Never the Bride

The Brenda and Effie Mysteries #1

by Paul Magrs

Brenda has had a long and eventful life and she has come to Whitby to run a B&B in search of some peace and quiet. She and her best friend Effie like nothing better than going out for tea at the Walrus and the Carpenter or dinner at Cod Almighty and keeping their eyes open for any of the mysterious goings on in town. And what with satanic beauty salons, more than illegal aliens, roving psychic investigators and the frankly terrifying owner of the Christmas Hotel there are no shortage of nefarious shenanigans to keep them interested. But the oddest thing in Whitby may well be Brenda herself. With her terrible scars, her strange lack of a surname or the fact that she takes two different shoe sizes, Brenda should have known that people as, well, unique as she is, just aren't destined for a quiet life.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Humor, Urban Fantasy, Horror, Audiobook

280 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2006

Reviews

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brenda has decided that after her long long life it's time for some peace and quiet in the small northern seaside town of Witby, famed for Dracula's ship, the Demeter, crashing into its harbor. While the town does have many B and B's, Brenda sets out to make hers the friendliest and cleanliest for a few select guests. Settling down has always been the last thing on her mind in a life of tumult and late night escapes, but she has a nice routine and a best friend, Effie, her neighbor next door who runs a junk shop filled with centuries of family ephemera. Days are spent cleaning and making her home nice, going out for tea and dinners with Effie, and quietly getting on with life, something the bride of Frankenstein never thought possible. Yet Brenda realizes it is too good to last when during one of her and Effie's outings, their regular waitress at The Christmas Hotel, Jessie, is literally 20 years younger. She has gone to a new boutique in town and the years have just been taken away. Brenda's years of being surrounded by the strange and peculiar means she knows that this "Deadly Boutique" has to be up to something, and her feisty new friend Effie is all for investigating. The boutique though is only one of many strange occurrences. Aliens, vampires, every manner of supernatural goings on start to happen, and they all seem to have one thing in common, Brenda.

For quite awhile now I've had two books by Paul Magrs on my "to_get" shelf on goodreads (I've also oddly had one of them on the shelf nearest my computer tower that I just recently rediscovered). Never the Bride and 666 Charing Cross Road intrigued me, yet not being in print here I was at the whims of someone selling a copy to a used bookstore or biting the bullet and paying the shipping charges from overseas. I met Paul this past fall at TeslaCon and realized that these books needed to be bumped up the list. Paul is an engaging reader. Sometimes authors get up to read their work and it falls flat. You aren't drawn into the world. I was instantly drawn into the world of Brenda and Effie as the characters took him over. During the weekend I got to know Paul a little, attending his readings and Q and A's, hanging out at the hotel's bar. 

We're now facebook friends and he put me in touch with his publicist to wrangle me a few of his books for my blog here, yeah. I was instantly over the moon and filled with dread. Here is someone I had met who I genuinely liked but had yet to read his work. What if it was awful? What if he asked me how I liked it? What if I had to break it to him that I hated a book with characters so dear to his heart? It's a constant fear of reviewers, or at least a fear of this reviewer. What if you get too close to your subject? What if you form some alliance or tentative friendship that can't withstand the truth? Because I will always tell the truth. I can't lie. As an artist I have learned to take harsh criticism, and it has made me better at what I do, so therefore I'm not trying to be mean, I'm trying to make you better. Sadly it's easier to write about a bad book than a good one, but when it's someone you like and admire, you feel bad that you didn't like it. I've even once or twice hesitated to even publish my review because the book was so bad and the author someone I so admired, yet I still published my review for all to read. Because in the end, the truth will out. As you've probably surmised because this book is on my top ten reads for 2011 that all my fears where unjustified in this case. Whew.

The book combines so many of my favorite things into one book it's instantly a series I must now devour. Never the Bride is set up like an old fashioned chap book, with each chapter dealing with a different crisis that has arisen. Just like the different guests that stay at Brenda's B and B, each chapter is a cozy little mystery that while solved by chapters end, adds a little more to the books overall story arc. I like cozy little mysteries. There's something comforting about them, but then, sometimes they are formulaic. I think by adding in a few vampires, aliens and characters from Gothic literature, that Paul has smashed the formulae and made something new. It's like Mapp and Lucia for the supernatural set. Buffy for retirees. Being Human, but just a little more mature. In fact I can totally see this as a series with Geraldine James as Brenda and perhaps Annette Crosbie as Effie.

At different points in the book I was sad that the chapter was ending, because, the characters being guests, would leave, and leave me a little sad. The family of aliens that Brenda harbors where so sweet and so well developed they didn't devolve into the horror of cliche, Simon Pegg's atrocious Paul anyone? Because I'm sure the first time I said this book had aliens, you kind of cringed a little, as I myself did. Aliens and Neanderthals (Australopithecus to be exact) don't usually seamlessly fit into fantastical fiction, I'm sure the Neanderthal episode of Buffy wasn't your favorite, aside from adding "Beer foamy" to you quotes; and you sometimes end up with the mess that Jasper Fforde has gotten himself into with his Thursday Next books where you just don't care anymore. But here each character is created with such loving detail that no matter how much you think this might be too much or too far, it isn't. It's just perfect. I instantly felt that these fictional characters where in fact my friends and can't wait to visit them again and again. If only I could stay at Brenda's B and B sometime... and not just in my dreams.

[Mike Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange, quirky but engaging book that I mentally retitled as 'Strange Tales From Whitby, Told By An Even Stranger Person'.

The story is told by Brenda who owns and runs a small B&B in Whitby. The book opens with Brenda introducing herself:

"I love it here.

It's the only place I could have settled down. I've never found a town like it, never in my long. long life

My name is Brenda. Hello!

Since the beginning of summer I have lived here, deliciously inconspicuous: just one more Bed and Breakfast lady in a resort that teems with Bed and Breakfasts Here, the streets are narrow and intricate; the rooftops are ramshackle and the wind is biting. The seagulls are as big as Yorkshire terriers and, for a good nine months of the year, this town is steeped in a thick sea mist... and that's probably a good thing.

There are things here you don't necessarily want to see.

Keep your head down, Brenda. That's what I tell myself. Fry those sausages and eggs and bacon. Make those beds. Be welcoming. Be at home."

Any horror fan reading this is going to wonder if Brenda was drawn to Whitby because it's a picturesque port on the Yorkshire coast, or because it was the port where Dracula's ship the Demeter ran aground with not a soul aboard except the near-dead captain lashed to the wheel.

To me, 'Never The Bride' read like a TV series of the strange and weird kind, aimed at gathering a cult following amongst those who are amused by the benignly bizarre and who enjoy uncovering genre references. Each chapter is a complete 'episode' in which Brenda and her friend and neighbour, Effie get involved with Whitby's strangest visitors and residents, solving a mystery while moving the overall story arc forward. As the two of them discover the true price of visiting The Deadly Boutique for a makeover, or the downside of working as an elf at the Christmas Hotel, or the secrets the family staying at Brenda's B&B is trying to hide or what a ghost-hunting reality TV crew will find in Effie's antique shop, we gradually discover who Brenda really is and the legacy Effie has inherited from the generations of women who lived in Whitby before her.

The adventures are mild and amusing with some moments of tension. A bit how Dr Who was before the Doctor became The Oncoming Storm and The Destroyer Of Worlds. I liked Brenda. Effie can be a bit of a pain but somehow that made her friendship with Brenda more convincing.

By the end of the book, Brenda's origin story and Effie's legacy have been revealed and the two of them are established as the go-to team for dealing with anything weird in Whitby and we have reason to believe that there will be a lot of weird in Whitby.

Never The Bride' made me smile. It was original and well-told, if slightly chaotic. I'm sure I'll be back for me but this is the kind of series that I can't read back to back without it losing its edge - like eating a whole box of chocolates in one sitting.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review from Badelynge
My previous encounters with Paul Magrs have been limited to his Doctor Who fiction, none of which quite tickled my Doctor Who sensibilities, being for the most part too strange and off centre. He did create a great character though in Iris Wildthyme, who would go on to be so ably voiced by Katy Manning in the audio stories made by Big Finish. I would have been reluctant to try any more of his work if I hadn't been tempted by the promise of a book set in Whitby that was endorsed by Susan Hill, being respectively a favourite holiday destination of mine and a thoroughly respected author by me. Never the Bride follows the episodic adventures of Whitby B&B landlady Brenda and her friend Effie as they encounter a series of mysterious strange events whilst attempting to hide their own considerable strangeness from the world.
This was a lot better than most of his Doctor Who work. It's quite light, still somewhat surreal and a nice place for Magrs to pour his Gothic fancies inspired by the writings of Shelley, Wells, Stoker etc not to mention their filmic incarnations à la Universal & Hammer. It's the bizarre mix of the strange and prosaic which gives the book something different. I'm still not sold on Magrs prose but he does have lots of good ideas and they seem a lot more at home in this setting. I think it just passes the mark enough for me to think about trying the next book in the series.

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was an okay read but it didn't live up to what I was expecting I'm afraid (especially as far as the characters are concerned). I think what bothered me most is that there is a series of different mysteries within the book and each feels like a short story. It seems that the author wrote several "adventures" for his characters but failed to come up with the connecting thread which would have made the story a whole. The different parts of this story might make some sense when you read the rest of the series but I'm afraid I don't even feel like giving it a try...

[Hayley Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted a book set in Whitby as I was visiting. I thought this would be a bit of was fun. I listened to the audiobook with Joanna Tope narrating. She did a wonderful job. It's lots of little stories woven into a novel. Perfect for listening to one chapter a night. I liked Brenda the main character, interesting twist on a well known character. There is just enough mystery for you to want to go into the second book. If you want a light read with a little giggle here and there with a punch of the spooky, this is a great series. I'm happily going straight into the next book.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m very conflicted about this book, I enjoyed the story but I also really didn’t like it? Like It was a pleasant enough read but also really disjointed and weird.

It’s about the bride of Frankenstein who owns a B & B, all she wants is a quiet life but with illegal aliens, a deadly boutique that makes you look 10 years younger, a sinister Christmas hotel, witches, vampires and plenty of supernatural goings on it was never going to happen, it sounded good but the execution didn’t thrill me.

I was expecting a quirky read based on the subject matter but I found that it was too weird, I got sick of it very quickly and actually enjoyed the more normal moments in the story, like Brenda and Effie going out for tea, walking along the promenade or chatting to the checkout girl, they were like little breaths of fresh air in a sea of weirdness.

The book felt really disjointed, it consists of 5 chapters that make the book seem more like a series of short stories. The first chapter deals with the deadly boutique which is soon destroyed by Brenda. The next chapter jumps to her alien guests with no more mention of the deadly boutique. The story starts to join together by chapter three when the psychic investigators come, but it still didn’t feel like it flowed.

I still found myself wanting to know what happened next so i should give the book credit for that but everything that did happen was either annoying, cliche or too weird, by the end, when the tiny nun in the suitcase was introduced, i had had enough. I won’t be continuing this series.

A quirky book that was just too quirky for me.

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This had kept me going most of the day and most of my night shift. It is a great read! All my favourite things in one book, a Frankinstein monster - Brenda, a Landlady of a B&B in one of my fave seaside resorts - Whitby on the Yorkshire coast, a Vampire, a runaway family of alien/human mutants, a Deadly beauty salon, Christmas Hotel complete with Mrs Claus and Elves and Effie, junk shop owner and decendant from a long line of witches, friend and neighbour of Brenda. Can't wait to read the next one in the series.

[Jonathan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Liked the idea more that the execution. This isn't a bad book, but the heroine didn't do anything for me.

[anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay this book put me in a reading slump so that’s annoying. I liked the episodic feel of the chapters but that also meant some chapters were way better than others in their creativity and interesting plot. Most of the book was boring and truly I was only interested in the Deadly Boutique which was destroyed in the first 100 pages. Plus, for a “gothic” book (according to the cover) this book never feels gothic. It feels campy and corny and a disservice to the iconic gothic characters it is using (The Bride of Frankenstein and Dracula). Idk. Not good and slow but I thought it’d get better/more interesting so I didn’t dnf. Probably should’ve.

[Nick Mccavitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of either Paul Margs or his book Never the Bride before, which deeply shocked the woman who I was speaking to at the time. She got me a copy and, a week or so later, it was in my hands and I began to read. The reason for the depth of her shock became clear once I started reading; I found it one of the most fun and, I must admit, one of the most unusual novels, largely because of the book's unique twist. The title provides a hint to the identity of the character, so I don't think I am dropping too many spoilers here, but the twist came in the form of the protagonist trying energetically to escape her previous destiny-one she had been dubbed unworthy of accomplishing by her creator- and to lead as quiet and peaceful a life as she could.

This is quite an unusual turn from the mental images of so-called “monsters” I had when growing up, who were usual depicted as unnatural things (organic or otherwise) who had a serious bone to pick with the human race, and would spend all their time and energy throughout the course of the book trying to satiate their continued and often confusing need for revenge until bested by the hero.

And there was much rejoicing.

Brenda, the central character of the book, is of a different stripe. She doesn't dwell in a remote mountain pass, or under a bridge, or anywhere that someone such as hers would normally be expected to dwell. Instead, after many decades of moving from place to place, she settles in a small English seaside town and sets about the business of being utterly, completely, and thoroughly normal. She runs a B&B; she has a best friend named Effie and they play Bingo and go out for fish and chips together. Brenda has the life she has always wanted, and everything is going fine.

But then, as it so often does to all of us, the unusual finally catches up with Brenda. A beauty salon opens in town, claiming to be able to restore one's youth and beauty, but at the potential risk of turning them into a wretched monkey/human hybrid. A family of escapee extraterrestials who just happen to live on Earth book rooms at her establishment, and are followed by a mysterious pursuer, and Brenda and Effie are also hit full in the face by the unsettling development at the Christmas Hotel, reported to them by an undercover elf.

It is not that these escapades are entertaining, as they are, but what really hooked me onto them is how much the book has to say. It talks about how your past, one way or another, always tends to catch up with you. It talks about how easily one's life can be turned upside down, no matter how carefully arranged, and how when it does it is important to know who you can count on and who your friends are. It says, in essence, that no matter what we look like or where we come from, there are things that makes us all the same.

I highly recommend this book; it has humor, drama, adventure, intense amounts of oddity, and many an important life lesson to impart. How could you go wrong?

[OldBird]

I'm always loathe to DNF, but after the first "episode" I felt like I just couldn't go on. I like the idea of paranormal goings on investigated by two older ladies in a less than sunny seaside town. Brenda the unusual "bride" setting up as a B&B owner with an obsessive-compulsive cleaning streak? Her best friend the snooty antiques/junk shop owner who likes to stick her nose into other people's business? Sounds like a good team on paper. Except... It's hard to say quite what felt off about it to me. Maybe the tone that didn't quite sit right, wavering between serious, creepy, and what was maybe an attempt at light-heartedness. If it is meant to contain humour, it's of the faintly queasy variety (after starting to read this I noted someone mentioned this in the same breath as The League of Gentlemen; not my cuppa at all).

The character's friendship seemed so odd, the dialogue contrived. I couldn't relate to the characters (I know they're supposed to be ladies of a certain age, but they just... didn't seem it?), and I didn't feel their relationships. I felt like I was reading a slow episode of Doctor Who that was padded out with Brenda's inner monologue. A lot of telling, not quite so much of the showing that I guess I prefer in stories. Maybe it'd work more as a screenplay where an actor imbues the words with emotion, as I just wasn't getting it from the text alone.

Not one for me I guess.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never the Bride is a slice of whimsy that easily charms and asks for little but to be read and enjoyed.

While it plays with gothic tropes the novels own sense of the comic and absurd keeps it lighthearted. The structure of the narrative can make it feel like a collection of short stories masquerading as a novel but this issue is solved by the narrative by the end.

The reward of this novel is a gentle poetic and leisurely romp around with a likable and thoughtful protagonist amongst the banal and absurd in her life


Brenda our protagonist is a women in her golden years and the friendly proprietress of an attractive yet homely B&B in Whitby, a quintessential English seaside town. She is also incidentally the Bride of Frankenstein, though this seems to be less incidental the more her life unfolds for us.
She and her neighbor (a friendship that again seems less incidental as the novel progresses) seem to have little trouble finding nefarious goings on in their seemingly quiet seaside town in a charming 'PG sexagenarian gone wild' way

[Irishbookmammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had this book on my bookshelves for a couple of years now and just because of the title hadn't read it. I am a lover of science fiction, paranormal and just strange books. This seemed from the title alone a sort of romance novel which is not my cup of tea.

Hoe wrong I was, I picked up the book a few weeks ago and thought I will give this ago having not read the back cover. It is an awesome book. Could not put it down, it is very hard to describe without giving too much away but it is the untold story of a very famous paranormal bride, set in the beautiful and creepy town of Whitby, where Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. I hope that says it all but highly recommend as it is a great read and an easy read. Very comical and has so many great elements of the paranormal. I am now not judging a book by its cover :)

[Jam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern comic gothic, as much as anything else. Set in Whitby and kind of like... Okay, if you've read Last Tango in Aberystwyth, what that is for noir, this is for gothic, except generally milder. Not as twisted, but that kind of thing.

It felt more like it should have been a series and a longer one at that, so I won't be surprised to see a few more. Pretty easy to put down and pick up. Although it's not a perfect book, there are some nice little touches -I'm particularly fond of the aliens- and I'll most likely pick up any sequels.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally got around to reading one of these after having been curious about them for years. I'm a big fan of Magrs' Doctor Who work so I wanted to give some of his original material a go. I wasn't sure what to expect but I loved it.

I think I can best describe this series as b-movie/hammer horror meets the village cozy and its two tastes you wouldn't expect to go well together but the final product is delicious.

It's an interesting format, each chapter being focused on a single adventure which overlap with another. I'll be looking forward to reading the next one when I get to it.

[Vivienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

What great fun this book was. I adored Brenda and her adventures in Whitby. It was not at all what I had expected - I thought it might be a satire about Goth culture but it wasn't. A literary black comedy that continually entertained.

Looking forward to reading the sequel.

[Maggie White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent romp. Loved the characters of Brenda and Effie, a B&B landlady and junk shop owner respectfully. They meet some very weird and wonderful people during their adventures in the seaside town of Whitby. One of the biggest mysteries is what they are doing there themselves.

[C.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

And another one goes on the "frustrating" pile for the year. In spite of the rating, I've actually enjoyed this book. I've enjoyed it a whole damned lot.

The audiobook, especially, is an absolute gem and a treat for anyone that likes any amount of British humor delivered with that wonderful British accent and cadence. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

What's in here?

Well, the Bride of Frankenstein teams up with an old witch and gallivant around their town solving mysteries, thwarting evil plots, and meeting mythological creatures with a twist. It's all very tongue in cheek, rarely takes itself too seriously, and has a wonderful sense of self-identity... for the most part.

But the whole book is a bloody old mess that never manages to do much with its own base concept. Characters tend to be erratic at times and deliver some of the most godawful conclusions to their character arcs. The story arcs feel particularly proud of themselves and can't seem to stop winking at the reader every other sentence. Yes, yes, I get it Mr. Author, sir, you're doing something very subversive with your rendition of Dracula and you're dancing around the issue as if everyone is a bloody moron - especially your main character. Yes, yes, very clever.

Are you have a stroke, though?

I would've loved for this to establish itself a lot firmer in the first book. It's so frustrating to see so many great ideas brought down by humdrum execution and fizzing plotlines. There's a prophecy in there, somewhere, at some point, that for this book leads absolutely nowhere interesting or creative.

As I said above, the whole book is great while it doesn't take itself too seriously. But every now and again Brenda, our main heroine, slips into these melancholy-filled episodes that not only fail to ring true, but sometimes end up contradicting one another. For her being the main character of this, she's hardly ever crucial to the plot in any way or form, most often playing second fiddle to Effie and contributing next to nothing to the proceedings.

It's such a mess!

Oh, yeah, and in one of the short stories - because we can't really talk of chapters here but, rather, short, almost self-contained stories - the first person point of view is completely broken by the narration slipping into a third person point of view of a character that, ultimately, plays a rather small role in the whole shenanigans. This never happens again for the entire book...

Another frustrating read for the year... but for this one I'm actually willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and read one more of the series in the hope that it delivers on its potential.

[David Proffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's begin with an admission: I began this series by reading books 2 and 3. That was not a deliberate decision, just an accident. So here I am, back at the beginning to see how it all began, before going any further.

In Never The Bride, Paul Magrs introduces us to a weird and wonderful set of characters, all of whom call Whitby their home. Nestled on the North Yorkshire coast, this small fishing town has become synonymous with gothic horror, thanks to Bram Stoker's classic novel, Dracula. 

And it is fair to say that the town is as much a part of the story as the people who inhabit it. 

Reading these books out of order meant that I was already aware of Brenda and Effie's backgrounds and the path they were on, but for anyone who is setting out on this journey for the first time, Never The Bride is a wonderful example of what is to come.

Paul Magrs has taken all the classic elements of the 19th-century gothic horror, sprinkling them with twenty-first-century humour and insight. I love the relationship between Brenda and Effie. They may be best friends but they do not always see eye-to-eye and the friction between them provides much of the book's dry wit. In this, their first outing, they face not one but four mysteries: the truth behind the Deadly Boutique, the mysterious Green family, the strange manifestation at Effie's junk shop, the strange goings-on at the Christmas Hotel, and Effie's mysterious new bau. And to top it all, what is the Bitche's Maw, and what has it got to do with Brenda and Effie?

Never The Bride is fun and an easy read. It has all the elements of a gothic horror without the tension and anticipation of doom. There are monsters, mysteries and mayhem, but all are delivered in a light-hearted way. Great entertainment from a talented writer. What I would say is that the following books are less fragmented with more involved storylines.

[Marcus Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An imaginative tour de force, where do you begin to describe a book like this? It exists in its own world and by its own rules and as a reader you just have to go along with it all or get off the train.

Brenda is the heroine of the story, she is actually the Bride of Frankenstein and is running a Bed and Breakfast in the English seaside town of Whitby. Whitby is famous for many things, including its fish and chips, the ruins of its abbey, and for Bram Stoker using it as the setting of Dracula (the count makes an appearance here as a seemingly reformed character now working for the British secret service). It also plays host to the world’s biggest Goth festival, so it is a marvellous setting for a work of fiction such as this. Magrs allows his imagination to run riot, we are treated to deadly beauty salons where customers have their remaining life energy drained out of them regressing them to ape like creatures, a family of on the run extra terrestrials from Norfolk, and psychic investigators. Then there is Brenda’s best friend Effie, who has lived her entire life in Whitby, and with her extensive collection of books holds the clues to the secret lurking behind the surface of the town.

Well written, fast paced and full of wildly funny black comedy, this is a really rewarding book for anybody willing to go along with it’s absurdity. It will also make you want to visit Whitby too.

[Fleme Varkey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure what to make of this book currently. I found there are five more parts to it. Maybe, further reading could redeem this book for me. It starts off being mysterious, in parts ends up dragging leaving the reader confused as to where the author wants to take us. The part - Frankenstein flavor does little to keep the interest going. Too many loose ends and dropped episodes. For me the saving grace was the illustrated book cover.
It has been a long time since I read Gothic fiction but seems like Paul Magrs has a whole party going, the Bride of Frankenstein, Martians, A deadly machine of youth, witches, vampires, possession, devil's maw, hell opening, oof..you name it and there is something for you to find. Oh! and lest I forget, a villainess in a suitcase - she makes her appearance right at the end. There is talk of right and wrong, devils and humans. The only thing, it only confuses the reader looking for a direction or a hook to hang on to. For now, a feeble hook we hang on to is Brenda and her adventures in the town of Whitby. I am willing to give the author another chance and probably then once and for all decide of this kind of book is right for me or not.

[Patricia Saffell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This goes in the Four For Fun category. I found it by chance on a charity used book stall for 50p after I had finally actually read Dracula and its setting in Whitby, the Yorkshire seaside town notorious as the dramatic entry of Stoker's evil Count to England and in modern times the Goth capital with its own yearly festival, enticed me to give it a go.It's an easy and quick read ,perfect when you just want to relax into a good story.However it does address through it's flawed but loveable heroine Brenda some questions about being "different "(Brenda is "unique " for reasons made clear as the narrative progresses) and the desire for social inclusion. Brenda is independent, capable but her only desire is to keep a low profile,to live like everyone else almost to the point of invisibility, and to alleviate her loneliness by having an actual friend Effie.There are touching moments when you learn snippets of her past and her inner struggles.But inner peace and anonymity elude Brenda as black comic strange things consistently interrupt her life.....A book to simply enjoy.

[Gav · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one book that after I read the blurb and just had to read.

Never the Bride is set in Whitby, which is also a setting in the original vampire novel Dracula, so it’s no stranger to scenes of weirdness and Paul Magrs has made it very strange indeed. B&B landlady Brenda and her best friend Effie like mysteries. And with age reversing beauty salons, more than perfect guests, psychic investigators and games of bingo at the Christmas Hotel there is more than enough to go round.

It’s a gentle humour filled adventure that’s split into seemingly unconnected episodic chapters. Each slowly reveals more about Brenda and shows that Effie is more than a pensioner who has taken a judo class last summer.

Magrs draws on old myth and monster tales and adds a big dollop of unique twist. The strange characters he’s created seem at home and normal in the company each of them keeps. He also makes it seem that this tale could be happening in Whitby right now.

They are a quirky couple, in a quirky place, in a wonderfully entertaining tale that’s only just begun. Even though we meet a few strange characters this time there are other residents of Whitby who maybe more than they seem.

Paul Magrs has set himself up for a series with a lot of potential. I can’t wait to see what trouble Brenda and Effie get into next and how they manage to get out of it.

[Alexis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Durante la mia prima visita a Whitby, per sbaglio comprai il quarto volume di questa serie, Hell's Belles, e dato che non mi piace leggere le serie non in ordine, ho deciso di cercare il primo volume (difficilissimo trovarlo, nemmeno a Whitby lo avevano!!). L'ho trovato usato online, dopo varie peripezie.
Piuttosto breve, si compone di racconti, collegati tra loro ma neanche troppo.
Non mi ritengo soddisfatta nemmeno di come viene descritta Whitby (eh si, è ambientato proprio lì!), solo sommariamente, senza dare l'idea di come sia la cittadina che io amo particolarmente.
Le due amiche protagoniste non mi sono risultate simpatiche: molto spesso non si sopportano e si trattano male, Brenda è un'ingenua a credere che nessuno si sia accorto di che sia lei in realtà. I misteri che affrontano sono noiosetti e finiscono quasi in un nulla di fatto.
A questo punto leggerò il quarto perchè lo possiedo già, ma non recupererò gli altri della serie.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friends Maddy and Bob recommended this book to me, knowing I would be completely smitten by the end of the first page. They know me so well. It’s delightful. Just the right mix of humour, intrigue and a twist on the classics. It’s set in Whitby, a favourite place of mine, which adds something extra. I am with Brenda and Effie as they go about their adventures, and have struggled to put this book down. Thankfully I got the second book in the series of seven, so have opened that and am about to order the next one. Brilliant.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brenda, who owns a B&B, and Effie (junk store) eat out, take care of guests, and oh, yeah - must protect the town from possible minions from hell.

You've probably figured out who Brenda is from the blurb but I won't ruin it by giving it away. I enjoyed this book but it took me a long time to read it mostly because its chapters felt like interlocking short stories rather than a continuous novel. I adored Brenda and was occasionally annoyed by Effie. I was almost interested enough to continue the series but the 'short story' feel made me decide not to.

[Martin Watts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Defending Whitby from the weird

Brenda is a seaside landlady with a past. A lot of past. With her friend Effie she defends Whitby from threats such as Mr Danby whose beauty treatments can take years off his female clients. Or Mrs Claus, proprietor of the Christmas Hotel. As a tall dark stranger romances Effie we learn more of Brenda's history and the mysterious gateway to help above the town.

I look forward to reading more of this series.

[Musebeliever · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never knew cosy horror was a thing, but this worked for me! Even if this first book seems like a general introduction for what is to come, the writing and dialogues are delightful and got me cackling. I am a bit sad that many plots are to be resolved later though. This is very light reading and it made my knitting session delightful. I would definitely buy more of the series on sale. The narrator is delightful, too!

[Taylor Agutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.75] That was really enjoyable. I liked how each chapter was like a new story, but i do wish they mentioned previous chapters in new ones a little more. I felt as though when one mystery had ended, they almost forgot about it after the first 2 pages. I did like that Brenda was Frankensteins Monsters ‘Wife’, and that we had Dracula, just well known horror/gothic characters. I don’t know if i’ll carry on the series, but i did have fun reading this book.

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas, but not as well executed as I was hoping. It’s always a bad sign in science fiction (which should glory in the exciting and unexpected) when you can predict exactly what is going to happen not only next, but two or three steps in advance.