“Two strangers. One wedding. The adventure of a lifetime”
- Book: Old Girls Behaving Badly
- Location: London, North Norfolk, The Chilterns
- Author: Kate Galley
Recently widowed, octogenarian artist Dorothy, whilst lonely and sorely missing her once successful businessman husband, Philip, is more than able to take care of herself on a day to day basis, albeit that her Thames river view house in Hampstead London, is quite a sizeable property for a single person. However, her concerned son and daughter feel that, with the wedding of her grandson Toby coming up and the week long celebrations taking place at the Norfolk country estate of one of the bride’s uncles, a companion for Dorothy whilst the rest of the family are engaged in wedding preparations, would be a sound idea.
Dorothy has other plans however, that is until she interviews former Art Historian Gina for the position and there is an instant spark of a possible camaraderie between them. In her seventies, Gina is reeling from the news that after decades of marriage and two children, her husband has decided that his recent retirement is the ideal opportunity for him to re-invent himself, which unfortunately doesn’t include his loyal and loving wife. He has put the family home up for sale, so for a soon-to-be homeless person, Dorothy’s offer, with the potential for an extended contract when she is back home in the London house, is the lifeline and breathing space Gina so desperately needs.
It transpires that the families of the bride and bridegroom to be, are already acquainted, as uncle Leonard, the host with the most, was once Philip’s business partner, until the two had a falling out and they went their separate ways, never to meet again. Gina soon learns that for Dorothy this trip is more than an occasion to celebrate the wedding of her grandson, as she has it firmly fixed in her mind that somehow Leonard is indirectly responsible for Philip’s sudden death and she sets Gina the task of finding the proof, by fair means or foul, Dorothy really doesn’t mind which. Apparently both men had been avid art collectors, although Leonard was always far too competitive for Philip’s taste and was never happy when bested by his once friend. Dorothy is convinced that Leonard is behind an art theft at the Hampstead house, in the course of which, Philip took a bad fall and never recovered.
That is only the tip of the iceberg though and Gina, Dorothy and youngster Julia, open up a whole can of worms with their investigation, which not only uncovers the true extent of Leonard’s shady dealings, but also secrets both he and other members of the families would rather remained private. Accidents begin to happen, which at first appear to be random acts of bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, however it soon becomes clear that the ladies have put themselves at the mercy of someone for whom life is cheap and no one is going to be allowed to get in their way.
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This is author Kate Galley’s third book and I have loved reading them all. So far she has written about ladies of a certain age demographic and she has managed to pull off her characters and storylines with perfect aplomb and with just the right nod to those of us who can relate to the characters and believe in living life to the absolute full and blow the consequences. However, this time Kate, whilst staying true to her core set of characters, has also seamlessly transitioned into the combined genres of family drama and ‘cozy’ mystery, with amazing success as far as I’m concerned!
The storyline, whilst beautifully nuanced and detailed, moved along at steady pace, guided by some well-signposted and manageable length chapters. There were red herrings a plenty, which contrived to trip me up at every turn and just about everyone was on the suspect list at one time or another, especially when it turned out that there were plenty of secrets between various members of the cast, and among this highly dysfunctional cross-section of family life definitely more than a single crime had been committed.
They do say that the female of the species is more deadly than the male, however Kate has really turned things on their head with her choice of male lead; a man so despicable, entitled, greedy and vengeful, that it was all too easy to forget that he was a fictional character in a book. There were several other characters who I also found myself disliking for one reason or another, however the female leads of Dorothy, Gina and Juliet were the real stars of this show. Dorothy’s dogged sense of right and wrong; her compulsive need for closure on Philip’s death before she can move on with her own life; and the generosity of spirit she shows to Gina, a fellow damsel in distress, are carried off with style. Gina discovers that she is stronger and able to be independent more than she thought she ever could be after spending a lifetime underestimating her capabilities, living in the shadows of a childhood trauma and her husband’s overbearing behaviour. With the exuberance of youth, Juliet rushes into things without thought for the consequences of her actions, although she learns a few good life lessons from her two new companions.
This story was definitely all about the characters, with the physical location taking something of a back seat. However, a sense of time and place was never far from thought, with all named places in London, North Norfolk and The Chilterns of Oxford, being easily identifiable and described in such a manner as to lift them from the page, making this a truly transportive and immersive experience from beginning to end, with an atmosphere which lingered long after I had closed the final page.
This book would be an excellent opening episode to a new ‘cozy’ mystery fiction series, with adaptation for the small screen being a real possibility IMHO. However, even if author Kate Galley decides to allow Dorothy and Gina some ‘down’ time to get to know one another, I do hope that any of her new storylines encompass this particular genre, as she has a real knack at concocting a good authentic mystery for her amateur sleuths to solve!
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