All posts by Fiona

Fashion, News

1932 vintage gown for Miss Clara Vale

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I’ve been making another vintage dress. This one is a 1932 inspired Chanel evening dress in teal Crepe Georgette. It was a challenging make, not least because the instructions on these vintage patterns are so sparse! That and they seemed to have very skinny arms back in those days (well that’s my excuse and I’m going to stick with it.) This is the dress that Miss Clara Vale will be wearing in book 4 in the series, Another Class of Murder. Meanwhile, I will give it a test run at Crime Fest in Bristol next week.

Media & Reviews, News

The Picture House Murders – #1 Best Seller!

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I’m delighted to see that The Picture House Murders has reached the #1 Best Seller spot in historical mysteries on Amazon UK. How heartening that so many people are loving this book. Thank you to all my readers – old and new – who have made this happen. I’m tickled pink and Clara is quietly chuffed.

Locations, Videos

Clara on Location: Spanish City, Whitley Bay

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Join Fiona as she takes you to various locations for the setting of the Miss Clara Vale Mysteries – while wearing vintage style clothing she made herself from original 1920s patterns. In this video she visits the Spanish City in Whitley Bay, near Newcastle upon Tyne, which is the location of the picture house that burns down with such tragic consequences in The Picture House Murders. You can read about how Fiona made her fabulous outfit here.

Fashion

Fiona’s Whitley Bay dress – The Picture House Murders

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Fiona shot a short ‘on location’ video at the Spanish City in Whitley Bay, near Newcastle, one of the key locations in The Picture House Murders.

Fiona made the dress she is wearing from a 1927 Mrs De Pew pattern. 

She loved the turquoise chiffon on the cover, but couldn’t find any suitable fabric (at a reasonable price!). So instead she chose a navy blue polyester silk. The trickiest part of the construction was the sash and flounce which are integrated with the dress and not just a draped scarf as it appears. The sash is made up of multiple pleats, a bit like a cumberbund. The draped scarf is threaded through a faux tortoiseshell buckle (found at a haberdashery shop) and sewn in place.

The hat is her own sunhat and she borrowed her daughter’s parasol. The gloves were bought a few years ago but were too sparkly white to look vintage. So she soaked them first in tea (which didn’t work well) then in strong coffee!

Hope you all agree she looked smashing!

Fashion, Locations, Videos

Clara on location at the Royal Station Hotel

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Join Fiona as she takes you to various locations for the setting of the Miss Clara Vale Mysteries – while wearing vintage style clothing she made herself from original 1920s patterns. In this second video she visits the Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne, where Clara sets a honey trap for one of the main suspects in The Picture House Murders. You can read about how Fiona made her fabulous outfit here.

News

Books for trees!

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One of the reasons I chose to sign a contract with Bonnier Books is that they are an ethical publishing company committed to becoming carbon neutral. So I was delighted, yesterday, when I received an email from them telling me that for every book they publish they plant 10 trees – and I could choose where ‘my’ trees go! They partner with a number of reforestation projects around the world, and their latest one is in the Eastern Cape, on the outskirts of Addo. This is where my husband’s family live and where we met, at Rhodes University, over 30 years ago now.

So, thank you for buying The Picture House Murders. You will be contributing a couple of leaves to those trees! 🙂

https://www.reforestaction.com/en/bonnier-books-uk

man planting a young tree