Trouble In Paradise

The end of the Blitz-and the war-does not spell the end of trouble for Londoners....

The end of World War II in Europe spreads joy through London, but for Zelda Fluck the news isn't all good. The end to hostilities will bring her violent husband Charlie home. It also sets off a chain of events that brings more strife and destruction to the people of Paradise Gardens, Hackney - including Zelda s squabbling family and the mysterious local healer, Zinnia Makepeace - than did the Blitz.

That's not all. A new boss is making Zelda's life difficult. Zelda's nephew, Tony, is hanging around Brian Hole, a one-boy crime wave and only child of Ma Hole, leader of the local spivs.

But Tony can sing - he has, in fact, the voice of an angel - and Miss Makepeace knows a voice coach in Soho. The people Zelda meets there change her life. Bert and Maggie Featherby offer her a way out of Hackney and her failed marriage, while the local hood, Maltese Joe, decides to take on Ma Hole.

The book ends with the birth of Rosie, the child narrator of Pip Granger's Agatha Award Nominee Not All Tarts are Apple (Hc, 1-59058-033-8; Penguin pbk 0-14-200332-8) and The Widow Ginger (Hc, 1-59058-057-5; Penguin pbk 0-14-200463-4).