Last week I held a 1920s-themed launch party for the release of the third book in my Poppy Denby Investigates series, The Death Beat. Intrepid reporter sleuth Poppy and her friends would have felt right at home at Blackwell’s Bookshop in Newcastle, with live jazz and wine freely flowing. Although snow threatened to scupper the launch – with the band getting stuck somewhere en route – the party got off to a delayed but warm start. Former ITV journalist Mychaela Stephenson interviewed me about the latest book set in New York and then the guests were treated to a reading set in a speakeasy, where Poppy and her friends flout Prohibition. Thanks to everyone who braved the weather and helped make it such a fun evening.

Drum rolls and trumpet blasts please … The Death Beat, book three in the Poppy Denby Investigates series, is being released today, simultaneously, in the UK and the USA! Poppy and Rollo travel to New York and find out that it’s murder in Manhattan. To order your book click here.

I’ve just updated the Poppy Denby website with information on, and fabulous original photos of, the various trains, boats and automobiles Poppy and her friends use in London, Paris and New York. For readers who have already read the books, you can now see if your imagination matches up to reality. For those who haven’t, don’t worry, there are no plot spoilers as to whodunnit. Although book 3 is not quite out yet, I have included information on that too as a little taster (you can pre-order The Death Beat here). To go straight to the Transport page click here.

Next year, 2018, will be the 100 year anniversary of the Representation of the People Act, which gave women in the United Kingdom, over the age of 30, who owned property, the right to vote. It took another 10 years for all women over the age of 21, regardless of their economic status, to be able to vote; but at least the 1918 act was a start. It was the culmination of many years of struggle of brave women (and some notable men), one of whom was Millicent Fawcett. Millicent was the chairperson of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. She adhered to a strict code of non-violence (in contrast to the Pankhursts and the Women’s Suffrage and Political Union who feature in The Jazz Files). She retired in 1919 after achieving her goal and died in 1929. She is now going to be honoured by a statue in Parliament Square, London. Incredibly, it will be the first statue of a woman to be erected there; a reminder, perhaps, that the battle for the recognition of women as equal contributors to society still has a way to go. Nonetheless, Aunt Dot and her friends would be delighted to hear that Millicent is finally getting some attention. I hope to be in London next year for the unveiling.

Smith (The Jazz Files) returns to formidable and spunky Poppy Denby, arts and entertainment editor for the Daily Globe, in this inspirational whodunit set in post-WWI London. As Poppy goes from covering a Russian art exhibit to looking for a murderer and a missing Fabergé egg, she takes on charming and possibly nefarious Andrei Nogovski of the Russian embassy. With help from Rollo Rolandson, her boss; fellow reporter Ike Garfield; aunt and suffragette Dot Denby; and best friend Delilah Marconi, Poppy follows leads and discovers that people aren’t always what they seem. Interspersed with Poppy’s story are flashbacks that center on a young Russian aristocrat and the nanny who saves her from the fate of the rest of her family. The audience follows them as they cross the Russian landscape and wait to see how their story intersects with Poppy’s mystery. The complicated plot, involving a myriad of both White and Red Russians, is offset by the list of characters at the beginning, reminding readers of numerous important names and their allegiances. Smith weaves together a diverse cast, including both male and female characters in positions of power, and depicting a variety of ethnicities and abilities without resorting to stereotypes. Embark with upstanding, uplifting Poppy and her friends on a mystery involving jewel thieves, Russian royalty, murders, sword fights, car chases, and secret tunnel. Full review here.

For all Poppy Denby fans in North America, The Kill Fee, the second adventure of our intrepid female reporter sleuth, is now available in book shops on your side of the pond. Enjoy! It’s available on Amazon and high street bookshops.

Calling all Poppy Denby fans: my American publisher is giving away 15 free review copies of The Kill Fee in advance of its release in the USA at the end of November. The offer is available to readers in the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. To apply, click this link and follow the instructions. Good luck! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/201243-the-kill-fee

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.

If you’ve enjoyed getting to know Poppy Denby and her friends in The Jazz Files, you’ll be delighted to know that book 2, The Kill Fee, will be published on 16 September. There will be a launch party at Blackwell’s Bookshop, Percy Street, Newcastle, on Thursday 22 September, 6 – 7.30pm. If you are in the Newcastle area you are welcome to come to this free event. There’ll be free drinks and nibbles, live jazz and a reading from Poppy’s next adventure. For details of how to get to Blackwell’s,check out their website here

This year I shall not be wearing a feather boa as I do not want a repeat of the allergic reaction I had last year, the day before the Jazz Files launch, immortalised below by my cartoonist friend Chris Chris Bambrough.