This is the second Paradise Café Mystery, after Heat Wave (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/2023/09/review-of-heat-wave-by-maureen-jennings.html). I needed a quick read so I decided to check in on Charlotte Frayne.

It is November of 1936 in Toronto. Charlotte, a private investigator, is hired by Mrs. Jessop to determine if her son Gerald really did commit suicide. A badly disfigured World War I vet, he is found dead and with a suicide note, but his mother refuses to believe he would have killed himself. On the same day, Charlotte is hired by Saul Rosenthal to infiltrate his garment factory because he suspects communist agitators are fomenting labour unrest at his company. The murder of the supervisor on Charlotte’s first day at the factory gets her seconded by the police into their investigation.

As in the first book in the series, the plot is slow with little suspense and intrigue. The novel covers only a few days and everything gets nicely wrapped up in the end. The two cases end up being connected and that really irked me. It’s one of so many coincidences. In fact, it’s Charlotte’s happening to see people together that helps her make connections between the cases. It’s not great sleuthing that solves the cases – just luck.

As in the previous book, the plotting is so obvious. Characters that are not needed, like Mr. Gilmore and Hilliard, are given an excuse to travel. Why, for instance, does Charlotte go the café just after being hired on the two cases? The visit serves no purpose except to have her witness two women arguing, two women she will encounter again, of course. What is also problematic is how the police treat her as a colleague. Because various police officers conveniently have the flu, she is co-opted to attend questionings? She admits to “a rather ambiguous position in terms of officialdom.” No kidding! And what’s with all the obviously Jewish names like Klein and Cohen? Mr. Rosenthal is identified as Jewish, yet Mr. Klein is a Methodist?

In Heat Wave, I appreciated the historical aspects. In a second book, however, it just seems repetitious. Nothing new is added, except the reference to blue park benches which were reserved for veterans, a warning to passersby that a veteran sitting on the bench might be disfigured.

There is currently one more book in the series, Cold Snap, and a fourth one, March Roars, is set to be released in 2024. I might turn to the next installment when I need another unchallenging read. Maybe I keep hoping the books will get better, or maybe I just enjoy being critical and picking out the flaws.

Note: Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/DCYakabuski). ( )

This is the second book in the Paradise Cafe series. The author, Maureen Jennings, is also the creator of the Detective Murdoch series which is such a success as a TV series. Jack Murdoch makes an appearance in this book but the main character is PI Charlotte Frayne.

Charlotte is on her own in November 1936 as her boss, Mr. Gilmore (who is Jewish as we discovered in the first book, Heat Wave) is overseas on a personal errand. That's okay because when two well-dressed women are at the office door first thing in the morning it is Charlotte they wish to engage. They are the Jessops, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and they have come to hire Charlotte to investigate the death of their son and husband, Gerald Jessop. The police have ruled the death a suicide but his mother refuses to accept that. Gerald was badly disfigured in World War I and has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction ever since. Charlotte agrees to investigate but since the detective in charge was her friend Jack Murdoch privately she doubts the death was anything other than what it has been deemed. The same day she is contacted by the owner of a clothing factory. Mr. Rosenthal suspects that someone among the employees is trying to organize a union and he wants someone to go undercover at the factory. The day Charlotte turns up for work the door is locked and all the employees are standing outside waiting for the supervisor to open up. They are still there when Mr. Rosenthal drives up and he unlocks the door but only allows Charlotte to accompany him. They find the supervisor, Mr. Klein, lying on one of the cutting tables with a pair of scissors sticking out of his chest.

As books of this type are usually constructed, both cases have links to the Paradise Cafe which is a place where Toronto's poor can get a hot meal for a reasonable cost. Charlotte was hired in the last book by one of the owners to investigate missing funds and by the time the case was over she and Hilliard Taylor were in love. During most of this book Hilliard is away looking after his son who lives in Sudbury and had to go to hospital to have his tonsils removed. A few phone calls and messages have to sustain Charlotte but it appears that absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder.

The aftermath of World War I is still being felt even 18 years after the Armistice. One detail that I had never before learned was that blue benches were placed in parks for disfigured veterans to sit on so that members of the public would know to avert their eyes as they passed. Talk about making an honourable soldier feel like a pariah. ( )

Private detective Charlotte Frayne takes on two new cases in the absence of her boss on a secret mission. One involves the "equivocal" death of a Great War veteran which the police deem to be a suicide. The man's wealthy mother does not accept that finding and hires Charlotte to investigate his death. As she is about to take that on, she is hired to go undercover at an apparel factory where the owner fears the workers are being agitated to unionize. The second case turns into a murder investigation when a factory supervisor is found dead, the victim of a stabbing.
Charlotte's investigation is conducted against the background of Toronto in 1936, in the midst of the Great Depression. Scores of disabled war veterans and other victims of the economic collapse crowd the city trying to survive. There is fear that another war with Germany is coming. Socialism is garnering support and the Communist Party is active. It is a time of social unrest.
The story is set in November, a dreary and rainy month in Toronto, creating an atmospheric backdrop to Charlotte's investigation. The historical and geographical detail is well done, exhibiting careful research by the author.
Charlotte is a diligent investigator working well with some cantankerous policemen to solve the mysteries presented by the two cases. The story comes to a satisfying conclusion. All in all, it's an excellent historical detective novel and good entertainment. ( )