Harlem After Midnight

In 1936, jazz singer Lena Aldridge crosses the Atlantic on the Queen Mary to pursue a job offer in New York. Lena also hopes to discover why her recently deceased father, pianist Alfie Aldridge, left New York to settle in England. Aboard the ship, Lena meets band leader Will Goodman, who helps her when she arrives to discover that her promised job has fallen through. Will introduces Lena to his close friends, Claudette and Louis Linfield, who give her a place to stay. She considers settling in New York until an unnamed woman falls from a third-floor window and is found clutching Lena’s passport. The mystery of what happened and why upends Lena’s life, causing her to reevaluate her newfound friendships and reignite her inquiries into her family’s past. Hare’s second “Canary Club” novel (following Miss Aldridge Regrets), narrated by Leonie Elliott, interweaves the complex story of Will’s family and 1930s Harlem society with Lena’s own family mystery. Elliott provides an immersive audio experience, supplying convincing accents for both British and American characters.