by Allison, Montclair is a post-World War II thriller featuring two best friends, Gwen Bainbridge and Iris Sparks. Both women run a dating agency, The Right Sort Marriage Bureau, but their lives are still haunted by their war experiences. Iris was in intelligence and much of her past remains shaded with secrecy, while Gwen is fighting to regain custody of her son after she attempted suicide following her husband’s death in 1944. When an ex-spy and old lover of Iris’s turns up at her flat and a woman is murdered there, Iris becomes embroiled in the crime, and it’s up to the two women to sort out the mystery. This is a refreshing spin on World War II-era mysteries, featuring two deeply compelling characters.