‘Mad about the Boy?’ by Dolores Gordon-Smith. Published by Constable London ISBN 978-1-84529-609-4

This is the second in the series about Jack Haldean, a clean-cut 1920s hero.  In the summer of 1923 he is attending a country house ball; those present at the ball include Isabelle, Jack’s cousin, who is the daughter of the couple giving the ball to celebrate their silver wedding.  Isabelle has 2 suitors attending the house party - Jack’s friend Arthur and the glamorous Malcolm - while other guests include twin flappers and several shady businessmen.  An unexpected death occurs in the household and although it is judged to be suicide by the authorities Jack suspects murder.  The bubbling pot is stirred with the emotions aroused by Isabelle’s love life, the activities of the businessmen and the incursions of a group of Russian revolutionaries. 

As the story unfolds with lots of rollicking action the complications mount. 1920s features that appear during the tale are integral to the events and therefore smoothly incorporated - for example cars are described because they are part of what happens.  The old fashioned views of Isabelle’s parents’ generation contrast to the go getting practices of the 1920s generation.  Dolores really gets the attitudes of the day right - after the cataclysm of the Great War survivors have their bitter memories which can affect many of their responses to events - a return to absolute normality is not on the cards.   She also shows how the upheaval of their Revolution had made Revolutionary and White Russians part of the London scene in a way that 21^st century people would not appreciate.

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Jennifer S. Palmer

The first Jack Haldean book is A Fete Worse than Death and the third volume is already underway.