All and sundry, sundry and all (at least those who live within commuting distance of Newcastle upon Tyne) are invited to celebrate the launch of the fourth Poppy Denby book, The Cairo Brief, on Saturday 20th October, 4.15pm, Jesmond Library. I do hope to see some of you there!
A lovely review of The Death Beat in the recent Historical Novel Review magazine.
As with the previous two novels, this was taut and entertaining. I also liked Poppy’s development from the earlier books. She’s always been torn between her upbringing as a Methodist minister’s daughter and her own desires as a career-minded young woman in the 1920s. Her inner conflict felt more pronounced to me in this book. Poppy has enlightened standards for how women should be treated that deviate quite a bit from her very traditional, conservative background, which at times cause her stress. This fits in well with the blossoming awareness about the conditions of immigrants and sweatshops and people forced into prostitution. While it was fun to see 1920s New York, I confess I missed London. In any case, it was an exciting, well written story and a good series addition. Recommended.
You can read the full review here.
Drum rolls and trumpet toots … ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the new Poppy Denby! The Cairo Brief, fourth in the series, will be published 21 September. If you haven’t read the first three books yet, I suggest you get started! They are great holiday reads (if I may say so myself).
Poppy Denby is on top form solving the mystery surrounding the ancient Egyptian mask of Queen Nefertiti. Highly recommended!
Dolores Gordon-Smith, author of the Jack Haldean murder mysteries
Intrepid Poppy Denby visits a country estate not unlike Downton Abbey in this caper. It’s great fun following Fiona’s crew of early 20th-century reporters as they seek scoops and solve murders on the side
Deb Richardson-Moore, author of The Cantaloupe Thief, The Cover Story and Death of a Jester
Thoroughly enjoyable mystery. Murders, sinister figures, a cursed Egyptian mask…and a seance! All the ingredients for another superlative Poppy Denby investigation.
A. J. Wright, award-winning author of the Lancashire Detective Series.
Fiona Veitch Smith, where have you been all my life? Poppy Denby is delightful, the plot rocks, and the 1920s era is perfectly evoked. British mystery fans, you want to read this. You really, really do.
Cassandra Chan, Author of the Bethancourt & Gibbons mysteries
There is lots of celebration here in Poppydenbyland as Poppy’s latest adventure, The Kill Fee, is published today in the UK. Friends of Poppy in the USA will sadly have to wait until November – or order today from the UK site!
In this adventure Poppy is hot on the trail of a jewel thief and gets caught up in a murderous plot to kill off White Russian aristocrats. Dark secrets from the Russian Revolution surface in the jazz clubs and theatres of London 1920. Can Poppy track down the culprit before more more people die?
The Kill Fee is the second book in the Poppy Denby Investigates series. Book 1, The Jazz Files, has been nominated as one of the best historical crime novels published in the UK in 2015/16 and is up for the CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger Award.
Lovereading.uk have described the book as:
‘An atmospheric, lively romp through 1920 in this wonderfully blended mix of crime fiction and historical fact […]The Kill Fee, full of the dastardly and dazzling, just roars along; it is a thoroughly captivating and entertaining read.’
Click here to get your paws on The Kill Fee.
