Book Review: The Unkept Woman by Allison Montclair

The Unkept Woman (Sparks & Bainbridge #4). Allison Montclair. Minotaur Books (2022). 320 pages. Genre: Mystery.

First Line: "The woman following Iris Sparks wasn't very good at it."

Summary:  The Right Sort Marriage Bureau is thriving.  Gwen and Iris have hired a secretary and expanded the office to include one more room.  But, it is their personal lives that are not proceeding smoothly.  Gwen is attempting to gain full legal control of her life, including her son and her finances.  Her biggest obstacle remains her father-in-law.  Iris' past literally shows up on her doorstep and barges in.  Before long a woman is found dead in the flat Iris had been living in and Iris is the primary suspect.  Gwen and Iris must work fast to discover the real murderer or Iris will go to jail.

My thoughts:  Each book in this series zips along at such a fast pace.  The dialogue continues to be witty, the pace is just right and the characters are wonderful.

I absolutely love the character development in this story.  Gwen and Iris continue to grow and change.  Gwen is stepping out of her comfort zone a little more, while continuing to be a good friend, mother and daughter-in-law.  Iris is dealing with her past and making progress.  She continues to see that some of the choices she made were harmful.  I love the honesty in both of them.

A real treat was the trip Gwen and her son made to the Victoria and Albert museum to view the Britain Can Make It Exhibition.  Every bit of their trip their was described in such detail, I felt like I was wandering through with them.  Part of the exhibit included:

"Twenty-four fully equipped rooms, each by a different designer, drawing upon the combined imaginations of furniture makers, potters, engineers shifting their focus from destroying the Axis to improving the lives of ordinary households, and artists of all kinds. Each room was created for an imaginary occupant or family, with a drawing and quick biographical sketch mounted above the listing of items displayed and their manufacturers."

I found this fascinating and would have loved to see it.  

The mystery was complex and many layers had to be uncovered to figure out what was going on. Scotland Yard was involved and so was MI-6.  So of course there were things that couldn't be said and people who couldn't be known.  There were lots of twists and turns and I was completely surprised when the murderer was revealed.  

I really enjoyed this and highly recommend this series.  If you are new to it, I recommend you start with the first book, The Right Sort of Man.