The Cairo Brief by Fiona Veitch Smith is the fourth outing in the 'Poppy Denby Investigates' series and my first foray into this popular set of stories.
The Cairo Brief by Fiona Veitch Smith is the fourth outing in the 'Poppy Denby Investigates' series and my first foray into this popular set of stories.
Set in my favourite fictional period of time - the roaring twenties - Agatha Christie fans will be addictively drawn to Poppy Denby, being a stereotypical character she would normally incorporate in her books. The author is an excellent writer and captures the era of the time perfectly, with dialogue, actions and surroundings depicted spot on making it wholly atmospheric of the 1920's.
Egyptian archaeological digs and finds have always interested me and the fact the story revolved around the auction of the cursed Death Mask of Nefertiti made it all the more intriguing for me. When one of the members of the auction party is murdered and someone starts stalking Poppy, there's a race against time to find the killer...
I loved all the characters and it was nice to see some real-life historical people incorporated, like the famed archaeologist Howard Carter and even a cameo role from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle too.
Having read and fully enjoyed this entertaining mystery, I do intend to seek out the other books in the Poppy Denby series and will continue to follow the arts and entertainment editor turned investigator in the future.
A great mystery written in the 21st century but set in the roaring twenties, Poppy Denby is the new Miss Marple. A well researched old fashioned mystery.
This popped through my letterbox on Friday and by this afternoon I had snuggled down in my armchair and read this interesting mystery.
This is book 4 of the Poppy Denby books and can be read as a standalone story.
Set in the 20s Poppy is a journalist gets caught up a masks curse, then there is a murder. This is Agatha Christie written in a modern age set in the 20s.
Well researched and as a fan of the British Museum and Egyptology this was right up my street. Who owns these artefacts made me think of today and the Elgin collection -the same issues today.
The roaring twenties, country estate setting atmospheric and the reader is transported back to a different age.
Recommended with an excellent plot which keeps the reader hanging on till the end - a thoroughly good read.
Enjoyable cozy mystery romp, well researched and intriguing!
This book is fourth in the series of cozy period crime mysteries with leading heroine Poppy Denby investigating. Haven't read any of her adventures before, but now I wish I had! It's a very well set piece of Roaring Twenties cozy mystery with a lovely Ancient Egypt thrown in as a bonus. You really feel the time it is set in, great details and little characters you feel like you have always known. Reads very well and gives a lovely, cozy feeling indeed. Nice camp story with lots of fun bits and a gentle mystery with a bit of a twist. Nicely done!
A charming country house murder mystery set in the roaring 20s.
This is the fourth book in Fiona Veitch Smith's 'Poppy Denby' series of murder mysteries. Poppy is a journalist and amateur sleuth based in 1920s London. I haven't read any of these books before and I was impressed at the way that you are transported to that period in time. In particular, I could really feel the emotional after-effects of the 1914-18 war on all of the characters.
The theme of this story is the discovery and dubious acquisition of an ancient Egyptian artefact in an archaeological dig, but really the book is a country house murder mystery set in the 1920s. I thought that the scene-setting and the historical details were very good, but found the story itself a little slow for my taste. There are a huge number of characters and it felt as though the author was constantly re-introducing them throughout the book, rather than picking up the pace of the story. However, the parts of the story set in Egypt (both at the start and near the end of the book) were very engaging and I think these sections could have been developed a little more.
Overall this is a charming tale, a period murder mystery with a great final resolution. The story takes place at Christmas, making this a potential seasonal gift for someone who likes historical crime fiction.