“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 … 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…
more
I found The Art Fiasco and Poppy Denby to be very interesting. I have not read the previous books in the series but was still able to enjoy the mystery! The death of a renown artist during a gallery showing provides the reader with a number of intriguing suspects and motives. Poppy and the other characters are well done. I highly recommend it and will be checking out the other Poppy Denby books. Thank you to #NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of #TheArtFiasco.
I requested a copy of The Art Fiasco for review because the cover struck me. Also, I’m a longtime fan of 1920s and 1930s murder mysteries from the likes of Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer, as well as their more modern counterparts like The Drew Farthering Mysteries by Julianna Deering. When I opened the book, I found it is actually the fifth book in the Poppy Denby Investigates series.
The Jazz Files opens in 1920, and we are introduced to Poppy Denby, the daughter of a northern clergyman. She moves to London to live and work with her paraplegic aunt, or so she thinks. Instead, she gets a job at the Daily Globe newspaper, where she gets involved in a murder investigation …
The Jazz Files and the subsequent novels all follow Poppy as she gets involved in yet another murder investigation. What makes Poppy different from sleuths such as Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple or Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey is that Fiona Veitch Smith is writing with the benefit of hindsight, so is able to tie Poppy’s murder investigations tied into some of the major events of the era—women’s suffrage, the Russian Revolution, and the fascination with Egypt.
The Art Fiasco is set slightly different. It is set in Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1924. Poppy travels north to visit her parents and to attend the opening of an art exhibition. But her plans for a nice family holiday go astray when she is the sole witness of a woman’s death … or murder.
While there was a death in the Prologue, this wasn’t the main murder, which I didn’t work out until the main murder occurred at around the one-quarter mark. The Art Fiasco seemed to have a lot more telling and backstory than the first two novels in the series. The backstory wasn’t Poppy’s story, and it wasn’t always clear how it related to the main story. I thought that slowed the story down relative to the earlier stories.
In terms of the backdrop, The Art Fiasco provided interesting insights into working-class Britain and how the class divide operated a century ago. It also touched on a few trigger issues like #MeToo and unmarried pregnancy, but I didn’t think it had the same impact as, say, Aunt Dot’s experiences as a suffragette or the political differences between Red and White Russiasn.
The story worked well as a standalone. There are some ongoing plot threads, such as Poppy’s relationship with her aunt, friendship with Delilah, and her on-off romance with the newspaper’s photographer. Yes, those who have read one or all of the previous books in the series will probably enjoy the threads more, but the novel still works as a standalone murder mystery.
The Poppy Denby Investigates series is published by Lion Fiction, a UK-based publisher of Christian fiction and nonfiction. The series has a different approach to faith than fiction from the major US Christian publishers. Poppy is the daughter of a clergyman, so was raised as a Christian. She still retains her faith, but her circumstances are causing her to question it in a healthy way. Like us, Poppy has to work out for herself what she believes and realise that she can’t simply inherit her faith from her father.
While Poppy retains her Christian values (although she does drink alcohol, which would shock her mother), the other characters are not people of faith, and nor do they act like it. Delilah has many boyfriends, and reminds us that the sexual revolution started long before the 1960s. Poppy’s boss is having a longstanding affair. And Poppy realises her aunt’s live-in companion might be something more.
As such, the Poppy Debby novels don’t fit some of the conceptions of “Christian fiction”. Personally, I think they’re stronger for it. Recommended for fans of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Julianna Deering.
Thanks to NetGalley and Lion Fiction for providing a free ebook for review.
England, cosy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, murder, murder-investigation, law-enforcement, journalist, 1920s, artist, historical-novel, historical-research, family, friendship, small-town
This is the first Poppy Denby investigation I have read and I really enjoyed it.
London journalist Poppy is convinced by her family to help a well known artist who once hailed from the coal town in Northumberland that is honoring her. The artist’s early life was marred not only by poverty but by an illegitimate pregnancy at age 14 caused by her artist mentor who died under possibly questionable circumstances all those years ago. Like small towns everywhere, the local women remain as judgemental now as 27 years ago (including her own mam). Then the artist is killed and Poppy delves into her convoluted life and follows the clues through all the twists and red herrings. A fascinating read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Lion Hudson Ltd/Lion Fiction via NetGalley. Thank you!
Can Poppy trust those closest to her?
After finishing The Cairo Brief I just couldn’t get enough of Poppy Denby Investigates, author Fiona Veitch Smith’s fun Jazz Age crime solving reporters, so I just when right ahead and started The Art Fiasco right away. And trust me, this story turned out to be a dilly as Poppy once again takes on some tough issues while bringing the truth to light.
As an American reader I’m a bit of a stranger to settings like the one in The Art Fiasco but I find them to be completely fascinating. The author brought everything vividly to life in my imagination but having previously watched the Coal House series from the BBC also greatly helped me visualize a number of scenes in the story.
One of the things that I found most intriguing about this particular book in the Poppy Denby Investigates series was that Fiona Veitch Smith was able to take some events from her own family history as inspiration for the story. It made both the fiction and the facts seem more real.
If you love British mysteries from an author who truly knows the area and the people, if you enjoy soaking up the atmosphere of the Roaring Twenties, and if you think historical mysteries are fun to try and solve you’ll be just as convinced as I am that The Art Fiasco is a real swell book and the entire Poppy Denby Investigates series from Fiona Veitch Smith is the real cat’s meow!
(I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)
The Art Fiasco is the fifth book in Fiona Veitch Smith’s Poppy Denby Investigates series. The mystery in the center of this historical cozy mystery series stands alone, which is a good thing since I haven’t read the first four books! I still enjoyed the story, but I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I read the previous installments. I missed all the previous character development which would have greatly enhanced my reading pleasure.
Poppy Denby is on her way to her father’s 60th birthday party in 1924. She stops in Newcastle to visit her Aunt Dot, who is renovating a house she has inherited. Agnes Robson, a famous artist, also comes to stay with Dot while she has an exhibition in a local art gallery. Her press liaison is unable to make it, so journalist Poppy is pressed to fill in by Agnes. When Agnes is murdered, it begins to appear that her death may be connected to another death which occurred 27 years earlier. When Aunt Dot’s companion Grace is arrested for the murder, Poppy Denby, well, investigates!
This mystery did stand alone, and I thought it was very well done. It actually begins 27 years before the current murder. Reading about Agnes’s tragic childhood was heartbreaking, and she still suffered from the past even though she became a celebrated artist. I really didn’t figure out whodunit until the murderer was revealed. Plenty of red herrings kept me guessing! I do wish I knew more about the main characters and their backgrounds before I read this book. Poppy was apparently a good investigative journalist who has helped solve murders in the past. Her friend Delilah is an actress who seems to get around and is lots of fun. The other supporting characters are also an interesting bunch, especially Poppy’s dwarf boss and his Anglo-Egyptian lawyer wife. This is an entertaining mystery to dive into, but read the previous books first for greater enjoyment.
I received n ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.
The Art Fiasco by Fiona Veitch Smith is a marvellous historical novel and the fifth book in the Poppy Denby Investigates series. It can be read as a stand-alone but I recommend reading all the books in the series, they are fabulous.
This Poppy Denby series is nostalgic amateur sleuthing of the very best. I find it reminiscent of Agatha Christie and also the television series Death In Paradise as the ending wraps up all loose ends in a perfect summary.
The Art Fiasco is set in Northumberland in 1924 with links to a cold case in 1897. Fiona Veitch Smith has perfectly captured the atmosphere and the landscape as she paints the scene with her words.
The cast of characters are all unique and work well together. The camaraderie and the close bonds are tangible as the characters all play to their strengths.
Parents and children have strong bonds as some are fiercely protective of their young. There are some difficult to read opening scenes of child abuse by those who should be protecting them.
Poppy Denby is very much a forward thinking, modern young woman with a responsible job. She is working at a time when some frowned upon women working at all. The suffragette movement changed lives and affected others but women under thirty still did not have the vote.
I absolutely adore this Poppy Denby series. It is both entertaining and educating, nostalgia at its finest. I hope there will be many more books in the series.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
The Art Fiasco by Fiona Veitch Smith is Book 5 in the Poppy Denby series of 1920’s mysteries, all set in England. Poppy is the Arts and Culture editor for the Daily Globe. To be honest, she was the reporter as well. There was only she in the department. She is on her way north to the Newcastle area to celebrate her father’s 60th birthday. He is a Methodist minister in a town not for from Newcastle, Morpeth. She was taking a couple of days to stop with her aunt Dot, who, with her companion, Grace, was renovating a home she had inherited but had no use for, into supervised apartments for young women. She was also to see her friend, Delilah, in the opening night of The Importance of Being Ernest at the local theatre. When Grace picks her up at the train, she discovers that another guest who will be present is Agnes Robson, a noted artist that Poppy is familiar with from London. It will be a full house, with Agnes’ show opening the night before Delilah’s, followed the next day with the birthday part. Then, Agnes falls of the roof of the gallery during the opening night of the exhibit and Poppy falls into full investigative mode.
Love Poppy Denby. She is a great character, on the cusp of a new and exciting world, after World War I has devastated Europe. It is a changing time for woman and in this book; Poppy’s very conservative mother comes to terms with poppy’s life and her career. Very exciting step forward! Agnes had a past and it looks like that past kills her but in order to solve the crime by assisting the handsome detective Sandy Hawkes, Poppy must discover all the bits and bobs of that past. It is a convoluted story, revealed in increments, masterfully. The read didn’t really see the details until they were unfurled, and learning the murderer after all the red herrings and missteps was an exciting end to the story. Poppy has lots of really interesting friends, including her editor who is from America, and a dwarf; as well as his lovely wife, one of only two female barristers in England as well as the mother of two lively twins, to whom she gave birth at the age of 47. Her aunt spent much of her life on the stage and was a suffragette as was Grace. It’s all very complicated but Smith tucks all the details into the telling of the story. Excellent read. Golden Age mystery at it’s best. I recommend it.
I was invited to read a free ARC of The Art Fiasco by Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #theartfiasco