Review of NOVEMBER RAIN by Maureen Jennings

 3 Stars

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.