Anna Sayburn Lane

Thriller author

Marjorie Swallow

November news: Turkish travels, Agatha Christie and book news

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What an exciting month! I’ve been travelling again, this time a fascinating trip to Turkey. I published Blackmail In Bloomsbury, bringing me the best month’s book sales ever. I met one of my heroes. And I sent my next book, The Soho Jazz Murders, to my editor.

Read on for all this, plus recommendations and promotions.

Adventures in Turkey
I’ve long wanted to visit Turkey and I finally got the chance to tag along when my husband was asked to speak at a conference in Izmir, a big port city in the south of the country. While he worked, I had plenty of time to explore!

As one of the ‘WAGs’, I was invited on a tour of nearby Ephesus, an astonishing city from the days of the Roman Empire. We saw the remains of temples, amphitheatres, the forum, shops and houses – even a 20-seat lavatory! Most impressive of all was the rebuilt façade of the city library, pictured below right.

Izmir too has Roman-era remains, but I was most intrigued by the bazaar. I spent hours exploring the maze of streets, coming across shops selling everything from Barbie t-shirts to heaps of spices, kitchen utensils to antiques, soap to budgerigars. I met a friend of a friend who lives in the city and she guided me around, helping me purchase fragrant freshly-ground Turkish coffee to bring home. We then stopped at one of the many shops selling Cay (pronounced chai), Turkish black tea served in small glasses, cheap, delicious and refreshing. It certainly beat a trip to the supermarket.

Less cheap but equally delicious was the peach Bellini that I sipped on the rooftop of our hotel after a refreshing swim! My fellow WAGs had heard about my book launch, so they made sure that I had a suitable celebration.

Meeting a hero!

Agatha Christie loved travel. She wrote to a friend that ‘your travel life has the essence of a dream… you are yourself, but a different self.’ That ability to imagine different lives is, I think, one of the reasons that so many writers love to travel.
The quote above comes from historian Lucy Worsley’s biography of Agatha Christie. It’s extremely readable and tells a fascinating story of a life from Victorian girlhood into the 1970s. I’m a big fan of Miss Worsley’s history programmes and podcasts, so when she visited Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre to talk about Agatha Christie, I grabbed a ticket. She’s a brilliant presenter and it was a very entertaining evening. Not only is she formidably knowledgeable, she’s very funny and glamorous. She also remained kind and patient with all of us who’d queued to have her sign our books.

 

Recommendations: A Christie special

After all that gushing, it won’t surprise you to hear that my first recommendation is indeed for Lucy Worsley’s Agatha Christie. Her life involved two world wars, two marriages, a mysterious ‘disappearance’, intrepid journeys to Iraq and Egypt – not to mention writing an astonishing 80 books.

The second recommendation also comes via Lucy Worsley. Asked which her favourite Christie novel was, she nominated Murder At The Vicarage, in which the wily Miss Marple makes her first appearance. I’ve just re-read it and it is terrific. I liked the acidic way in which Miss Marple is described – the vicar’s wife say she’s ‘the worst cat in the village’ – and the humour of the vicar’s tribulations with his avidly curious parishioners, his ‘distractingly pretty’ wife and his appallingly bad cook. The mystery itself is satisfyingly twisty, with hidden couples, false identities and double bluffs. I was nowhere near guessing the true murderer when Miss Marple revealed it.

Book news
Blackmail In Bloomsbury looks like being my most successful book yet, which makes me very happy! Congratulations to Megwen Woodham, who won a signed copy of Blackmail In Bloomsbury for her correct response to my question last month.

One of my readers suggested Blackmail In Bloomsbury would make “the perfect Christmas present” for any lovers of classic crime… and far be it from me to disagree! If you think your mum, dad, aunt Maisie or friend at the book club would like it, why not grab a paperback? You can order from your local bookshop, or via the button below.

If you’ve already finished it and are anxiously awaiting the next in the series, good news! I’ve sent the first draft of The Soho Jazz Murders to my editor and all is going well for publication in January.

Here’s the cover – as you can see my designer Donna has come up trumps again with a lovely design.

You can pre-order your e-book copy now.

 

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October newsletter: book launch, reviews and a Riviera adventure

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It’s been a busy month with travel, writing and final preparations for the launch of my new murder mystery series. Blackmail In Bloomsbury was published this week and I’m excited to see it climbing the charts. Read on for news about my attempts to travel like the 1920s beau monde, reviews of my new book and recommendations for lovers of cosy crime and gritty thrillers alike.

A Riviera adventure
Like all true Agatha Christie fans, I have a romantic view of train travel. So when I had the opportunity of a few September days in Nice on the French Riviera, there was only one way to go.

In Christie’s day, the beautiful people left London on the famed ‘Train Bleu’ via Paris. In her Mystery of the Blue Train, there are first class sleeping compartments, porters to turn down the beds and a restaurant car (where one M. Hercule Poirot enjoys his dinner).

Nowadays you take the Eurostar from St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord then the Metro across Paris to Gare d’Austerlitz. That was where the fantasy collided with reality! The station is under reconstruction and my cramped couchette was shared with five strangers. Sadly no dining car and no helpful porters! It wasn’t the most restful night, but it was thrilling listening to the French countryside rushing by past the window, and the views the next morning of the Côte d’Azur were stunning. Happily no-one in my carriage was murdered for their priceless rubies (or their snores, although I was tempted).

Nice itself is a delight and I had a wonderful few days exploring the coast, as well as a cocktail in the iconic (and expensive) Negresco Hotel on the Promenade des Anglais. Will there be a Marjorie Swallow book set on the Riviera? I wouldn’t bet against it!

Reviews: Book bloggers on Blackmail In Bloomsbury


Blackmail In Bloomsbury has been out for review among the book bloggers, and I’m glad to say they thought it was “a solid start to a promising new series.” Here are some of their comments:

“Anna Sayburn Lane has done a fantastic job of bringing 1920s London to life. From the drawing rooms of bohemian Bloomsbury to the elegance of the Italian Rooftop Gardens, the sights and sounds of post-war London leapt off the page.”

Amy Louise Shelf of Unread Books

“Blackmail in Bloomsbury left me deliciously guessing ‘whodunnit’ until the very end (with quite a few wrong guesses as the story progressed!). The characters are delightful… The thing that makes this cosy is down to the setting, the characters and the dialogue. There’s a beautiful balance between the lightness of the tone amidst some thrilling scenes.”

Mrs Bennett’s Bookshelf

I found this joyful Christie-esque murder mystery the perfect pick-me-up… Perfect plotting, gentle humour and two fabulously strong female leads: the pages just flew by. Highly recommended for all fans of cosy crime, or anyone just wanting to escape for a while.

Bookographia

Recommendations: cosy countryside and gritty city

I recently asked on Facebook whether my readers preferred gritty contemporary crime (think Ian Rankin’s Rebus) or cosy classic crime (think Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple). Personally I enjoy reading (and writing) both genres, but some people have strong preferences. With that in mind, here are two recommendations for each side of the debate.

Rosie Hunt writes 1920s cosy crime. Her heroine Lady Felicity Quick is a society journalist living in England’s green and pleasant countryside, with a side-line in investigating murders. She’s intrepid, good-natured and inquisitive – I think she and Marjorie Swallow would have a lot in common! You can discover Lady Felicity for free in Murder At Afternoon Tea, the first in her series.

Trevor Wood’s Jimmy Mullen trilogy could hardly be more different, but is equally enjoyable. The hero Jimmy is a rough sleeper fighting PTSD demons as well as crime on the mean streets of contemporary Newcastle. It’s full of dark humour and will make you wonder about the stories behind the people on the streets.

September Newsletter: one month to go!

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It’s all systems go at the seaside as I put the final touches to Blackmail In Bloomsbury, ready for launch next month. The book is back from the proof-reader; I’ve sent copies to the book bloggers for review and – most exciting of all – I’ve finally held a copy in my hands. No matter how many books I publish (and this is number five) nothing beats seeing your words down on paper in a ‘proper’ book for the first time!

You can pre-order Blackmail In Bloomsbury today!

And onto the next…

In August I dived into writing the first draft of the next Marjorie Swallow murder mystery, The Soho Jazz Murders. I absolutely love this part of writing; when the story is fresh in your mind and you have the fun of introducing the characters that have popped into your head, creating the settings and making sure all the elements needed are in place. I’m more than halfway through the first draft now.

Research for this book has been exciting. I’ve read about 1920s nightclubs, flappers, early jazz musicians and organised crime. I’ve enjoyed learning some of the slang of the era – my favourite is the phrase ‘giggle juice’ for booze! I can certainly relate to that after a glass or two of my sleuth Mrs Jameson’s favourite cocktail, the French 75 (recipe below).

So what is the story about? Well, I don’t want to give away spoilers but it involves Freddie the pianist, the American ambassador’s wayward niece, and Marjorie going ‘undercover’ as a dance hostess in a Soho nightclub on the trail of a drugs gang. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Recommendations: books, blogs and booze

Did you know that Dorothy L Sayers, one of the greats of ‘Golden Age’ crime fiction, worked in advertising? The wit and wordplay of copywriting obviously stood her in good stead. It also provided the setting for one of her most enjoyable novels, Murder Must Advertise. I read it for the first time recently and was blown away by its contrasting witty tone and dark subject matter. I found it completely gripping and loved the pin-sharp dissection of the work of an advertising agency.

I read it on the recommendation of Kate Jackson, a prolific blogger about classic crime and author of the entertaining-sounding British Library book How To Survive A Classic Crime Novel. I’m a big fan of the British Library’s crime books, so I’ll be picking up a copy next time I’m there for research. Kate also wrote a very funny blog post, Dorothy L Sayers Guide to Amateur Sleuthing, which you might enjoy.

My version of the French 75 comes from Cecil Beaton’s Cocktail Book, a splendid publication which kept me amused during those long evenings of lockdown. As well as delightful recipes to try, it includes lots of inspiring photographs of the Bright Young Things photographed by Beaton in his studio. As the book says, the French 75 is ‘a beautifully straightforward sweet and sour combination, with a charge of gin and a bubbling fuse of champagne leading to a kick likened to the French 75 field gun.’

Here’s how: Shake 25ml gin, 20ml lemon juice, 10ml sugar syrup together and fine strain into a champagne flute, then top up with champagne and garnish with a lemon twist. Cheers!

 

August newsletter: Rome, jazz and Blackmail In Bloomsbury

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The advance reader team have been sending me their feedback on Blackmail In Bloomsbury and I’m delighted to say they think (to use the slang of the time) it’s the bee’s knees! Here’s what they had to say:

“Thank you for a perfect summer read! Enjoyed it immensely!”

“Thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved Mrs Jameson, & the story was excellent.”

“I very much like the way Marjorie is shaping up to be tougher and less naïve than one might initially assume.”

Keep an eye on your emails – it will be ready to pre-order this month.

When in Rome…

It’s a running joke in my family that you can’t take me anywhere without me writing a story about it. Well, it’s happened again. I had the great fortune to visit Rome earlier this month with friends who know it well. We had a fantastic time visiting gorgeous palazzos, fascinating old churches and (of course) hanging out in cafés and bars over the occasional aperitivo.

As readers may remember from Murder At The Ritz, Mrs Jameson is a well-travelled woman who spent a lot of her life in Italy. I wondered what Rome had been like when she was a young girl, fresh from Boston, perhaps attending her first ball in a palazzo like the ones we visited… The resulting short story, Diamonds Are For Christmas, will be with you as a little Christmas present later this year!

All That Jazz

My next 1920s murder mystery is going to involve a lot more jazz! I’ve put together a playlist of some ragtime favourites, including classics like the Tiger Rag by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and the wonderfully-titled I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate. Well, don’t we all! You can listen to it here: https://buff.ly/44pGrGm

What I’ve enjoyed this month

The novel is now underway and features the archetypal Jazz Age character, the flapper. I went to the British Library last week to read up on some 1920s history, but on the way out got snared by this appealing little book from Pushkin Press in the bookshop.

Where All Good Flappers Go is a compendium of stories by some of America’s greatest writers, including F Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker and Zora Neale Hurston. The stories celebrate the flapper as “An artist in her particular field, the art of being – being young, being lovely,” as Zelda Fitzgerald put it. But the flapper was more than that – she was courageous, charming, irreverent and out for a roaring good time. I was jolly pleased to be taken along for the ride.

The big question!
I often get inspired to set murder mysteries in places I visit. What do you think is a great location for a murder mystery? Hit reply and let me know. The first answer that makes me laugh gets a free e-book copy of Blackmail In Bloomsbury.

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June newsletter: your exclusive free novella

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It’s finally here – the first Marjorie Swallow adventure. Murder at the Ritz will be the first in a new series of murder mysteries set in 1920s London. The novella is available free to all newsletter subscribers.

Tea, cucumber sandwiches and a sprinkle of cyanide…
October 1922. Marjorie Swallow isn’t a regular at The Ritz. But she really, really wants this job. She’s been summoned to an interview to become a personal secretary to the mysterious Mrs Jameson, who wants assistance with ‘social engagements and private investigations’.
Over afternoon tea in the Palm Court, Marjorie’s detective skills are put to the test when a fellow guest keels over in suspicious fashion. Who killed the colonel? There are no shortage of people who wanted him dead. But which of them managed to slip a spoonful of poison into his Darjeeling?

Murder At The Ritz is exclusive to newsletter subscribers – if you’re not already on the list, sign up below.

Deal Festival reminder

Tickets are selling like hot cakes for my panel session at the Deal Music and Arts Festival! If you want to hear me and William Shaw talking about crime writing by the seaside, you’ll need to book soon. Check out the website here: https://dealmusicandarts.com/festival/

Research
While the first full book in the series, Blackmail in Bloomsbury, was with the editor, I took the opportunity to do some in-person research in London. I enjoyed a (rather damp) tour of London’s West End crime hotspots, and a trip to the Bow Street police museum, tucked around the back of what was formerly Bow Street police station and magistrates court.

The eye-opening tour taught me about the close working relationship between police at Bow Street and the various nightclub owners, criminal gangs and pornographers of Soho. Apparently businesses only got raided if they weren’t sufficiently generous in their hospitality to certain policemen. Oddly enough, Bow Street museum didn’t make much of this – but you can see the original cells where the likes of the Pankhursts, Oscar Wilde and the Kray twins were held before their appearance before the magistrates.

Recommendations
Staying with the 1920s crime and nightlife theme, I’m really enjoying Kate Atkinson’s Shrines of Gaiety, a novel set among the women running and working for 1920s nightclubs. It owes a lot to the true history of Kate Meyrick, the Soho ‘Queen of Clubs’ I heard all about on my West End walk.

May newsletter: writing news and spring recommendations

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Book news

I’ve been busy finishing the first in my new series of 1920s murder mysteries, Blackmail in Bloomsbury. The manuscript is off to my editor next week.

It’s my first historical mystery and I’ve discovered a few challenges along the way. For example, in one scene a man arranges to meet somebody at Piccadilly Circus, by the statue that Londoners call Eros. I wanted to check people used that name in 1922, so I looked it up – only to discover that Eros was removed from his pedestal in 1922 for the building of the new Piccadilly Circus underground station! Cue some hasty re-writing.

Next month you’ll receive Murder at the Ritz, the prequel novella which introduces the series. My beta reader team has been busy checking it through and I’ve been delighted with their responses.

Here’s a taster of comments: “Hugely enjoyed it… I really liked all the characters, especially Marjorie Swallow and Mrs Jamieson, and the story was fantastic… It is a great start to a very promising series… I loved the setting of a luxury London hotel.”

I hope you’ll enjoy it just as much.

Deal Music and Arts Festival

I’m thrilled to be appearing at the Deal Arts Festival in my home town of Deal in Kent in July. I’ll be on a panel with one of my favourite crime writers, William Shaw, to talk about writing crime by the seaside! The box office opens on 9 May if you’re interested in coming along. Link here: https://dealmusicandarts.com/festival/

What I’ve enjoyed this month

On TV, I loved watching The Gold, a dramatization of the aftermath of the massive Brinks Matt gold robbery which took place in London in the early 1980s. I grew up in south London at the time, so a lot of the pleasure was from recognising places, faces and fashions. I didn’t know that development of the area of London now known as Docklands was funded from the heist. I remember going for a ride on the brand-new Docklands Light Railway in the early 80s, across acres of derelict former docks and building sites. It’s now home to half of London’s biggest banks, not to mention very posh flats.

The novel Godmersham Park, by Gill Hornby, was another peek into English history. This was a bit longer ago, and a bit more decorous than the 1980s criminal underworld. It tells the imagined story of the real-life Anne Sharp, a governess to the family of Jane Austen’s brother Edward. The difficult position of an independently-minded (but unfortunately not independently-funded) woman in Georgian England is keenly exposed. It includes tantalising glimpses of Jane Austen herself, who understood only too well the perils of her situation.

The big question!

What have you been reading or watching this month? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know.

Have a wonderful May, and happy reading.

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