'Poppy Denby's back doing what she does best, and this time in
Newcastle! Cleverly plotted as always, with an exceptional eye for
detail and a fabulous amateur sleuth, Veitch Smith carries us back once
more to the Golden Age for this delicious murder mystery.' Jacky Collins
(Dr Noir)
It's 1924 and Poppy Denby is heading up to Northumberland to celebrate
her father's sixtieth birthday. She stops off in Newcastle en route to
visit her Aunt Dot, who has temporarily relocated from London to
renovate a house she's inherited.
One of Aunt Dot's guests is the world-renowned artist, Agnes Robson, who
is staging an exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery. Reluctantly, Poppy is
roped in to help when the artist's press liaison man falls ill.
She soon discovers that the local press has dug up some dirt on Agnes
relating to the tragic death of a young art teacher in Ashington
Colliery, twenty-seven years earlier. As she tries to suppress the
story, Poppy begins to suspect that the teacher might have been murdered
and that the killer may still be on the loose...
'Poppy Denby s latest investigation combines an intriguing cold case
mystery with a murder puzzle set in Newcastle in 1924. Complete with map
and cast of characters, this is great fun for fans of mysteries set
during detection s Golden Age.' Martin Edwards, author of Mortmain
Hall, Gallows Court, and The Golden Age of Murder
'This latest in the Poppy Denby series continues Fiona Veitch Smith s
compelling grip over historical story and murder mystery. She throws a
spell as she brings together her cast of characters that instills in the
reader empathy with them and forms a vivid sense of place (in this case
north-east England) and period. Smith s choice of a 1920s setting is
inspired, with its deep social and cultural changes which are so vividly
captured you could wonder if the author had time-travelled.' Colin
Duriez, author of Dorothy L. Sayers: A Biography
