Hello from Venice!
When I was a child, a phrase often heard was ‘I want doesn’t get’, whether that was a note to get out of P.E., a pair of drainpipe jeans or a Girls World mannequin head. I think I’ve internalised this message, with the result that I’m quite bad at saying what I really want.
And I’ve wanted to visit Venice for decades. I’m lucky to have had wonderful holidays in Spain, France, Britain, even other cities in Italy. But somehow, I never visited Venice. I’ve read about it, dreamed about it, watched films set there… and when friends told me they were going, I said I’d love to go myself. One day.
A week later, they asked if Phil and I would like to go with them. We checked our diaries – both unusually free. We found accommodation. Even the same flights had seats available. I was out of excuses.
I’d been warned that Venice was over-run with tourists, and the city had become a museum with barely any residents. Perhaps that too was why I’d hesitated, fearing it would not live up to the romance in my head.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. I spent the days floating through this dream city built on water. Near our apartment children played in a shady square, old men chatted beneath the trees and everyone crowded into the bakery for morning coffee.
We bounced around on vaporetti, taking a trip to the islands after a lunch of grilled fish overlooking the lagoon (thanks to Lynn Morrison for the recommendation!). In the evening, we strolled over the Rialto Bridge and through St Mark’s Square, busy in daytime but magical after dark. We visited art galleries and palazzos, ate delicious food, enjoyed the secluded alleyways, canals and bridges with views so picturesque that we took about 600 photos in 3 days.
I’m so glad we went. And I have a new resolution: to say what I want out loud, and try to make it happen.
Death At Chelsea
In that spirit, please do order, read and review Death At Chelsea, the third in my Marjorie Swallow murder mystery series. The book will be published in six days, on Thursday 2 May.
My advance reader team loved this book! Here’s what they said:
“I found all the characters distinctive and intriguing. You are especially good at strong women… I really enjoyed it and wanted to keep reading to find out whodunnit!”
“Each one gets better and better – tighter, more confident, more assured. I particularly enjoyed the humour in this one.”
“I absolutely loved it. Great characters, cracking plot, was hooked.”
I have five signed copies of Death At Chelsea to give away, to the first five people who reply to this email with the answer to the question at the bottom of the letter. Keep reading for your chance to win.
Recommendations
A new book by Magda Alexander is always an event, and her Kitty Worthington series continues with Murder At A Funeral, publishing on 30th April. With her wedding day to CDI Robert Crawford Sinclair mere weeks away, Kitty is thrilled beyond words. But first there’s a sad duty—the reinterment of Robert’s mother at Castle Rutledge.
But on the day of the funeral, things don’t go according to plan. The vicar’s gone missing; the organist is drunk as a judge. And then there’s the body in the sanctuary. Not the one you’d expect. Then Robert’s brother becomes the main suspect, leaving them with no choice but to investigate…
Pre-order here.
My other book recommendation is Donna Leone’s Death At La Fenice, the first in her series of murder mysteries set in… you guessed it, Venice. Unusually for a murder mystery, the investigation takes a leisurely pace, with the delightful Commissario Brunetti taking time to lunch well, annoy his pompous superior, buy flowers for his beloved wife and play games with his children, alongside his investigations. I admit I’d guessed the mystery about halfway through, but that didn’t lessen my pleasure at the atmospheric story. Very much recommended – especially if you can read it while strolling those same streets!
Finally in Venice, I’m enjoying Ripley, Netflix’s dark rendition of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley. It sacrifices some of the gorgeous glamour of Anthony Minghella’s 1919 version for an uneasy monochrome noir. Some have said it’s a bit glacial, but I think the gradual build-up suits Andrew Scott’s subtle acting style well.
If you follow me on Amazon (which you can do here) you may have spotted that I have a fourth book in the Marjorie Swallow series in the works. The Riviera Mystery is due to publish in October, or sooner if I can mentally drag myself back from Italy to the south of France!
To win a signed copy of Death At Chelsea, tell me this: What is the big event that all English gardeners get excited about in Chelsea every May?
And just for the fun of it, what’s one thing you’ve always wanted to do, but somehow never got around to? Why not see if you can make it happen this year?
Have a marvellous May, and happy reading!
A new Verity Bright novel is always a treat, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck into A Death In Venice. Lady Eleanor Swift is off on a grand tour with her faithful butler and her bulldog Gladstone. But death stalks the canals of this beautiful city.
Marjorie and Mrs Jameson are off to the countryside for their next adventure, Death At Chelsea. But on the way, Mrs Jameson tells Marjorie about a visit to Hawkshill Manor for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, when a valuable piece of silver went missing.
I had the great pleasure of visiting 
I have a hot new release to recommend this month. I’m devouring Lynn Morrison’s 1920s ‘Dora and Rex’ series, featuring sleuth Theodora Laurent, a femme fatale with a mysterious past. The latest in the series, 
This festive short story features a sparkling Christmas from Mrs Jameson’s younger days–with a touch of mystery, of course. It’s December 24, 1892 and Iris is nineteen years old. She’s visiting Rome for the first time with her dauntless Aunt Isabel, and the Christmas Eve Ball at the Palazzo del Fiori is about to go very wrong…
I’m long been a fan of Benedict Brown, whose 1920s-set Lord Edgington mysteries are a delight. He has a new Christmas book out, The Christmas Bell Mystery, featuring the revered detective and his less-revered grandson Chrissie as they investigate a classic whodunnit in a snowbound manor house.
Lying dead at the bottom of the steep cliffs, however, is not Mr Cunliffe, but the gardener himself. And his plans for restoring the gardens to their former glory are missing. Jerome St Clair has gone from suspect to victim. This certainly puts a twist in the tinsel!
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.
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.