Lily Raynor runs a detective agency in London in the year 1881, an uncommon thing for a woman to do at that time. Queen Victoria is on the throne, India is under British rule, and the most desired expectation for women is marriage. Lily is in her 30's, unmarried, and was previously a nurse in India.

It is nearing Christmas time, bitterly cold, and business is slow at the agency. It is so slow that she and Felix, her associate, began sharing an office so as to save on coal. Then there comes a knock at the door, and a woman enters who has an extraordinary tale. The woman works at a respectable boarding school for girls where several have gone missing, and whose disappearances weren't reported to the authorities. Almost all of the girls in the school are disadvantaged in some way, with family overseas or no family, by being born out of wedlock, or by having a physical or mental disability.

She has come because while the disappearance of the first girl, who was 17, wasn't mysterious (an elopement), the disappearances of the two younger girls - aged 11 and 14 - without much investigation concerned her very much.

This is book 2 in the World's End Bureau Mystery series. I had not read book 1 and had no difficulty becoming immersed in the story and familiar with the characters. I appreciate receiving an advance reading copy from the publisher Severn House via NetGalley and am voluntarily reviewing this book.

A female woman owning a detective agency in 1881 is usually not a common occurrence. That is probably why Lily was facing such a dire financial crisis. Her one and only employee Felix knew that things were grim considering they were sharing one office in order to conserve coal consumption.

Then in walks there possible savior, teacher, Georigana Long from Shardlowes School with an interesting tale, missing girls and teachers. Where will this can of worms lead Lily and Felix and who will be able to survive this mysterious intrigue?

The author has given us a cast of characters that are quirky and appealing. The storyline is fresh and engaging. I can’t say that I wouldn’t put it down, but I would definitely recommend this book to others.

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

In the 1800s London Lily Rayner is the owner of an investigation Bureau. Unusual for this time Lily is an independent business women with an employee called Felix. They will both become involved in one of their most perilous endeavours when they are asked to investigate the disappearance of girls at a boarding school funded by the Band of Angels. Lily’s past in India is something she has not come to terms with and finds it will hold her back in her investigation. The setting and characters in this timeline appeals. The mystery could be ramped up a stage in the next in the series.
I was given an arc of this book by Netgalley and the publisher Seven House in return for an honest review.

Lily takes a risk by hiring on as a nurse at Shardlowes, a boarding school for girls, when a teacher there asks for help finding out what's happened to a student and a teacher who have gone missing. It's 1881 and she's been running her detective agency for a couple of years but there hasn't been much work lately and she's got an employee- Felix. Felix isn't happy that she's going undercover at the school; he investigates the men who fund the place. What the two of them find might not be too big of a surprise but this is a briskly written, atmospheric mystery with good characters. You won't get too much on the students (except delightful Marigold) but that's ok given the length of the novel. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's the second in the series but will be fine as a standalone.

Brilliant fast paced mystery.
Second book in the series but it is a stand alone novel and was so enamoured with Lily and Felix that I just have to read the first book in the series and can’t wait for the next.
It is brilliant to have a female private detective especially as it is set in Victorian times where women were seen as the under class or if married the husbands property.
Lily is very caring about her clients with Felix supporting her. The dynamics are great

This is the second book in the series but the first one I have read. It was really good! It had a good story and kept me turning the pages. It reminds me of some similar detective duos books I’ve read . I will definitely be looking for more in this series
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

This is the second book in the World's End Bureau Victorian Mystery series, and though I haven't read the first one yet, the synopsis was intriguing. Multiple things appealed to in this book: the time period, the location, and the mystery itself. They all came together beautifully to create a fun and engaging mystery that left me turning the pages and trying to figure out who the villain was. I enjoyed the PI characters Lily and Felix and felt like they were a good duo. I'll be going back to read book #1 and ill look for future books in this series as well.

4.5 stars. This was highly enjoyable. I have read quite a few books by this author from two of her other series and this series, while in its infancy, is definitely my favourite. I read the first prior to its release too and have had my eye out for the next one for a long timeThis was a very interesting if slightly strange plot line and I read it right through in one go. Now I face a long wait for its successor! Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

This was my first journey into this series which I feel like must be said to offer perspective on my thoughts/opinions before I dive in.

The main characters in this didn't feel terribly interesting, but really neither did the plot. There was something about the feel of this book that felt just quite lackluster. It's never a good sign when a book takes me over a week to finish it. Would I recommend this to library patrons? I might. I think it definitely has an audience who enjoy that mystery meets historical fiction vibe. This is perfect for many readers-it is just not the book for me.

Ultimately, my feelings on this book are that it was fine. Am I compelled to go back and read book 1 or read future books in the series? Probably not.

I was absolutely delighted to learn that Alys Clare had written a second World’s End Bureau novel. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy in exchange for me review. The first in the series, The Woman Who Spoke to Spirits, was definitely one of my favorite discoveries in the past few years. It was extremely well written, witty but not flippant, and the characters felt fully realized without giving away all their secrets. I’m happy to report that the second in the series, The Outcast Girls, is as good as the first. This book picks up very soon after the first one ended, with Lily and Felix hunting for new work for the Bureau. Miss Long from Shardlowes School arrives at Hobs Court with concerns about missing girls at the school...and lack of concern about the missing girls. Lily and Felix take the case, and while they are apart for a chunk of the book, the action goes back and forth between them so rapidly that it seems like they are still working together (and indeed they are some of the time). The mystery reveal seemed a little odd for me, likely because we don’t really know much about the major players. The details seemed a little random to me. It didn’t detract from Ms. Clare’s wonderful storytelling, however. She writes so well that even the odd note is perfectly acceptable. I cannot wait for the next entry in the series, especially based on how things ended between the main characters in this one! Please don’t keep us waiting Ms. Clare!

Set mostly in the 1880’s in England. Lily Raynor runs a Private Enquiry Agency with the help of Felix Wilbraham. Lily is asked to investigate the disappearance of girls from a girl’s boarding school – Shardlowes in the Fens.
Many of the girls in the school are from orphanages or disadvantaged in some way. Lily travels to the school and takes a position as school nurse to try and out what is going on at the school and who is responsible for the disappearances of students.
This was about family relationships, boarding schools, charity organizations and secrets.

I really enjoyed the first book in the World's End Investigation Bureau, a Victorian mystery series. This one, for some reason, was less intriguing.

The new case at a girls boarding school sounds good, and The Outcast Girls was OK, but I did not find it as interesting as I hoped. The title World's End Investigation Bureau and the Victorian setting appeals to me, and since I liked the first book, I'll give the next one a try.

Read in August. Blog review scheduled for Nov. 11.

NetGalley/Severn House
Historical Mystery. Dec. 1, 2020. Print length: 256 pages.

Lily owns her own private detective agency but things have been so slow she can barely keep her male employee busy. So when a school teacher come with a case of missing school girls, she takes it on.

Severn House Publishers and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published on December 1st.

Lily finds they need to hire a new nurse for the school. She has been a nurse in the past, so she applies for the job and gets chosen.

This is a school that takes in any unwanted female child. They may be a bit slow mentally, have a handicap, or be too far down the line for the parents to come up with a dowry for her. This school takes them all.

They have an organization of men who pay for the school costs. They are all rich. They can't blacken their names without repercussions. So she must snoop carefully and quietly.

While she finds out what she can at the school, Felix is researching the board members and looking for the missing girls. He finds a dead girl and a dead teacher. There are more girls missing.

It's dreadful when you find out why they died and who killed them. Lily almost loses her life in the process.

It's an interesting plot with lots of twists and turns. It will keep you reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House Publishing for an e-galley of this novel.

I read the first book in this new series by Alys Clare and liked it but was hoping some things would change in this second issue. Those things have not changed and, honestly, the style in which the books are written was not going to change so I really knew that wish wasn't going to come true. The unidentified narrator style kept me from knowing the inner thoughts of both the main characters so Lily and Felix have not made any kind of emotional impact on me. This plot of investigating what is going on at a girls boarding school was interesting but not compelling enough.

Alys Clare writes several other series and I always look forward to reading books from those collections. I will go back to reading those books.

First time reading this author. I enjoyed the book, so will need to find the first in the series. I found it well written and interesting. I liked the mystery, setting and the characters. I look forward to more.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to enjoy this story, but I struggled with it. For me, there was just no chemistry – professional or otherwise between Lily and Felix. The story was too choppy for me and I found myself easily distracted from this story. The concept of the story is great and I’m sure you will enjoy it as I think it just wasn’t for me.

Unfortunately, this didn't go well on me. It's not you; it's me. I love this genre of Victorian murder-mystery and have read a lot of stories, but I just found it hard to connect with Lily and Felix. Must be the prose, but I wasn't somehow invested or engaged with the story no matter how hard I try. The case of the missing girls from a boarding school is intriguing and I believe others like this as well, but it just fell short to my taste. I'll still give this three stars because of the atmospheric setting despite feeling detached while reading the story.

This is the 2nd book in the Worlds End Bureau Victorian Mystery series, it is 1881 Lily Raynor the owner of the investigation bureau is worried about work drying up after their big case 9 months ago which she though would solicit more work for her and her employee Felix Wilbraham. But then in walks schoolteacher Georgiana Long who is concerned about girls going missing at Shardlowes the boarding school she works at which is located in the Fens far enough away from everything that the girls aren’t just running away. Lily goes with Georgiana undercover as an assistant matron which is a nurse which she was before she started the bureau. The old nurse left abruptly to care for a sick mother supposedly and there was an English teacher that Ms. Long replaced that left abruptly as well because they both feared something that was going on at the school. Lily goes to the school and investigates there meanwhile Felix is following the leads and investigating the disappearances of an older student Esme Sullivan who was found with a man and was supposed to get the train back to the school but instead headed to Portsmouth never to be seen again, as well as what happened to Genevieve Swanson the old English teacher and Carol Graves the assistant matron.

This was a really intriguing mystery and it was really interesting to read about this organization The Band of Angels whose mission is to alleviate poverty and ignorance which purportedly has among its patron’s dukes, princes and other rich individual which was supposedly completely above board but which has some questionable patrons attached to it who were doing some questionable things. I really loved that a woman was in charge of the agency and that there was no talk of Felix being in charge since he was a man and that she knew what she was doing being a strong and capable woman who was a good investigator. This was a really good read and I love historical mysteries but especially those set in the Victorian age which is my favorite time period to read about. While I haven’t read the first book in the series, I understood what was going on and there wasn’t any references I didn’t understand.

Thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

If you like a good old English mystery, you will like The Outcast Girls by Alys Clare. Lily Raynor is the proprietor of the World’s End Bureau, a Private Enquiry Agency. Her assistant I Felix Wilbraham. Together the two of them try to solve problems or mysteries that people bring them.

The case that is the subject of this novel has been instigated by a teacher at a girls’ boarding school. It seems that girls of a certain age turn up missing, one by one. I order to investigate, Lily, who was actually a nurse, sought employment as the school’s nurse. Felix is working on the outside to find any information on the girls or who might be suspect.

This is a real page-turner. At first, I was not that interested in the book. However, as situations developed and suspects began to come out of the woodwork, I was hard-pressed to put the book down. I think anyone loving a good mystery will certainly like this book by Ms. Clare.

I loved the atmosphere of this novel as it's set in one of my favourite eras. THE OUTCAST GIRLS is another triumph for Alys Clare, it kept me hooked until the last page. I didn't want it to end. A very enjoyable entertaining take on historical fiction and I look forward to reading more novels focusing on Lily and Felix. Recommended.