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It's just another day at the office for London book editor Samantha "Sam" Clair. Checking jacket copy for howlers, wondering how to break it to her star novelist that her latest effort is utterly unpublishable, lunch scheduled with gossipy author Kit Lowell, whose new book will dish the juicy dirt on a recent fashion industry scandal. Little does she know the trouble Kit's book will cause - before it even goes to print. When police Inspector Field turns up at the venerable offices of Timmins & Ross, asking questions about a package addressed to Sam, she knows something is wrong. Now Sam's nine-to-five life is turned upside down as she finds herself propelled into a criminal investigation. Someone doesn't want Kit's manuscript published and unless Sam can put the pieces together in time, they'll do anything to stop it.
With this deliciously funny debut novel, acclaimed author Judith Flanders introduces readers to an enormously enjoyable, too-clever-for-her-own-good new amateur sleuth, as well Sam's Goth assistant, her effortlessly glamorous mother, and the handsome Inspector Field. A tremendously entertaining read, this page-turning novel from a bright new crime fiction talent is impossible to put down.
"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. " - Publishers Weekly
"A layered mystery in which fingers can be pointed in a variety of directions… full of charm and characters worth visiting again." - Kirkus
"Wickedly funny… the perfect storm of an entertaining read… Loved it." – The Times (UK)
"From the first page you want Samantha Clair to be your new best friend… [Flanders] keeps the reader intrigued and laughing in equal measure." – Daily Mail (UK)
"Hilarious, big-hearted, clever, whip-smart and devious. A truly wonderful crime novel by a brilliant writer." - Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Long Way Home
"Deadly funny. Judith Flanders' wry take on publishing and murder should be on everybody's wish list." – Donna Leon, New York Times bestselling author of By Its Cover
"Mordantly funny; at last a novel about the world of fashion that seems to find it as ridiculous as I do." – Philip Kerr, author of A Man Without Breath
This information about A Murder of Magpies was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photos: Clive Barda
Judith Flanders is an international bestselling author and one of the foremost social historians of the Victorian era. Her first book, A Circle of Sisters, was published to great acclaim, and was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, and her second book, Inside the Victorian Home, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards History Book of the Year. Judith is a frequent contributor to the Sunday Telegraph, Guardian, Spectator, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Wall Street Journal. She lives in London.
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