Marion Lane and the Deadly Rose

MI6 meets Hogwarts School of Witchcraft in Willberg’s fanciful sequel to 2020’s Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder. In 1959, 24-year-old Marion Lane is a second-year apprentice detective at Miss Brickett’s Inquiries and Investigations, a clandestine private investigations agency located in a secret maze of tunnels under the streets of London. Shortly before Marion is assigned to assist in the baffling case of the Florist, a mysterious killer who brands his victims with the symbol of a rose, she begins receiving anonymous notes warning that one of the agency’s new recruits is not to be trusted. To complicate matters, the Employee Rights and Protection Society, a new group within the agency, issues a handbook revealing damning classified information about Miss Brickett’s. Called on to infiltrate the ERPS, Marion discovers that the Florist and his minions are part of a wide-reaching international conspiracy. Willberg’s secret agency full of loners and outsiders who use quirky gadgets like the Liar’s Eye and Spy Snakes is imaginative and fun. Lovers of mysteries with a dollop of magic will enjoy. Agent: Hayley Steed, Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency (U.K.). (Feb.)