26175720From Goodreads: “Introducing Poppy Denby, a young journalist in London during the Roaring Twenties, investigating crime in the highest social circles!
In 1920, twenty-two year old Poppy Denby moves from Northumberland to live with her paraplegic aunt in London. Aunt Dot, a suffragette who was injured in battles with the police in 1910, is a feisty and well-connected lady.
Poppy has always dreamed of being a journalist, and quickly lands a position as an editorial assistant at the Daily Globe. Then one of the paper’s writers, Bert Isaacs, dies suddenly–and messily. Poppy and her attractive co-worker, photographer Daniel Rokeby begin to wonder if it wasn’t a natural death, but murder.
After she writes a sensational exposé, The Globe’s editor invites her to dig deeper. Poppy starts sifting through the dead man’s files and unearths a major mystery which takes her to France–and into deadly danger.”

My Review

I picked this up at the library about a month ago attracted by the cover, but not really knowing anything about it, save for the back cover synopsis. Well, I’m so glad I brought this home as I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t recommend it highly enough!

I don’t normally read cosy mysteries as I find them a bit lacking in drama but maybe I’m reading them wrong, as there was lots of drama in this. I loved the 1920s setting, and Poppy Denby is a wonderful character I was rooting for right from the beginning. Her character development from naive Methodist minister’s daughter, to London journalist is so good and something I totally believed in.

The historical context was brilliant with stories of the suffragettes, the new X-Ray machines being developed by Marie Curie, Charlie Chaplin visiting London, a new woman mystery writer called Agatha Christie and of course the Jazz in the title. I loved it all and got wonderfully lost in it’s pages for a just over 24 hours.

I thoroughly recommend this if you enjoy historical fiction and cosy mysteries, or like me you’re looking for a new series to read.