Anna Sayburn Lane

Thriller author

Anna Sayburn Lane

February newsletter: Who murdered the media mogul? Extract from my new novel.

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Congratulations – you made it through January! I admit, I find the first month of the year a challenge. I love the cosiness of Christmas, but once the year has turned it feels like a long haul until spring. I’ve spent the month revising my new novel, making plans and doing a lot of reading. I’ve also indulged my love of flowers with some narcissi for my study, and enjoyed seeing these little cyclamen while out on a brisk, chilly walk in my 1920s-style cloche hat! What’s your top tip for keeping cheerful in gloomy weather?

Read on for more about my plans for audio books, recommendations for books, podcasts and television, and firstly, an exclusive extract from my new book, Death On Fleet Street, which will be published next month.

 

 

DEATH ON FLEET STREET: chapter one

Miss Beatrice Waddon breezed into the room like the figurehead of a ship, her noble brow and wide blue-grey eyes conveying a tremendous air of forward motion.

I jumped up from my desk to greet her. The young woman was the first proper client to have made an appointment at Mrs Jameson’s detective agency since Christmas, and I was keen to see what new adventure her arrival might bring.

‘Good morning. I’m Marjorie Swallow, Mrs Jameson’s secretary. Please, take a seat. I’ll let Mrs Jameson know you’re here.’

Miss Waddon shook my hand with a firm grip. ‘I appreciate you fitting me in at short notice, Miss Swallow. The matter is rather urgent.’

She wore a smart walking suit of tobacco-brown French serge, with jet beading at the collar and cuffs, and a rather chic black velvet hat. I felt rumpled by comparison, and pulled down my jacket sleeve to cover an ink splodge on the cuff of my blouse.

I ran to fetch Mrs Jameson from the drawing room, where she was reading The Times with a despondent air.

‘There you are, Marjorie. Has Miss Waddon arrived? Thank heavens. I am in severe need of distraction. The newspapers never have anything cheerful to report.’ Like me, Mrs Jameson thrived on a knotty investigation and got fretful between cases.

Unlike me, she looked as regal as Queen Mary as she entered the office, in a day dress of bottle-green cashmere with a matching turban.

‘Good morning, Miss Waddon. Marjorie, please ring for coffee. Now, how may we be of assistence?’

Miss Waddon picked up her handbag, snapped it open and withdrew a piece of paper, which she handed to my employer.

‘Please tell me what you think of this.’

Mrs Jameson read quickly, her fine grey eyes scanning the paper. She compressed her lips and handed it to me. ‘Marjorie?’

It was newspaper cutting, the ink slightly smudged on the soft paper. The headline read: ‘An unfortunate accident.’

‘Fleet Street was today plunged into mourning by the death of the popular newspaper proprietor Lord Ravensbourne, at the age of fifty one,’ I read. ‘The first Baron Ravensbourne is said to have suffered an unfortunate accident. His death, we understand, was instantaneous. He is survived by his second wife, Lady Ravensbourne (formerly Miss Annabel Quick) and his four children.’

I frowned. ‘It doesn’t say what the accident was.’ I raised my eyes to our visitor, puzzled. ‘I didn’t know Lord Ravensbourne was ead.’

‘He’s not,’ said Miss Waddon, crisply. ‘He’s my father. And that notice is dated one week from today.’

I checked. Monday, the twenty-fifth of February, 1924. As Miss Waddon said, a week away. A prickle ran up my neck. A death notice, one week early, of a man who was still very much alive…

Want to know what happens next? Death On Fleet Street will be published in March. Why not pre-order now?

Plans for 2025

I’ve wanted to make the Marjorie Swallow books available as audiobooks for a while, and I’m finally underway. My chosen narrator, Kim Bretton, is immensely experienced in audiobooks and loves cozy mysteries. Kim narrates Magda Alexander’s popular Kitty Worthington books, so she knows the 1920s period well. I hope to release Blackmail In Bloomsbury as an audiobook in March or April, with the others following on.

I’m starting research for the next Marjorie Swallow mystery now. I plan to publish three this year: Death On Fleet Street in March, then one in the summer and another just before Christmas.

I also plan to start work on a new short series of mysteries this year, set in a different historical period. I’m interested in the Regency, a short decade where a lot changed – a bit like the 1920s. I’m doing my research now, so I’ll let you know how I get on.

Recommendations

I was thrilled to be asked to join London tour guides Fiona and Alex on their Ladies Who London podcast. Ladies Who London takes a light-hearted look at some of the lesser known histories of the capital – I’m a big fan and recommend it to anyone who loves London and history. I was wearing another of my hats on this episode, as walk leader for the Refugee Tales walking project. This year we are walking around London on the Capital Ring route, so that was the focus of our talk – but we talked about writing, too! You can listen in here.

The book I’ve enjoyed most this year so far is also about London history. London Clay by Tom Chivers is a fascinating blend of geology, deep history, memoir and exploration. Tom tracks the routes of lost rivers, descends into the sewers, pokes around in the remains of London’s woodland and wetlands and communes with the spirits of Roman and medieval Londoners. It’s rather brilliant.

I’ve also enjoyed the second series of Lucy Worsley Investigates, where the historian takes a closer look at some of the better-known episodes of British history, from the Norman Conquest of 1066 to the Whitechapel murders attributed to ‘Jack the Ripper’. She uses modern historical techniques to question some of the myths about the subjects. I particularly liked her focus on the sensational reporting of the new mass media newspapers at the time of the Whitechapel murders, and how they fuelled the first ‘true crime’ obsession.

The big question!

What are your top tips for keeping cheerful when the weather (and the news) is gloomy? Hit reply and let me know! I’ll include a selection of ideas in my next newsletter.

Wishing you a fabulous February, and happy reading!

Podcast appearance: Ladies Who London

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I’m a big fan of London’s tour guides, so I was thrilled to be invited to be a guest on the Ladies Who London podcast, hosted by Blue Badge tour guides Alex and Fiona. The podcast takes a fun and informal look at people and places from London’s rich history.

They asked me on to talk about walking the Capital Ring, a round-London walking route which will be the focus of this year’s Refugee Tales project. I’ve been involved with this walking and storytelling project since 2017. We walk for five days each July in solidarity with people who’ve experienced immigration detention. This year we are holding a Festival of Walking at the same time, with arts events, film screenings, music and theatre as we walk our way around London.

I also managed to slip in a bit of chat about how London has inspired my books, from the first novel Unlawful Things to my more recent 1920s murder mysteries. Find out more here.

The Stories Behind the Story: Plant hunters

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Frank Kingdon-Ward, one of the inspirations behind Death At Chelsea, is the closest thing botany has to Indiana Jones. He was one of the last great explorers, seeking out the most remote regions and enduring hair-raising escapades in the search for new flora for British gardens.

Kingdon-Ward escaped death multiple times: when a tree fell on his tent; after impaling himself on a bamboo spike; clinging to a branch after falling over a precipice; drinking nectar from rhododendrons while lost for several days without food; surviving an earthquake; evading Japanese troops in China as a spy during the second world war… his writings read like the most thrilling of Boy’s Own adventures.

I learned about him after following up a mention in a gardening magazine about a 1920s gardener who had worked with a plant hunter while designing a garden for her aristocratic clients. Plant hunters travelled the globe looking for exotic species to bring back to the UK, where gardeners seized with delight on rhododendrons, azaleas, primulas, lilies and more. I was seeking inspiration for the plot of a novel to be set around the Chelsea Flower Show, to involve rival gardeners, sabotage of precious lilies and poisonous plants.  An intrepid plant hunter, I decided, was just the extra spice the story needed.

Kingdon-Ward, born in Manchester in 1885, was commissioned by a seed-grower to visit to Yunnan province, where he collected plants, seeds and bulbs, made drawings and took photographs. It was the first of 24 expeditions in a life of adventure.

His travels took him repeatedly to the mountains and valleys east of the Himalayas, crossing borders between south west China, north east India, Tibet, Bhutan, and Burma (now Myanmar). One of his most celebrated travels was to the steep and inhospitable Tsangpo Gorge, where the river slices through land held holy by Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims. This was where he discovered the Himalayan blue poppy and the Giant Tibetan Cowslip, among other finds.

He was still exploring at the age of 68, when he went climbing in Burma, only four years before his sudden death from a stroke.

I adapted Kingdon-Ward’s travels in Tibet for my fictional 1920s plant hunter, Ernest Buckler, who was a much nastier character than Kingdon-Ward had been! The blue poppies also influenced my imagining of the precious Himalayan Sapphire Lilies brought back from Tibet by Mr Buckler and his companions, due to be unveiled at the 1924 Chelsea Flower Show.

Mr Kingdon-Ward’s description of crossing vertiginous gorges by perilous rope bridges gave me an idea or two as well – but you’ll have to read the book to find out more!

To find out more about the hair-raising adventures of Kingdon-Ward, and the research I do for my novels, have a look at my Substack, The Stories Behind the Story.

The Stories Behind the Story: Venice

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If you enjoyed my Christmas story for newsletter subscribers, A  Venetian Masquerade, you might like to hear about the research behind it. The story was prompted by my favourite trip of 2024, a visit to the magical floating city of Venice. As the city shimmered from the waters of the lagoon and the vaporetto ferried us to the city, I fell under enchantment. I already knew I’d want to write about Venice one day.

Lots of details from that trip stayed with me and made it into the story. We ate chichetti and drank Campari spritz at a bar on the corner of Campo S. Toma, right next to a mask and carnival costume shop. I marvelled at the ornate costumes and masks, so beautiful and colourful. The idea of donning a mask and gliding through the city incognito immediately lodged in my mind.

I didn’t fix on the story I wanted to tell until I discovered that carnival season starts right after Christmas, on December 26, or St Stephen’s Day. Online research then told me that masks and gambling were associated with carnival, and masked gambling in ‘ridotto’ entertainments were only allowed during the carnival season.

I immediately wanted to see my redoubtable sleuth Mrs Jameson, newly married, unmask a card cheat. I knew she would learn something about her husband, perhaps something she didn’t want to know. And I liked the idea that masks came into it somehow, so decided to learn more about Venetian masks.

I remembered the close-fitting Volto masks, the classic full-faced masks, at the little shop in Campo San Toma, and the white Bauta masks, flared at the bottom to allow the wearer to eat and drink. The pretty Columbina masks are familiar from the Commedia dell’Arte , and I’d seen the sinister Medico della Peste, or plague doctor masks, with their long beaked nose.

But there was one mask I’d only seen in paintings of carnival – the Moretta. I found it shocking and rather horrible. It’s an oval mask, made of black velvet, with holes for eyes but no mouth. It has no ribbon, but it held in place by the woman (they are only worn by women) holding a button on the back in their teeth. Speak, and the mask falls.

The Moretta mask

To find out more about Venetian masks and see photographs from my trip, have a look at my Substack, The Stories Behind the Story.

To join my Readers Club and receive short stories and other news, sign up below.

January newsletter: reading recommendations and a creative New Year workshop

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I hope you’ve had a good festive break, whether you’ve been celebrating Christmas, Hanukka, Diwali or simply pausing in the depths of mid-winter. I enjoyed a cozy Christmas in Deal with my husband and parents, after a wonderful week’s writing retreat in Devon.

The course was tutored by historical novelists Anna Mazzola and Natasha Pulley. They helped eight of us work on our novels, from my 1920s murder mysteries to Regency romances and sea-faring adventures from the age of sail.

The staff at the 14th century farmhouse where we stayed pulled out all the stops for a celebratory Medieval Christmas Banquet, complete with music. Some of us made impromptu medieval costumes (see my attempt left) – it was a lot of fun!

On the last night we all read pieces from our work in progress and I’m pleased that the sneak preview of Death On Fleet Street went down very well. I’m working on edits this month, and hope to have it with you in February or March.

Thanks to everyone who wrote to say they enjoyed my Christmas short story, A Venetian Masquerade. If you’d like to know more about the inspiration for the story, including more about Venetian masks, take a look at my Substack post here.

Read on for recommendations, book news, a Creative January workshop, and a New Year promotion.

Stepping out: travels through words and song

Exciting news! Following the success of our summer seaside workshop, musician Katie Rose and I are back to offer a creative boost for January.

The singing and writing workshop is themed around travel and journeys, as we take our first steps into 2025. Expect travellers’ tales and songs, creative soundscapes and signposts for your own creative journey.

Stepping Out will be held upstairs at the Brown & Green Life Cafe in Crystal Palace Park, London SE20 8DS.

It takes place on Sunday January 26, from 10.30am to 4pm. Tickets are £50 (£40 concessions).

 

Death On Fleet Street

Death On Fleet Street is the fifth Marjorie Swallow book and it might just be my favourite yet. I began my journalism career in the 1990s, by which time most of the British newspapers had already left London’s Fleet Street, which was the hub of the newspaper industry for centuries. So it was wonderful to research the heyday of Fleet Street, when media barons like Lord Beaverbrook set up newspapers like the Daily Mirror, and the newspapers themselves were printed using linotype machines and hot metal.

I took a trip to the St Bride Institute’s printing workshop by Fleet Street (pictured) to talk to retired Fleet Street printers about how it all worked, and read some hair-raising memoirs and autobiographies of journalists from the street. I particularly enjoyed the autobiography of Lord Beaverbrook’s daughter Janet, which gave me plenty of ideas for my fictional media baron, the loathsome Lord Ravensbourne. I’ll share more about the research when the book is published.

That should be quite soon now – my copyeditor will be working on it this month and I’ll be sending it to beta readers very soon. You can pre-order here. You won’t be charged until the book is published.

Reading recommendations

Spring and flowers might seem a long way off, but Rosie Hunt’s new mystery, Murder At A Flower Show, will have you feeling spring-like in no time.

Lady Felicity Quick receives a peculiar invitation. A prestigious competition between British rose growers seeks celebrity judges, and Felicity is top of their list.

Despite a lack of interest in flowers, and after a spot of meddling by her beloved grandmother, Felicity finds herself surrounded by sweet-smelling blooms in the charming Devonshire village of Bickleford. And as romance blossoms, judging the flower show proves surprisingly enjoyable…

Until Britain’s most notorious rose breeder is found murdered behind the floral marquee — with Felicity’s own grandma as the prime suspect! Can Felicity unearth Bickleford’s secrets in time to save her grandmother? Find out here!

I’m also recommending two excellent novels by my lovely Arvon tutors:

  • Anna Mazzola‘s The Unseeing, about a lawyer drawn into investigating a murder in 1837 London. It’s based on a true life case, the Edgware Road murder, and asks why a convicted woman might not tell the secret that could free her…
  • Natasha Pulley‘s The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, a magical tale of clockwork, friendship and love in Victorian London. Who could resist a tale with a clockwork octopus and a replica Japanese village in Knightsbridge (astonishingly a real place)?

Free e-books for January

I’m taking part in the New Year Cozy Mystery giveaway promotion on Bookfunnel throughout January, where you can find dozens of mysteries to download.

December newsletter: a festive stocking full of stories

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I’ve had a wonderful time meeting readers at fairs and markets this month. Writing can be a solitary business, so it’s great fun getting out and talking to people about my books.

It gives me the chance to thank people in person when they buy a book – something I can’t do when you buy online. But I’d like to take this chance to say a big, heart-felt ‘thank you’ to all of you – everyone who has read, bought, borrowed or recommended one of my books this year. It’s been my best ever year as an author, and you made it possible.

I’m doing one more Christmas fair this year, at St George’s Hall in my home town of Deal in Kent, on Saturday 7 December. If you’re in the area, do drop in and say hello!

Now it’s December, I’m planning a jolly Christmas by the sea, with a big Christmas tree, delicious food and my family visiting. Will I manage the traditional dip in the sea on Christmas day?

But before the festive fun, I’ve booked myself a special treat – a week on an Arvon Foundation writing retreat in Devon. I’ll be surrounded by other writers, with helpful tutors and plenty of time to write, walk, chat and think, surrounded be glorious countryside. It’ll be a great way to unwind and contemplate editing the first draft of Death On Fleet Street.

Read on for more writing news and festive recommendations.

Writing news

Death On Fleet Street, the next Marjorie Swallow mystery, is on its way to the editor! I’ve finished the first draft and my designer Donna has come up with another brilliant cover. You can pre-order now – you won’t be charged until it’s ready to deliver in February or March.

Marjorie and Mrs Jameson are called in when the Daily Post newspaper receives a death notice for Lord Ravensbourne. Not unusual, you might think – but Lord Ravensbourne is the owner of the Post, and he’s still very much alive… for now!

Marjorie gets to work uncovering which of Lord R’s many enemies might have sent it – and wondering if someone plans to make the threat a reality.

Pre-order here.

A trio of festive recommendations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tis the season to curl up with a Christmas mystery! Agatha Christie, one of my favourite authors, was known for publishing ‘a Christie for Christmas’, so more or less inventing the seasonal Christmas book frenzy.

I have three festive historical mysteries to recommend:

Verity Bright’s A Midwinter Murder. Amazingly enough, this is the 20th Lady Eleanor Swift book! Lady Eleanor is hoping for a cozy Christmas by the fire with her new fiance – but the house party is interrupted by murder, just as Audwyke Hall on the Yorkshire Moors is cut off in a blizzard…

Benedict Brown’s The Christmas Candle Murders, the latest in his much-loved Chrissie and Lord Edgington series. Benedict says this is his favourite Christmas book so far, “set in a snowy English village with a thousand secrets, bad Christmas presents, far too many decorations and a string of inexplicable murders…”

The Emerald Threads, the latest Regency mystery from Lynn Morrison and Anne Radcliffe. It’s set at Alnwick Castle, a real and spectacular castle in Northumberland, where mysteries abound for Lady Grace and Lord Roland on a Christmas visit.
If you can squeeze a few more mysteries in your stocking after those, I’m taking part in the December Free Cozy Mysteries promotion on Bookfunnel, where you can find dozens of mysteries to download.

The Big Give

In the frenzy of present-buying and food preparations, it’s easy to forget about the wider world. A charity I always like to support at Christmas is Book Trust, which sends books to vulnerable children.

No matter what’s happening in a child’s life, a good book is can be a comfort and refuge. Help BookTrust give the gift of reading this Christmas and share the enchanting world of books with families.