The Haunting of the Desks: A Sparks & Bainbridge Short Story

Allison Montclair

Apr 2021 · Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery Book 5 · Sold by Minotaur Books

About this eBook

Sparks and Bainbridge of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau return in this short story from Allison Montclair as their expansion into a new office - and acquisition of a new desk - results in unexplainable phenomena that can only mean that their new digs are haunted!

In London, 1946, The Right Sort Marriage Agency is off to a good start and their early success means that Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge can now afford to expand into the long-empty office across the hall. And with that long closed office comes some more professional furniture - including a partner's desk from Harrod's. But something is afoot in that office - strange noises at unusual hours, some of the furniture seeming moved around and cleaned, all behind a locked door. The building's janitor is convinced that this is proof that the office is haunted.

But Sparks and Bainbridge are not so sure that's the only, or even the correct, conclusion. Instead, they suspect there's something going on related to the locked partner's desk and the long closed office. With their detective hats on, Sparks and Bainbridge are determined to uncover the truth about the mystery of the haunted partner's desk...or die trying?

Ratings and reviews

A quick but good read to whet my appetite for the next book in this cracking series. Iris and Gwen (Sparks and Bainbridge)'s marriage bureau is having some success and so they have decided to expand into the empty office suite next door, not least because it contains two very handsome desks which the previous occupants left behind. The building's caretaker (janitor) believes the suite is haunted by the ghost of a man who died in the suite 15 years ago, but Iris and Gwen think the answer lies in the locked drawers of the desks. This was very short, yet Allison Montclair packed so much into those 50 pages, and the solving of the mystery was unexpected.

About the author

ALLISON MONTCLAIR grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. She now spends her spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of her own. She is the author of the Sparks & Bainbridge historical mystery series, which begins with The Right Sort of Man.