Face the music and dance

Shrines Of Gaiety Kate Atkinson Doubleday, £20

The brilliant Kate Atkinson raises the curtain on London’s 1920s nightlife, inspired by the life of Kate Meyrick, real-life owner of an empire of nightclubs. But, in Atkinson’s fictional world, there is also a dark mystery to be solved: why are a string of young women going missing in London?

As the formidable Nellie Coker is released from HM Prison Holloway for selling alcohol without a licence, Chief Inspector Frobisher watches as she gets into one of the family’s Bentleys.

By his side is Gwendolen Kelling. A sparkling, quick-witted character who effortlessly steals the limelight from the enigmatic Nellie, Gwendolen had approached Frobisher because a friend’s half-sister, Freda, has disappeared after running away from home to fulfil a dream of dancing on a London stage.

York librarian Gwendolen lost everyone she loved in the First World War but, thanks to an unexpected inheritance, she’s now a woman of means.

So, when Frobisher asks her to help with his investigations, she rolls up her sleeves and gets stuck in. Her quest to find Freda leads her to the very heart of Nellie’s empire.

Not only does Atkinson rewind to show how the resourceful Nellie built her wealth, we also follow the adventures of Freda and her friend Florence. But, as Frobisher visits the morgue to identify young women’s bodies with grim regularity, the pair’s futures seem increasingly precarious.

While there’s an instant rapport between Gwendolen and the unhappily married Frobisher, electricity crackles between Gwendolen and Nellie’s eldest son Niven, a man as unpredictable as the novel itself. Atkinson has a tremendous gift for bringing the past to life but wearing her research lightly. With charismatic characters, witty dialogue and a compelling plot, she captures the reckless atmosphere of a city still coming to terms with the horrors of the First World War. It’s an absorbing read and a novel to savour.