A bohemian party, a handsome artist – and murder.
When Marjorie Swallow attends her first Bloomsbury party, she worries the conversation will be over her head. But when the evening ends in murder, she has more pressing concerns. Was the culprit really the handsome young artist she danced the night away with? And why did so many people want Betty Norris dead?
From the garden squares of Bloomsbury to the seedy backstreets of Soho, trainee detective Marjorie goes on a perilous hunt for the killer.
Having thoroughly enjoyed Anna Sayburn Lane’s contemporary Helen Oddfellow series of literary mysteries, I was excited to dive into her first foray into historical fiction. Blackmail in Bloomsbury is the first outing for Marjorie Swallow, newly appointed assistant to Mrs Iris Jameson, an American private investigator recently arrived in 1920s London.
When draper’s daughter Marjorie attends her first Bloomsbury party, she’s worried that the conversation of Bluestocking historian and professor of economic history Eileen Power and her bohemian set of artists, actors, and intellectuals might fly straight over her head. But when an evening of stimulating conversation and lively dancing ends in murder most horrid, Marjorie soon realises that even the most glamorous of lives can be touched by darkness. It soon emerges that the victim, Betty Norris, was a blackmailer. But who was she targeting? And what secrets do Marjorie’s new friends possess that would be worth killing for?
Blackmail in Bloomsbury is a light and entertaining mystery in the classic ‘golden age’ vein. Marjorie’s employer, the indominatable Mrs Iris Jameson, has more than a touch of the Agatha Christie’s about her, whilst Marjorie herself soon realises she’s more of a Sherlock than a Watson. Ably assisted by Inspector Peter Chadwick of Scotland Yard and supplied with tea, cocktails, and information by the smoothly efficient Graham Hargreaves of the Ritz Hotel, Iris and Marjorie are soon scoring the streets of London uncovering long-buried secrets, nefarious dealings, and clandestine back-street businesses.
Anna Sayburn Lane has done a fantastic job of bringing 1920s London to life. From the drawing rooms of bohemian Bloomsbury to the elegance of the Italian Rooftop Gardens, the sights and sounds of post-war London leapt off the page. Beneath the glitz and the glamour though, the horrors of the trenches cast long shadows and the novel isn’t afraid to examine the aftermath of the First World War upon Marjorie and her generation, or to illustrate how poverty and glamour often live side by side on London’s streets.
That said, the tone of Blackmail in Bloomsbury is definitely towards the ‘cosy’ end of the historical crime spectrum. As with any murder mystery there is, of course, a murder but although the method is rather gruesome, there’s very little by way of violence or blood on the page. Whilst our protagonists encounter some very nasty characters, they’re rarely in anything more than mild peril although content advisories should be noted for period-typical homophobia, discussions of mental illness, a suicide attempt, some physical violence, and infidelity.
Overall, I really enjoyed Blackmail in Bloomsbury. Marjorie is a delightful protagonist and I loved seeing her develop confidence in her own detective abilities as the novel progressed. I’m also really keen to see the relationships develop between the core cast of characters, and to find our more about Mrs Jamieson’s past and her relationship with Inspector Chadwick. A solid start to a promising new series, I can’t wait to see what Anna Sayburn Lane has in store for Marjorie and her friends next!
Blackmail in Bloomsbury by Anna Sayburn Lane is published by Starling Street Books and is available now from all good booksellers and online retailers including Waterstones and Amazon.
If you can, please support a local indie bookshop by ordering from them either in person or online! Some of my favourites include Booka Bookshop, Sam Read Booksellers, Book-ish, Scarthin Books, Fox Lane Books, and Berts Books.
My thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest and unbiased review and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for organising and inviting me onto this blog tour. The tour continues until 06 October 2023 so please do check out the other stops for more reviews and content!
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The Shelf of Unread Books 
Looks like a romp.
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