This Charming Man (volume 2) by C.K.McDonnell (book review).
This is the second volume in a series that began with ‘The Stranger Times’. Based in Manchester, the newspaper of that name is a fictional version of The Fortean Times, which, since its inception, has continued the work of Charles Fort. He collected inexplicable phenomena. This is what The Stranger Times does. It is staffed by a disparate and desperate set of characters. The editor is Vincent Banecroft, who used to be a Fleet Street hotshot but, since the death of his wife, has descended into a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, cantankerous, and unwashed ogre. The deputy editor, Hannah Willis, is divorcing her wealthy husband after he’d cheated on her once too often.
Ox Chen and Reggie Fairfax are the reporters given the task of checking up on stories to see if they have any merit. Stella is an apprentice taken on after Banecroft caught her climbing in through a window of the ex-church that houses the newspaper offices. Holding the team together is office manager Grace, probably the sanest person in the building. The offices have now acquired a ghost. Simon Brush wanted to join the staff and now haunts the building. The press is looked after by Manny, who, as they discovered in volume one, has an angelic spirit co-habiting in his body.
By the end of ‘The Stranger Times (volume 1)’, the team discovered that some of the things they print have a basis in fact. Behind much of the power in the world are the Founders. They were human but discovered a way to make themselves immortal, but to keep themselves in this state, they have to top up their longevity by absorbing the essence of the Folk beings that can best be described as fey, and Stella has a large amount of that power. Because of it, she is now hunted, so Banecroft confines her to the church building, not letting her go out unless she is accompanied. As one problem with this is that there is no proper bathroom, Hannah persuades Banecroft to have one fitted, but he discovers that the workmen have constructed a trapdoor in the shower with the intent to kidnap Stella.
One strand of this novel is the hunt for the person or persons who paid them to construct it. Then there are the vampires. Vampires do not exist! Yet there are several murders and a suicide that appear to point to vampiric activity. Since this is the kind of phenomenon the newspaper reports on, it has to be investigated. That starts at the cinema, which has a regular vampire night and leads to them meeting other odd characters, most of whom seem harmless.
A new source of information is Cogs. He lives on a barge moored in the center of the canal and, as a result of a disagreement with a water goddess, cannot set foot on dry land. As part of his punishment, he can only speak the truth, so is a good source of information for a price, usually whiskey. He shares his barge with a talking dog, Zeke, who claims to be a man trapped in a dog’s body.
As with the previous novel, this throws up more about the world these characters inhabit. Within all the seriousness of the situations they find themselves in, there is room for humour. It is refreshing to have Manchester as a setting instead of the usual suspects. It is easy to get hooked on this series. Read one, and you will rapidly want another.
Pauline Morgan
February 2024
(pub: Penguin, 2023. 500 page paperback. Price: £ 9.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-0-5521-735-1)
check out website: www.penguin.co.uk/books/441488/this-charming-man-by-mcdonnell-c-k/9780552177351