This week Poppy and I are zooting around the internet on a blog tour for our latest book, The Cairo Brief. Do drop by if you have some time. Yesterday on Love Books I was talking about how my characters present themselves to me in ‘creative visions’. And today I’m talking about seances on Claire Musters’ blog, as well as the murky world of antiquity theft with Shelley Fallows. All sounds a bit dodgy, doesn’t it? 😉 For links to those articles plus the rest of the tour, see the list below.

Happy publication day to Poppy on her latest adventure, The Cairo Brief. As of today it is available at all good bookshops in the UK and through online stores. It will be released in the USA in the new year. This is book 4 in the series and it already has some fabulous reviews!

If you are a book blogger and want to be part of an upcoming blog tour, drop me a line and I’ll put you int touch with Poppy’s publicist.

“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.

“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.

“Thoroughly enjoyable mystery. Murders, sinister figures, a cursed Egyptian mask… and a séance! All the ingredients for another superlative Poppy Denby investigation.”
A.J. Wright, author of the Lancashire Detective series.

Get your hands on a copy here!

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.

Gateshead folk: I’m doing a meet the author event this evening at Pelaw library at 7pm, for my Poppy Denby Books. Then at Blaydon next Friday, 2pm. Do come along if you can and tell your friends and family. Further details here.

I am delighted to announce that I have just signed a contract with W.F. Howes Publishers to produce ‘large print’ versions of all my Poppy Denby books. They will produce hard back and paperback copies and will supply libraries and bookshops worldwide (except in the USA – sorry chaps). https://www.wfhowes.co.uk/

I’ll be giving a talk at Newcastle Central Library at 6pm on Thursday 18 January on the background to The Death Beat. The book is set against the 1921 US Immigration Restriction Act, which has some disturbing parallels with today. Come along for a warm welcome and interesting discussion. The event is free, but please register your interest here. Signed books will be available to purchase.

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.

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.