cover image THE WIDOW GINGER

THE WIDOW GINGER

Pip Granger, . . Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (278pp) ISBN 978-1-59058-057-8

In Granger's follow-up to Agatha nominee Not All Tarts Are Apple (2002), young Rosa Featherby resumes her innocent and charming reminiscences of 1950s London. Rosie is happy with her adoptive parents, Auntie Maggie and Uncle Bert, at their quiet cafe in Soho, surrounded by a lively cast of adoring adults. But dark clouds soon begin to gather. An old wartime crony of Uncle Bert's, an ex-GI known as the Widow Ginger, is nosing around in menacing fashion, and Uncle Bert is now at odds with longtime pal Maltese Joe. Though she doesn't fully understand why, Rosie knows it's not good for Uncle Bert and Maltese Joe to be on the outs, and everyone is nervous about the presence of the Widow Ginger. Threatening incidents occur, and even Rosie can feel the tension. Despite the muted suspense, readers will warm to this unsentimental portrait of postwar London and the eccentrically lovable denizens of Rosie's Soho. (Aug. 23)