A Murder of Magpies--A Novel

December 1, 2014
Social historian Flanders (The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London) makes her fiction debut with an amusing mystery set in the eccentric world of British book publishing. Samantha “Sam” Clair, a snarky middle-aged editor at London publisher Timmons & Ross, faces serious problems when gossipy journalist Kit Lovell delivers a potentially libelous manuscript with new revelations about the death of fashion icon Rodrigo Alemán. Soon a courier is killed and residences are burgled in attempts to swipe the manuscript, and Sam’s encounters with suave and seedy lawyers as well as Alemán’s brother hint at criminal activities connected to Alemán’s fashion house. When Kit disappears, Sam joins in the investigation with Helena, her elegant solicitor mother, and attractive Insp. Jacob “Jake” Field (a nod to Insp. Charles Field, the model for Dickens’s Inspector Bucket). The array of delightful and believable characters, as well as a neat turn at the end, will leave readers well satisfied and anticipating the next installment. Agent: George Lucas, Inkwell Management.

January 1, 2015
Even in the insular world of book publishing, murder has its place. British book editor Sam Clair has her routine-she gets up early to be in the office with her second cup of coffee before anyone else arrives-and she has her staple authors, those trusted to turn out best-sellers year after year. Kit Lovell, a feisty investigative writer deeply rooted in the fashion world, has just turned in one such manuscript, a book exposing the libelous inner workings of fashion giant Vernet, as well as evidence that the death of its head man, Rodrigo Aleman, was no accident. There are many people who would benefit from this never being published, and soon, a courier delivering the manuscript is dead. When Kit's apartment is broken into, followed by Sam's, it becomes clear that more than the manuscript's future is at stake, especially when Kit misses an important work lunch. Sam won't stand for her best author and good friend being kidnapped-or worse-and she steps in to investigate. Flanders creates a layered mystery in which fingers can be pointed in a variety of directions, from seedy lawyers to Aleman's own brother. Helping Sam are her spitfire mother, Helena, her sweet but isolated upstairs neighbor, Mr. Rudiger, and Detective Jake Field, with whom she ultimately starts a relationship (though their building attraction is curiously never shown). With so much to wrap up, especially as Kit's troubles are found to extend beyond his controversial reporting, the end result feels cluttered; in the rush to the finish line, delightful secondary characters get lost in the mix. The first novel by historian Flanders (The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London, 2014, etc.), though a bit frazzled, is full of charm and characters worth visiting again.

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2015
In a sharp departure from her Victorian social histories, Flanders applies what she learned about the development of the mystery genre in the Victorian era to a smart, action-packed thriller set in modern-day London. Fortysomething Samantha ClairSam, to mostis an editor at a publishing house. At work, she faces the dual challenges of having to reposition a subpar novel turned in by her best-selling novelist while shepherding the tell-all biography of a deceased Spanish designer from fashion journalist Kit Lovell through the libel lawyers before publication. She does not expect, however, to have her apartment burgled or to be questioned by Inspector Jacob Field, CID, after a messenger is killed in a hit-and-run. When Kit disappears, Field and Sam's mother, Helena, a chic dynamo of a barrister, join forces with Sam to find Kit and determine who is trying to sabotage her book. Flanders has applied skillful writing to her knowledge of the London publishing scene, serving up an enjoyable, intricate page-turner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)