All posts by Fiona

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
News

Publication day for The Picture House Murders!

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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.
Locations

Clara’s Newcastle

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As part of Fiona’s writing process, before she start writing a new book she looks for an original map from as close to the period in which she is writing as possible. It helps her to visualise the location and to be aware of the historical differences of locations from what they are now. She found this fabulous map in Reid’s Newcastle City Guide (1928). See below the main locations of The Picture House Murders and follow Clara as she solves the case.

Map of locations for The Picture House Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith
Cinema

The Canary Murder Case, 1929

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The opening of The Picture House Murders sees Clara watching a showing of The Canary Murder Case in a Covent Garden theatre. The Canary Murder Case was one of the first ‘talkies’ to be shown in Britain, and audiences were so amazed at the voices on screen that they applauded the very first time the actors opened their mouths to speak.

You can view the film on YouTube at the link below.

The film, starring William Powell as the gentleman detective Philo Vance, was directed by Malcolm St Clair, and was an adaptation of the 1927 novel of the same name by SS Van Dine (the pseudonym for Willard Huntington Wright). Wright wrote the screenplay.

The film also stars the beautiful Louise Brooks as the Canary. In The Picture House Murders friends tell Clara she looks a little like Louise Brooks and her hairdresser convinces her to get her hair cut the same way. This is the style her mother considers ‘boyish’ in chapter 1.

Fashion

Fiona’s ‘on location’ outfit

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Fiona first started making 1920s clothes when her debut Golden Age crime novel, The Jazz Files, the first in the Poppy Denby Investigates series, came out in 2015. She made this outfit inspired by Lady Mary from Downton Abbey. (That’s Fiona in the photo, not Lady Mary!).

She made it from an original 1920s pattern, republished by Mrs De Pew. The hat and shoes aren’t vintage but were bought new. She started out using a vintage 1920s Singer Sewing Machine, but after much anguish and colourful language, switched to a modern machine (shhh don’t tell anyone).

She decided to wear the outfit again for her video shoots for the Clara on Location promo videos at Exhibition Park (here on the left) and at the Royal Station Hotel. To view the videos click on the video link on the top menu or visit Fiona’s YouTube channel here!

News

The Picture House Murders audiobook

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The audiobook of The Picture House Murders, narrated by the very talented Hannah Geniuses , is available now! The Picture House Murders, published by Embla Books, is the first in the new Miss Clara Vale Mysteries. It is set in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1929, and Hannah does a smashing job with the Geordie accent. The clip below is from the opening scene of the book (no Geordies involved yet!). You can order the audiobook for yourself here: The Picture House Murders audiobook.

Media & Reviews

Writers’ Narrative Magazine – review of The Picture House Murders

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The Picture House Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith - book 1 of The Miss Clara Vale Mysteries

The Picture House Murders has received its first review appearing in the August edition of the new Writers’ Narrative Magazine. Reviewer, Wendy H. Jones says:

“I am a long-time fan of Veitch Smith’s work, particularly her Poppy Denby Mysteries. Therefore, it was with great excitement, and a little trepidation, I sat down to savour the first in her new Miss Clara Vale Mysteries. The trepidation was born of a fear that this series would not measure up to her previous series. Let me put you out of your misery and say, this one met all my expectations and then some.”

You can read the full review here. (see page 31 – 32). And you can subscribe to Writers’ Narrative yourself. It’s a free monthly online magazine – information on the back page.

Fashion, Locations, Videos

Clara on location at Exhibition Park

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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 first video she visits Exhibition Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, the location of the Great North East Coast Exhibition in 1929. You can read about how Fiona made her fabulous outfit here.