I received a copy of this title from the publisher for an honest review. A Rogue's Company is the third title featuring Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge, the proprietresses of the Right Sort Marriage Bureau, a match making business. The book opens with Gwen attending a self-dense class to learn how to look out for herself, and not a moment too soon with her father-in-law expected home from Africa. Gwen fears as guardian of her son Ronnie, Lord Bainbridge will send him off to school against her wishes. She's continuing to work to have herself declared mentally fit so she can take charge of her son's life following her breakdown after her husband's death during the war. Iris continues to battle her own war related demons and figure out where her relationship with Archie. On the work front, the Right Sort is beginning to succeed, but if only the ladies could keep themselves out of trouble.

There are a couple of mysteries going on in this book, and both are very well done; I couldn't put the book down. The book opens with a ferry sinking in Africa, and then a young man from Africa who is living and studying in England visits the Bureau for help finding a mate. This presents a bit of a quandary as the ladies hadn't considered how they would handle a client of different races; I liked how this was addressed in a way that felt contemporary to the story setting. Additionally, there is a mystery surrounding Lord Bainbridge and his time in Africa that kept me guessing.. As always, I love the secondary characters in the series including little Ronnie, Sally, and Archie. I'm looking forward to getting to see the relationships between the characters continue to grow right along with the success of the Right Sort in future books in the series.

This 3rd in the engaging series opens in August 1946 in East Africa, where a boat goes down and a young woman dies.

Meanwhile, Lord Bainbridge returns from Africa to London, where he causes trouble for all in his orbit, but especially for his daughter-in-law Gwen and her son Ronnie.

The marriage bureau has a walk in African client. A body is found outside Lord Bainbridge's club. There are kidnappings and rescues, involving both Gwen and Iris, but finally life looks up for both our heroines.

A Rogue's Company is the third exciting book in Allison Montclair's Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery series. I haven't read the first two books and while I was a bit confused with references to the main characters' prior exploits, I had no trouble following this stand-alone mystery. In fact, this is sure to be one of my favorite series ever! I'm excited to find I already had the first two books in my huge TBR pile. Yay! I started this book early yesterday evening and was already done with it early this afternoon. I truly didn't want to put it down.

Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge are running their Right Sort Marriage Bureau in London 1946. They're doing well enough that they are even expanding. All is going well, until Lord Bainbridge returns home from a business trip in Africa. He is widowed Gwen's hateful father-in-law and her six-year-old son Ronnie's legal guardian. It's bad enough that he's threatening to send the child away to boarding school, but there's also other trouble afoot. A new client signs up, and the women believe he may be spying on the Bainbridges. Throw in a murder and then a kidnapping, and things really begin to go downhill!

This was a fun and exciting mystery with extremely compelling characters. During the war Iris Sparks was a spy; even now that she's running a marriage bureau her dangerous life still isn't behind her. Not only does she apparently struggle with alcohol, but she's also dating someone in the criminal underworld. Gwen lost her much loved husband in the war, and she apparently had a breakdown and spent time in a sanatorium. She is trying to be declared competent to regain custody of her son back from Lord Bainbridge. It seems an odd business pairing between Iris and Gwen, but it works. Their unique backgrounds give them special insight into the mystery they get involved in. The supporting characters were marvelous, too. Little Ronnie was absolutely adorable, Percival the Butler was kind and Lady Bainbridge was....let's just call her unique. My favorite, though, was Salvadore "Sally" Danielli, who was Iris's best friend and was sweet on Gwen. He was a loveable and funny giant of a man. The mystery was highly entertaining. I was totally surprised at the mystery's big reveal! It was the characters, though, that made this story so wonderful. They were extremely funny, snarky and also made me tear up. I can't wait to see what shenanigans Sparks and Bainbridge get up to next!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

A Rogue's Company by Allison Montclair is the newest addition to this entertaining series. In the time after WWII Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge continue to provide a service to those in need of help finding love and marriage. Business has improved enough that they are able to expand their offices and hire a secretary! But things are never easy for our intrepid heroines....murder and kidnapping interferes with their day to day business. I love Iris and Gwen....they are engaging and fun but each has their own issues to work through. Gwen is still mourning the loss of her husband in the war and trying to gain back custody of her son from her in laws, Iris has to face her time as an undercover operative and her feelings for her gangster boyfriend. The dialog is sharp and witty and the secondary characters are enjoyable and well developed. While the ending seemed somewhat rushed the journey to the end was exciting and fun! I can't recommend this book, this series, highly enough! A Rogue's Company can be read as a standalone but I would recommend reading at least one of the preceding books to understand our ladies better.
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Minotaur Books for this Advanced Reader Copy and the opportunity to review “A Rogue’s Company.” All opinions are my own.

A prologue describing a disaster on Lake Nyasa in 1946 affects events for Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau in this, the third book in the historical mystery series by Allison Montclair. And soon, Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge, our heroines, find themselves taking as a client a black man. This obviously sets up all sorts of problems, and issues of race become a theme of the story. Iris and Gwen will decide they need to put their upbringing to the test – and do better.

A dead man in a hidden room in a private club in London. That prologue. Even a kidnapping. All tied to a certain someone. We get the big reveal with the truth coming out, of course. Money and greed. Who whoulda thunk it.

“A Rogue’s Company” is pretty much all about the Bainbridge family. Characterization as in earlier books is superb, and the banter that is part and parcel brings everyone to life. The settings are described with authenticity. We even meet new people, delve deep into family dynamics, and learn more about the past of Iris and Gwen. And also, that people have to get past their prejudices. Family troubles loom large in “A Rogue’s Company,” since Lord Bainbridge, Gwen’s father-in-law, is throwing his weight around. In fact, one can argue this book is more about personal problems than a mystery to solve. Iris has demons to face (and boyfriend troubles), Gwen has her family to deal with, and on and on. If you want to know more about the two of them, then this book is for you. We do get some action, some “thriller-ish” activity that might be too over the top for some readers. I personally want more Marriage Bureau-style mystery. Maybe next time.

I couldn't be happier that I discovered Allison Montclair's Sparks & Bainbridge historical mystery series when the very first book, The Right Sort of Man, appeared. This series, now on book three, has done nothing but get better and better, and I think I spent most of the time while reading A Rogue's Company with a big smile on my face... that is, when I wasn't actually laughing out loud.

Montclair doesn't spend a lot of time giving us period detail. A simple line mentioning "piles of rubble waiting to be collected from the bomb sites" is more than sufficient to put me firmly on the streets of post-war London, and Gwen's conversation with young Stephen Burleigh is a strong reminder of soldiers coming home from the war and the horrors that they had to endure.

If Montclair doesn't spend a lot of time setting her stage, what does she do? She tells a fast-paced marvelous tale of deception and abduction that keeps readers putting the pieces together-- and loathe to put the book down until it's finished. More than that, she continues to develop her fantastic cast of characters.

After what's happened in the previous two books, Gwen begins taking self-defense classes, and it's her continuing maturation that often takes center stage. Gwen led a sheltered, privileged life until the death of her husband during the war. When he died, she came emotionally unglued. Her grief was so intense that her in-laws put her in a hospital, made themselves her legal guardian, and took away custody of her six-year-old son, Ronnie. In the first two books, Lord and Lady Bainbridge were nothing but despicable, but now in A Rogue's Company, we begin to see cracks appear. Subtle changes can be seen. Motivations raise their heads above the parapet. The lord and lady are no longer cardboard cut-out villains, and that's something to applaud.

Even secondary characters and those with bit parts shine in this book. Little Ronnie is a typical boy and an absolute sweetheart. If I want to get somewhere fast, I'm going to insist that Barry drives me, and Percival the "plummy-voiced berk" is just the butler I'd want to have in my own establishment. The dialogue sparkles in A Rogue's Company, and for those of you who are fans of T.E. Kinsey's Lady Hardcastle mysteries think of the banter between Lady Hardcastle and Flo. (For those who aren't acquainted with Lady Hardcastle, please take note of my recommendation.) Iris and Gwen can keep me laughing, and once the story revs up and really motors along, I cheered (sometimes out loud) whenever Gwen faced down the loathsome Lord Bainbridge.

Granted, the marriage bureau business had only a walk-on part in this book, but it was there, and Iris and Gwen show readers that they know how to come up with innovations to expand their business. I really want it to expand, too, because Allison Montclair has me hook, line, and sinker. I am now in dire need of an annual Sparks & Bainbridge fix. For the uninitiated, as much as I'd like you to start with book one and read the three books in order, you can actually pick up A Rogue's Company and not feel lost or confused. Once you do, you're going to find yourself in need of that annual fix, too. Mark my words.

Because We Are Family
This book is the third in the Sparks&Bainbridge Mystery Series. This episode takes us from Africa to the seedy bowels of London to exclusive men's clubs and further. Throughout this book, women surprise men at every turn. In the post-WWII society, the men looked at women as they always had, but the women had earned and learned their way to survive the war. And they learned to use men's preconceived notions against them. This is an exciting mystery with so many twists and a surprising ending. I am ready for book 4. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Lord Bainbridge is back from Africa and putting waste to Gwen's plan to keep his grandson-her son- from attending the horrid boarding school her late husband so despised. There's more, however, afoot, as she quickly discovers, along with her business partner Iris Sparks. Together, they run a matchmaking agency and they've been approached by an African man looking for a wife, Turns out there's more connections than they could have imagined and it all comes out when Gwen and Lord Bainbridge are kidnapped. I'm a huge fan of this series and, to be honest, think this latest is best appreciated by those who have read at least one of the earlier books because Montclair doesn't give much of the dramatic backstory of the women. It's also, admittedly, a little confusing as to who's who in spots as she shifts from referring to them as Gwen and Iris to Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge (consistency helps). Thee two are great characters, as are the others in their lives such as Solly, Agnes, Archie, Percival, and so on. There's nice post war atmospherics and the unusual plot line of a wealthy grieving widow who has her affairs put into guardianship. While I missed the fun of the matchmaking we've seen in earlier books, this has a cracking good and suspenseful plot that kept me guessing (I was surprised by the end!). Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Fun read.

Terrific installment of this exciting and evocative series. Very likeable protagonists (especially Iris, whom I adore), and I’ve never caught it in an anachronism. Highly recommended for even the pickiest historical mystery fan.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

Who would think that a marriage bureau in 1946 run by two women, could be dangerous? Did the business attract the danger, or was it something or someone else?

In the mean time, Gwen is fighting her dead husband's father for her independence and the custody of her own son! The imperious man had taken advantage of her grief, had her admitted to an asylum and declared unfit, and the court granted him guardianship of her child, Ronnie.

Now, with no legal standing, and despite running a business, Gwen deals with daily mistreatment from her in-laws, tries to raise her son as a loving boy, and rebuild her self confidence.

Her first step is to secretly visit a man who has a violent past; who gives people like her a means to fight back.

Iris and Gwen find out just how perilous their quiet business--and lives--can be, when there's a murder a little too close to home, followed by kidnappings. What is at the heart of these crimes and who calls the shots? Who can two (defenseless?) women turn to?

One thing we slowly learn is that the criminals are in for a bumpy ride. Iris has a secret past and Gwen is just discovering hidden strengths. These are not ordinary women.

This book was a delight to read. I enjoyed the adventure, Gwen's self-discovery, and the unfolding of the mystery. There are even hints at romance (but nothing detailed--yay!). Swearing is light and minimal.

I will be reading other books by this author, and hope to read many more!

Side Note: I loved reading about this era. How accurate details are, I don't know, but the reminder of the blackouts across Europe (and America) made me stop and do some quick research. As difficult as social distancing and wearing masks is for us (because of the Covid-19 virus), the blackouts lasted 4 years, and were much more restrictive and difficult.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this book preview!

This book had the humor and witty banter I have grown to love about this series. However, I missed the entertaining parts of the earlier books, reading about the clients who visit The Right Sort Marriage Bureau.

Gwen and Iris make for interesting characters and I enjoy reading about their lives. I really liked Sally’s character and hope he makes an appearance in the next book.

This book featured more information about Lord and Lady Bainbridge. Unfortunately, I don’t care for either of them, so the parts featuring them were not so much fun. I especially skimmed through the parts about Lord Bainbridge and his history.

Now that I have finished book three, I am a little annoyed that certain plot points have not advanced any further than book one. I thought a few were on track to be resolved, and in the end the author pulled the characters back into the status quo.

This is a minor point, but bears mentioning because it has been in my review notes for all three books in the series. I still get confused as to who is speaking/being spoken to because the author uses Iris, Gwen, Sparks, Mrs. Bainbridge intermittently. Whenever this happens, I have to stop and think, ‘who is Iris again?’ It would be nice to stick to one name per character unless the story calls for it, like an introduction. It didn’t help my name confusion that the prologue starts with a gunboat called the HMS Gwendolen.

I am still a huge fan of Iris and Gwen (and Sally) and look forward to the next installment in the series.

3.5/5 rounded up

I love this series! Third book in, we're still learning about Miss Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge, their pre-war lives and their war years. They are unlikely friends, opposites that mesh together just right. Their different perspectives and experiences are perfect for matchmaking and solving mysteries. Sparks has the most interesting friends that Mrs. Bainbridge is adopting as her own. A Rogue's Company introduces several new twists in their relationships, professional and personal. I can't wait to see what happens next!

This has very quickly become one of my favorite and most anticipated series. Set in London just post war, the main characters are Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge, two opposites who work like clockwork together. Iris is single and Gwen is a widowed mother living with her in-laws, and the two run a marriage bureau called the “Right Sort”. Each book opens with the approach of a client, and that sets off whatever delightful chain of events Montclair has in store for her reader.

Iris and Gwen have expanded their business a bit, and now boast a two-room office suite as well as a secretary. The approach of their first African customer throws them off a tiny bit, but the ladies rally and agree to help find proper, polite Mr. Daile a match. The book opens with a scene in Africa. It’s brief though memorable, as a boat sinks and many are lost. Certainly, you will be thinking to yourself, Mr. Daile is connected to this tragedy. The cagey Montclair reveals no secrets before her time, though. Three books in, I was more than content to leave it in her capable hands and feel certain the link would be made clear. (Reader, it was).

As the women prepare to match Mr. Daile, Gwen feels something is off about him – she thinks there is something he’s not sharing with them, but they press ahead regardless. Overriding Mr. Daile’s matchmaking concerns are Gwen’s concerns. Her dictatorial father in law has just returned from Africa and overseeing his business there, and his desire to send her 6 year old son (and heir to the Bainbridge title) away to boarding school has Gwen in a frantic state of worry.

While Gwen and her mother in law had reached an armed truce of sorts in the last book, the arrival of her father in law blows everything to smithereens as he refuses to compromise and treats his wife like an afterthought, abandoning her each night for his club. About half way through the book, Gwen and her father in law are kidnapped, and the distraught Lady Bainbridge reaches out to Iris for help as the two women have solved a crime or two.

This is the most personal of the books to date. Putting Gwen in danger and allowing her to ultimately realize the many resources she actually has at her disposal, as well as giving her a chance to use her newly acquired self defense skills (she as taking a class at Iris’ insistence), fleshes her character out even more. This is handily done by letting the reader into the way her mind solves problems and seeing the result.

These books have a dash of adventure, a dash of (often thwarted, in Gwen’s case) romance, a clever mystery, and much wit and intelligence. The way the stories are put together are clever but not to the detriment of the characters, who are a complete delight. In spirit these are very close to the Pamela Branch comic novels published in the 50’s. (Those hard to find gems were reprinted by the Rue Morgue Press around 15 years ago and I still snicker when I think about some of the scenes and the deliciously frothy humor in those books.)

Fifteen years later I am enjoying these books by Branch’s kissing cousin and finding that they provide the most fun “between the covers” of any read all year. Snatch up all three in the series to date and treasure them.

This intelligent and dry-humored series has become a favorite. Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge, unlikely friends, have started a marital matchmaking agency. However, more serious situations keep intruding and they have been caught up in several murder investigations.

Gwen is a war widow with a young son, constrained to live in her aristocratic in-laws' home after having a breakdown when her husband died. Iris was some sort of secret operative during the war with some rather specialized skills.

Their differences and strong friendship, not to mention terrific back and forth repartee, are the meat in this book. We watch Iris try to resume a bit off normalcy after a wartime in the shadows. Gwen, meanwhile, is getting stronger and is challenging her husband's difficult parents to regain control of her life.

Gwen's nasty father-in-law has returned from Africa, determined to send his grandson to boarding school against Gwen's wishes. He also refuses to let Gwen take her inherited seat on the board of directors of the family business. He is up to something shady and disappears after a daytime kidnapping incident and ransom demand. Unfortunately, Gwen was in the area and gets snatched as well.

Gwen and Iris are tremendously appealing characters and these books are a job. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really fun mystery! Lots of adventures -- it's nice to see Gwen [the upper-class member of the duo, who has struggled with her mental health] coming out of her shell a bit, and assisting Sparks [the working-class former spy] with the rough and tumble side of things. And I enjoyed that it explored themes of racism / sexism in an era appropriate/class appropriate sort of way.

An okay entry into the series.

This series is very light. Usually, the books will deal with murder plots, and this light tone can handle these plots. However, this one is more suspenseful. The middle, which deals with the build-up, doesn't work. There's no suspense. It's just everyone speaking fun quips to each other. When things happen, it's exhilarating and twisty. The characters are still fun and endearing.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.

Oh, man...what a rollercoaster of a story! Not only does it contain murder and mayhem in spades but the humour is stellar. So are the varied (from bland to blunt to stoic to funny to good natured to nasty) characters. I giggled many times at the clever bantering and back and forthing...the writing is perfection. And then some. My attention was grabbed and held immediately. The novel ended too soon!

Set after WWII Britain, Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwen Bainbridge are getting slightly ahead in their business, the Right Sort Marriage Bureau (!). Business was somewhat slow due to the effects of war but beginning to pick up. Some matchmaking comes into play amidst all the whisperings and secrets and deceit. The crimes (yes, plural) to me are almost secondary because there is just so much hijinx yet not in a condescending foolish way. Her father in law isn't exactly jolly and kind so his return from Africa adds to Gwen's stress. She is still grieving but beginning to see the world differently again and moving onward with the help of her dear young son Ronnie and friend Archie. Another friend, Sally, is one of my favourites, always "on" and banterer extraordinaire. Iris detects something amiss with Gwen. Several side stories but all intermingle beautifully. The historic details are wonderfully captured in a multi-sensory and satiating feast.

Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction, Mysteries and General Fiction readers ought to be drawn to this splendid series...it certainly has wide appeal.

My sincere thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this exemplary book! I LOVED it and am hankering for more.

I’m a big fan of the Sparks and Bainbridge mystery series and book 3, A Rogue’s Company didn’t disappoint! Set in post WWII London, Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge are partners in a marriage bureau, The Right Sort. Their very different experiences in the war have left them with complicated, messy lives. By this installment, both are gaining ground on sorting out those lives when Gwen’s father-in-law returns home from an extended stay in Africa to assert his authority over Gwen’s son. This story intersects with that of their new client at The Right Sort, and the detecting duo find themselves with another crime to solve in their creative and inimitable way.

Once again, the mystery is engaging and as fast-paced as the banter between the two main characters. This may be my favorite book of the three, but I highly recommend reading them all!

Gwen Bainbridge and her partner Iris Sparks are pleased with their marriage agency. They have managed to add on both a second office and a secretary. They are a bit surprised when Simon Daile comes in because they have never considered having Black African clients. Beyond that surprise is the certainty in Gwen's mind that the Mr. Daile was lying to her about something.

While dealing with finding potential partners for him, Gwen is dealing with problems at home. Her father-in-law Lord Harold Bainbridge has returned from Africa is is determined to send Gwen's six-year-old son to the same harsh boarding school where his son was educated. Since Gwen had a breakdown when her beloved husband died in the War, Lord and Lady Bainbridge were given custody of young Ronnie and also guardianship of Gwen.

Lord Bainbridge is a petty tyrant who brings nothing but tension to his household. Lady Bainbridge drinks to deal with her disappointment in him. And Gwen is determined to regain her independence and regain custody of her son. Unfortunately, her psychiatrist isn't ready to sign off on her competence. After all, both she and Iris have discussed their previous murder investigations with him which makes him question both women's sense.

Things come to a head when Lord Bainbridge and Gwen are kidnapped by some villains. Iris is called in by Lady Bainbridge and Iris quickly recruits her friend Sally and her beau underworld boss Archie Spelling to find and rescue Gwen and, incidentally, Lord Bainbridge.

This story had lots of twists and turns. It also had intriguing characters. Both Iris and Gwen were wounded by the War and their parts in it and both are gradually rebuilding their lives. I enjoyed following the twists and turns of the story but admit that both Gwen and Iris are much better detectives than I am.

A Rogue’s Company by Allison Montclair begins with a brother and sister on a boat on an African lake when tragedy strikes. With that scene fresh in our minds, we find that Bainbridge family is under the scrutiny of an African man who is posing as a gardener. Why is he surveilling the Bainbridge family? What is his relationship to the brother and sister on the boat? What does all of this mean for for the match-making, mystery-solving duo of Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge? Especially when said gardener shows up at their business asking to be matched.

From the very first novel in the Sparks & Bainbridge series, The Right Sort of Man (see my review), I have been hooked by the unlikely duo of Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge. Sparks has a dark history, having been a spy during the WWII, and doing what needed to be done. Gwen, on the other hand, is an aristocrat whose husband, Ronnie, died during the war, which left her broken and battling her parents-in-law for her son. But she harbors a strength that is becoming more apparent as the novels go on, not to mention her knack for being able to tell immediately if someone is lying to her or not. Together they complement each other.

In A Rogue’s Company, we learn more about Lord Bainbridge and his dealings in Africa. But we learn even more about Lord Bainbridge and Lady Bainbridge as people. Montclair shows us just how human these people are, how multi-faceted. Individuals in these novels are not black and white, but layers of gray and ever-intriguing.

Amidst the mystery of a murdered man and his relationship to the Bainbridges, if there is indeed one, we learn more about Sparks’ past, the demons that she is dealing with. While Gwen is an ever-evolving character, Sparks is an onion. Layer after layer shows us so much about who she is and what she’s been dealing with and what she’s lost. So much excellent characterization!

The novel is fast-paced and, yes, I’ll use the ever review-worthy phrase: page-turning. This is easily a novel that you could pick up and read in a day, if life didn’t interfere. I enjoyed every single swish of the page.

If you are a mystery lover, especially one who loves historical mysteries, and haven’t read any in this series, give it a go. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I certainly haven’t been.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.