her intriguing debut. I like how she crafts a story that has me wanting to know more about all the characters. I enjoyed how the story skipped between the two main time periods.

Lena is back!!! This time we find her in New York juggling important matters as her budding relationship with Will, discovering her history, find out who she is and what she wants from life. All this is smoothly interlocked with a slightly out of the box murder-mystery 'fuelled' by complex family relationships.

All in all this second instalment of Lena's story was enjoyable, but I felt it needed a little bit more work. The start was rough, as if the author wasn't sure where the story was heading, therefore the narrative was going round in circles, repeating ad nauseam how little time Lena and Will had and what a conundrum it was if to invest in this relationship or not. I also felt that Lena was somewhat pushy trying to learn family secrets that weren't really concerning her, which made me think this is was a sort of narrative tool to give the story a direction. Luckily the story really starts to pick up after this initial shaky steps, Hare giving us once more an enjoyable tale and a strong heroine.

There is more than murder mystery in this book, as Lena looks into the mystery of her own past. I loved Miss Aldridge Regrets and I’m thrilled that this book gives us the chance to delve further into her backstory. This book, just like the previous entry, really evokes the era and setting. Every character is complex and the choices they have to make are rarely easy. This is social and historical fiction at it’s very best.

An excellent sequel following the story of Lena Aldridge as she lands in America at the end of the last book. Full of twists and turns and I loved the character of Will and the relationship between the pair. Highly recommended. Thanks to Louise Hare, HQ and Netgalley for the ARC.

The book begins with a body falling from a window during a party. It is Harlem, 1936, and Lena Aldridge has only just landed in New York, after journeying by. ship from England. On board she had met Will Goodman and he invites her to stay with his friends. Lena is drawn into their world and their problems, although she is also researching her own family at the same time.
I read the first book in this series, Miss Aldridge Forgets, although I'd managed to forget most of the story before starting this one and I would definitely recommend reading it before embarking on Harlem After Midnight.
This story felt unfinished to me, and I feel there is another book to come to finish it off, so I felt a bit miffed when I'd finished it, as if I'd been short changed. The details of Lena's time in Harlem and the clubs and life style are well researched and well integrated into the story (as details of the time and the ship were in Miss Aldridge Forgets), but I felt this book was a bit short on 'story'. I didn't much care for the character of Bel and didn't feel particularly sorry for her. Lena and Will are so busy keeping secrets from each other that their relationship kangaroo hops along.
The story is intertwined with the background story of Lena's father's time in Harlem and shed more light on happenings in the first book, but again it wasn't quite enough to keep this book going on its own.
All in all I found it a little disappointing and it didn't pack the punch of the first, but I did enjoy the setting and the descriptions of Harlem parties and clothes and music.
If, as I suspect, there is a third in the series, it might go some way to tidying up some of the loose ends from this book, which was much less happily finished than the first.
With thanks to Netgalley and HQ for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

Thanks to publisher HQ and NetGalley for the ARC of Harlem After Midnight.
To start, I love books from this time period and it had so much promise.

The plot:
A body falls from a town house window in Harlem, and it looks just like the newest singer at the Apollo.
Harlem, 1936: Lena Aldridge grew up in a cramped corner of London, hearing stories of the bright lights of Broadway. She always imagined that when she finally went to New York City, she’d be there with her father. But now he’s dead, When Will Goodman—the handsome musician she met on the crossing from England—offers for her to stay with his friends in Harlem, she agrees.
Will’s friends welcome her with open arms, but just as Lena discovers the stories her father once told her were missing giant pieces of information, she also starts to realize the man she’s falling too fast and too hard for has secrets of his own. And they might just place a target on her back.

My thoughts?
This book took so long to get to its point. And the search for family seemed like it should have been a whole different story to the murder which didn't actually happen until later in the book. By this point the actual search for the murderer was rushed. And this was the good part. I enjoyed this part.

I didn't really connect well with Lena or any of the other characters except those in the flashback chapters. I liked Jessie and Alfie. They seemed to have a bit more substance to them.

The author does paint a picture of Harlem and takes her time doing so. I gave this 3 stars because I did enjoy the ending and I will read more of her books in the future

I had enjoyed the first book featuring these characters “miss Aldridge regrets” I liked the golden age of crime writing feel but I wasn’t overly keen on the sub plots and characters but the mystery part and the setting made up for that. When I saw there was a follow up/sequel to the novel I was interested to see where this book would go. I was delighted to be approved for the ARC but sadly the book didn’t live up to my exceptions.

Told in dual time lines in first person POV for Lena and the second POV for Alfie we move from 1930’s to 1900’s hearing how Alfie arrived in London and hearing how Lena is looking for information on her family in New York whist forging a relationship with Will. On the back of this is there also the mystery of who has fallen off the balcony at the very start on the novel and who was involved. I guessed from the get go who it was and who had done it. The writer failed to create proper mystery with this, the writing was obvious in the way it tried to lead the reader.

I felt this novel has none of what made the first book readable there was no golden age feel at all, this highlighted how weak the characters were none were likeable or even interesting. I found Lena super annoying. The plot had potential but I felt it got lost along the way there was too much going on and not a lot of made sense. The ending was predictable.

I don’t think this novel was needed. Sorry to say but this wasn’t for me at all.

"Harlem After Midnight" is Louise Hare's second novel about Lena Aldridge. Previously she survived an eventful crossing on the Queen Mary (of which I struggled to recall all the details) and this book finds her in New York. The story opens with a woman landing on the pavement below an open upper floor window, close to death. It is not until over half way through the book that the identity of the woman is revealed!

This is a delightfully nuanced thriller, full of wonderful characters. In addition to Lena's 1936 story-line there is the background story of the time Lena's father Alfie spent in New York in 1908. The ending is slightly open so is it possible that Louise Hare will be writing a third book featuring Lena? Let's hope so.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

I really enjoyed this book although to start with I found it confusing. I then googled it and discovered it was the 2nd book in the Canary Club Mystery series!!! It was ok but I believe that it is important to read book 1 first!