Something Borrowed
Paul Magrs

Available from Amazon for £7.

This is the second part of Paul Magrs "Brenda" trilogy preceded by "Never The Bride" and succeed by"Conjugal Rights". Although the novel briefly outlines what has happened in the first book this should definitely be read as part of the series and not stand alone.

The second instalment of Brendas story starts where "Never The Bride" left off and we find her trying to re assume her normal life in Whitby. Apart from the Womanzee still stalking the Whitby inhabitants everything seems quiet. However Effie and Brenda are soon sucked into a new adventure when poison pen letters start landing on the door mats of Whitby's residents and it is up to our heroines to get to the bottom of who is responsible. A face from Brendas past also acts as a device to tell the reader about what Brenda has been up to all these years when her past memories, long forgotten, are brought to the fore with the arrival of Henry Cleavis.

This is another great yarn form Paul Magrs. The story is a rollercoaster and every chapter leaves you wanting more making it completely impossible to put down. Magrs is brilliant at creating new myths and legends that are very authentic. The setting of Whitby is perfect for this present day tale that is firmly rooted in the Gothic past.

Like the first book the characters are brilliant and it is difficult not to like any of the eccentric protagonists. Brenda is as ever a figure of sympathy and whilst it was great to read about her back story I did feel that that meant there was not enough Effie time. Whilst the first book was populated by a wide arrange of fantastical characters there is a much smaller cast this time around but all are fantastically quirky and original. A new introduction is Henry Cleavis a man from Brenda's long distance past who looks exactly the same as he did 40 years previously. The introduction of Henry leads to the flash backs into Brenda past and also a different and somewhat unexpected side of her. The bumbling awkward relationship between the two also leads to a great deal of humour.

I have to say that whilst I enjoyed this book it was not as good structurally as the first one. Although it retains the charm and quirkyness of "Never The Bride" the narrative is completely different. "Never The Bride" is more like a series of short stories about the weird people Brenda and Effie meet in Whitby however Something Borrowed revolves around one story - the poison pen letters that are circulating the small seaside town.

Although I preferred they structural style of "Never Mind The Bride" to "Something Borrowed" I look forward to reading the finale "Conjugal Rights"