Cosy Mystery – The Miss Clara Vale Mysteries by Fiona Veitch Smith

The Penford Manor Murders – pre-order now!

Fiona — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 12:57:58 +0000

It’s open season at Penford Manor in Northumberland – and someone has murder in their sights…

Miss Clara Vale returns in ‘The Penford Manor Murders’ by Fiona Veitch Smith on 15th April! Pre-order now in #eBook, #audiobook and #paperback https://tinyurl.com/4t5hnk2k

Newcastle Noir 10th Anniversary!

Fiona — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 11:39:05 +0000

As an author I travel to a lot of festivals and events in far-flung places. So it’s always a treat to have a crime festival right on my doorstep! And not just any festival, but one of the best in the country. I was delighted this year to appear on the Cosy Crime & Golden Age panel at Newcastle Noir’s 10th anniversary at Newcastle City Library. With me were Golden Age mystery novelist Tom Mead (the Spector Locked-Room Mysteries) and contemporary cosy writer Antony Johnston (the Dogsitter Detective). We were interviewed by the fabulous Kitty Murphy, who writes the Dublin Drag Mysteries. I was talking about Miss Clara Vale and the Pyramid Murders. Thanks to the incredible Jacky Collins (aka Dr Noir) for running the whole show, warmly and professionally. May there be many more!

The Picture House Murders – #1 Best Seller!

Fiona — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 10:13:05 +0000

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.

The Picture House Murders Instagram Book Tour

Fiona — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 12:11:53 +0000

Miss Clara Vale and I are delighted to be on the @instabooktours for The Picture House Murders! Thanks to all the Instabloggers and reviewers for taking part. Turn up the volume for this one, it will have your toes tapping! Music is ‘I’d Rather Be Blue’ by Alfredo & His Band (1929). Enjoy!

Click here to view the video!

Clara on location at the Royal Station Hotel

Fiona — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 13:19:55 +0000

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.

Publication day for The Picture House Murders!

Fiona — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 08:45:56 +0000

Lights, camera, action! It’s publication day for The Picture House Murders, the first in the Miss Clara Vale Mysteries. Is it too early for champagne? While I ponder that, you can get your copy now! Ebook, print or audiobook via Amazon, or order a copy through your local bookshop. Embla Books, Bonnier Books UK

Order your copy here!

Clapperboards and the reel of film lie on a wooden board.

The Bookseller – Embla signs Fiona Veitch Smith

Fiona — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 11:20:32 +0000

It was announced in the Bookseller on 9 February 2023 that Emba Books UK had signed Fiona for a three-book deal for the first three titles in the new Miss Clara Vale Mysteries series. You can read the announcement in the Bookseller here.

Announcing ‘The Picture House Murders’

Fiona — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 11:52:31 +0000

The Picture House Murders, the first in the brand new Miss Clara Vale Mysteries, is available to pre-order now! Coming out in ebook, audiobook and print on demand on 29 August 2023. Published by Embla Books, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK.

Order your copy now: The Picture House Murders.

Murder is no occupation for a lady… or is it?

1929: Miss Clara Vale is a woman ahead of her time. Rather than attending Oxford to bag an eligible aristocrat (as her mother, Lady Vale, so desperately hoped), she threw herself into a degree in chemistry, with aspirations to become a scientist in her own right.
But the world isn’t ready for Clara. Unable to land a job in science because she’s a woman, she is stuck behind the desk at a dingy London library. Until her estranged uncle dies suddenly, leaving her his private detective agency in Newcastle upon Tyne, and a laboratory, in his will.

Clara couldn’t become a detective, could she?
The decision is made for her when one of her uncle’s old clients comes to her for help with a case surrounding the local picture house and invites Clara to see the latest show, before they discuss the details. But during the film, a fire suddenly engulfs the picture house, with tragic consequences. It seems at first an accident, but Clara soon begins to question if it was in fact a carefully orchestrated murder. She’s suddenly in the middle of a deadly mystery and will discover her scientific skills make her a sleuth to be reckoned with… Can she catch the killer before they strike again?

Set in the colourful world of early cinema, just as silent films are being replaced by talkies.

From Fiona Veitch Smith, the author of the Poppy Denby Investigates books.