Never the Bride review

‘Never The Bride’ review – welcome to gothic fiction spliced with a touch of Miss Marple. Two old biddies solve demonic mysteries and have big old punch-ups in the gothic setting of Whitby, british home of Dracula…

Amazon: Never the Bride (Brenda 1)

Never the Bride is the first in the Brenda and Effie series by Paul Magrs. The books are set in Gothic Whitby, the town steeped in sea mist, never short of a few mysterious goings on…

Brenda runs a very homely B&B while Effie dwells in her dusty, unwelcoming antiques emporium (or junk shop, as Brenda likes to call it) next door. All sounds very quaint and normal so far, doesn’t it? Don’t be fooled! Brenda has had a long, eventful life and is hiding her terrible past. She is waiting for the moment that she will have to explain her loss of memory, her scars and the fact that she never seems to age.

Brenda and Effie’s relationship is endearing from the start. They share their favourite local haunts and regularly have nights out in the quaint town. Which makes it all the more shocking to find that the gateway to hell is situated by Whitby Abbey, and that they are the chosen guardians!

I instantly fell in love with Brenda and Effie’s no nonsense attitudes, and the stories of the two old biddies solving mysteries, having great big punch ups and taking the whole lot in their stride. Paul Magrs offers such an original story in a beautifully atmospheric setting.

Never the Bride is full of dark, witty humour and I found myself getting carried away to a point where I read the whole book in two days. I am so excited to love a book so much when from my youth I haven’t been much of a reading person. I can’t wait to review the next book, Something Borrowed (Brenda 2). I am absolutely charmed.