The Masquerades of Spring

By: Ben Aaronovitch

Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Meet Augustus Berrycloth-Young - flaneur extraordinaire and Englishman abroad - as he chronicles the Jazz Age from his perch atop the city that never sleeps.

'Gussie' is not one to shun shut-eye himself, however. But his peaceful luxuriation is about to be rudely awakened by the arrival of an unexpected guest.

Enter his old friend Thomas Nightingale, who has braved the Atlantic passage pursuing the matter of a rather intriguing saxophone said to possess a strange power over those who play it.

This deeply inconvenient affair will rouse Gussie from his warm bed for the cold shores of Long Island - and down to the jazz clubs of Harlem where music, magic, and madness haunt the shadows...©2024 Ben Aaronovitch (P)2024 Orion Publishing Group Limited

Gussie is fresh and lovely

A whole new setting and Kobna has worked on his American accents! Was worried I’d miss Peter in a story without him but Gussie more than made up for his absence, Another treasure in the series!

Charming variation on Nightingale’s past

The best use of Kobna’s immense talent as a narrator. Took a little while to warm up to the different point of view, but the story galloped along at a great pace. Was sorry to come to the end.

Fun caper

What I love about this authors works are the mood and the atmosphere. This was fun, jazzy and elegant.

Kobna is ridiculously underrated

It’s a remarkable story but Kobna is so talented when it comes to making himself sound like so many people including women that it’s hard to believe that there is no studio full of people but just the remarkable man, by himself. I remain in awe

Great tribute to Wodehouse

Our narrator is Gussie, not Fink or any other Nottle, but still Gussie. Incognito he became, ofc, Bertram...
Other than that, there are so many other tributes to Wodehouse's Jeeves & Wooster stories.

I enjoy Aaronovitch's stories, but adding Wodehouse's style on top had me smiling and laughing quite a bit more than I normally would.