The Handover by David M. Barnett

Daisy does nights and Nate does days, which causes no end of hilarity at the Manchester Museum of Social History. ‘It should be Daisy on days and Nate on nights,’ Marion on the reception says to her at least once a month, as though Daisy hasn’t yet got the joke.

Daisy is the night security guard at the Manchester Museum of Social History. She takes her job very seriously, protecting the museum from troublemakers and anyone who openly mocks the fact they have a dinosaur on display.

Nate works the day shift, though he’d be more suited as a museum guide the way he chats with the visitors. Daisy doesn’t approve: every one of them is a potential threat and befriending them could impair his judgement.

Daisy and Nate don’t have much to do with each other except for the five minutes when they’re shifts overlap at handover. He passes the torch over to her – like a baton – always with a smirk on his face, and she asks him for a full report of the day, which he gives reluctantly. It’s the only interaction they have… until strange things begin to happen at the museum.

Daisy notices priceless objects are going missing but then reappearing, with no explanation (and nothing showing on the CCTV, which is why she doesn’t trust technology). No one believes her except Nate, and he agrees to help her solve the mystery.

They soon discover they have a lot more in common than they realised… and their investigations uncover more than just the truth. Could they have feelings for one another?

My Thoughts

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Daisy and Nate both work in a Manchester Museum, however with Nate working the day shift and Daisy taking over just before closing, they don’t really have much to do with one another as they are always crossing paths. They are unalike in so many ways, with Daisy being one to follow the rules and never stray away from them, and Nate who has no qualms about bending the rules to talk to the visitors and even playfully names the dinosaur Barry.

Daisy finds all of this exasperating, especially when Nate never provides her with a written report at the end of his shift. When an item goes missing Daisy quickly reports it to her superiors, but they don’t seem as concerned as she had expected – especially when the item reappears a few days later. This is what brings Daisy and Nate together, as he agrees to help her look into the mysterious moving items, with some encouragement from his teenage son.

As the unlikely pair spend more time in one another’s company they begin to realise that they have more in common than they initially thought, and as their friendship grows they both have to finally face their inner demons in order to be able to move forward with their life and fully open up to one another.

Daisy and Nate are two very different characters, but both of them are endearing in their own ways. Despite how different this duo are, as the story progresses you learn that they share a lot of the same morals and traits in life, it is simply the lives they have lived that has shaped them into the people they are today. Both of them have their own deep past stories to share, and as they start to lower their guards down we really get to discover who they truly are.

The storyline itself is wonderful and totally unique, from the place in which the story is set within the walls of the museum, to the way in which the central characters are drawn together. The story is full of humour, intrigue and love – and not just in the romantic sense either, it perfectly highlights the benefits of friendship and letting people in to your life. This is such a beautiful story that captivated me entirely from beginning to end.

About the Author

*Thank you to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours, Orion Books and David M. Barnett for providing me with a gifted copy of this book in return for my honest review. All thoughts are entirely my own and not influenced in any way.*