Set just before WWII in Blackpool, Margaret Finch has just taken up the position as a ‘researcher’ for the ‘Mass Observation’ project. She encounters the disgraced Reverend of Stiffkey who has started a campaign trying to clear his name. Margaret is determined to get to the bottom of the situation and find out whether the claims are true or not. She discovers more than she bargain for.

This is a lovely story which I read via the Pigeonhole app. I loved Margaret and thought she was a great character. She’s a bit of an odd bod but fascinating nevertheless. The plot itself is something of a slow burner. However, I found it intriguing and interesting, leading me to eagerly turn the pages. Truth is stranger than fiction, they say, and that certainly seems to be the case with this book. It’s a mix of fact and the imagination. I enjoyed the descriptions of Blackpool, they really transport you to the time and place. I haven’t been to Blackpool myself, apart from from a trip in my parents’ car at nighttime to see the illuminations, but I could still visualise it all quite easily. An engaging and captivating read, I’m going to miss Margaret et al enormously. ( )

The Misadventures of Margaret Finch. First of all, what a title! That was what drew me in initially: what has Margaret Finch been up to? Then I read the synopsis, and the setting of 1930s Blackpool and a Mass Observation project had me really intrigued.

Margaret is there to observe holidaymakers' habits and dialects, to see what they eat, which activities they choose to do and so on, and it turns out she's rather good at the stealth observations and making detailed notes for her research. Through her work she meets Harold Davidson, the defrocked Rector of Stiffkey and she finds herself drawn into his case, trying to work out whether he's really guilty or not.

Margaret is an unusual character and her time in Blackpool led to what I felt were quite unexpected situations for a well-brought up girl in 1938, but I think it was a sort of rebellion for her and a gradual understanding of the kind of life she really wanted.

Where this book excels for me is the sense of time and place, the carefree holiday destination for so many families but with the prospect of war looming over them. I loved Margaret's exchanges with her landlady, and I particularly liked her interactions with her colleague, James. Sometimes I felt quite frustrated with Margaret but then I remembered that she had lived a fairly sheltered life and had very bravely set off for a new experience and a role that was very important to her.

Some of the book is based on fact and Harold Davidson did really exist. They say the truth is stranger than fiction and his story is quite bizarre and fascinating. I thought this was quite a quirky read, which took me a little settling into whilst I got a handle on Margaret and where the story was going, but which drew me in and got me really interested in the characters and the lives they were leading. ( )