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A Murder of Magpies
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Published:
St. Martin's Publishing Group 2015
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description

A whip-smart, impeccably crafted debut mystery, A Murder of Magpies takes readers on a whirlwind tour of London and Paris with an unforgettably original new heroine
It's just another day at the office for London book editor Samantha "Sam" Clair. Checking jacket copy for howlers, wondering how to break it to her star novelist that her latest effort is utterly unpublishable, lunch scheduled with gossipy author Kit Lowell, whose new book will dish the juicy dirt on a recent fashion industry scandal. Little does she know the trouble Kit's book will cause-before it even goes to print. When police Inspector Field turns up at the venerable offices of Timmins & Ross, asking questions about a package addressed to Sam, she knows something is wrong. Now Sam's nine-to-five life is turned upside down as she finds herself propelled into a criminal investigation. Someone doesn't want Kit's manuscript published and unless Sam can put the pieces together in time, they'll do anything to stop it.
With this deliciously funny debut novel, acclaimed author Judith Flanders introduces readers to an enormously enjoyable, too-clever-for-her-own-good new amateur sleuth, as well Sam's Goth assistant, her effortlessly glamorous mother, and the handsome Inspector Field. A tremendously entertaining read, this page-turning novel from a bright new crime fiction talent is impossible to put down.

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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
02/24/2015
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781466860285
ASIN:
B00MEDBDP2
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Judith Flanders. (2015). A Murder of Magpies. St. Martin's Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Judith Flanders. 2015. A Murder of Magpies. St. Martin's Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Judith Flanders, A Murder of Magpies. St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2015.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Judith Flanders. A Murder of Magpies. St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2015.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Needs Update?:
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Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 16:59:19
Date Updated:
Jan 13, 2023 19:33:47
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 08:23:07
Last Metadata Change:
Aug 20, 2023 09:08:00
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 08:23:10
Last Availability Change:
Feb 03, 2024 20:52:49
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 29, 2024 02:17:20

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      • bioText: JUDITH FLANDERS is an international bestselling author and one of the foremost social historians of the Victorian era. Her book Inside the Victorian Home was shortlisted for the British Book Awards History Book of the Year. Judith is a frequent contributor to the Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Spectator, and the Times Literary Supplement. She lives in London.
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Minotaur Books
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title
A Murder of Magpies
fullDescription

A whip-smart, impeccably crafted debut mystery, A Murder of Magpies takes readers on a whirlwind tour of London and Paris with an unforgettably original new heroine
It's just another day at the office for London book editor Samantha "Sam" Clair. Checking jacket copy for howlers, wondering how to break it to her star novelist that her latest effort is utterly unpublishable, lunch scheduled with gossipy author Kit Lowell, whose new book will dish the juicy dirt on a recent fashion industry scandal. Little does she know the trouble Kit's book will cause-before it even goes to print. When police Inspector Field turns up at the venerable offices of Timmins & Ross, asking questions about a package addressed to Sam, she knows something is wrong. Now Sam's nine-to-five life is turned upside down as she finds herself propelled into a criminal investigation. Someone doesn't want Kit's manuscript published and unless Sam can put the pieces together in time, they'll do anything to stop it.
With this deliciously funny debut novel, acclaimed author Judith Flanders introduces readers to an enormously enjoyable, too-clever-for-her-own-good new amateur sleuth, as well Sam's Goth assistant, her effortlessly glamorous mother, and the handsome Inspector Field. A tremendously entertaining read, this page-turning novel from a bright new crime fiction talent is impossible to put down.

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reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Long Way Home
      • content:

        "Hilarious, big-hearted, clever, whip-smart and devious. A truly wonderful crime novel by a brilliant writer... Judith Flanders has found that difficult, magical ground between humour and crime, where the death is never trivialized, but the territory is hysterically pilloried. Brava!"

      • premium: False
      • source: Donna Leon, New York Times bestselling author of By Its Cover
      • content: "Deadly funny. Judith Flanders' wry take on publishing and murder should be on everybody's wish list."
      • premium: False
      • source: Cleveland Plain Dealer
      • content: "Wickedly clever -- and very funny... But like Bridget Jones, the obvious forerunner to her singleton London book editor/detective, Samantha Clair is not just played for laughs. There's some deep social satire in her investigation into the disappearance of a gossip columnist. And, yes, lots of laughs."
      • premium: False
      • source: San Jose Mercury News
      • content: "Carefully mixed up and served, with a lot of humor... Here's hoping Flanders has more to say and will be back with another book."
      • premium: False
      • source: Publishers Weekly
      • content: "The array of delightful and believable characters, as well as a neat turn at the end, will leave readers well satisfied and anticipating the next installment."
      • premium: False
      • source: Kirkus
      • content: "A layered mystery in which fingers can be pointed in a variety of directions... full of charm and characters worth visiting again."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        December 1, 2014
        Social historian Flanders (The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens’ London) makes her fiction debut with an amusing mystery set in the eccentric world of British book publishing. Samantha “Sam” Clair, a snarky middle-aged editor at London publisher Timmons & Ross, faces serious problems when gossipy journalist Kit Lovell delivers a potentially libelous manuscript with new revelations about the death of fashion icon Rodrigo Alemán. Soon a courier is killed and residences are burgled in attempts to swipe the manuscript, and Sam’s encounters with suave and seedy lawyers as well as Alemán’s brother hint at criminal activities connected to Alemán’s fashion house. When Kit disappears, Sam joins in the investigation with Helena, her elegant solicitor mother, and attractive Insp. Jacob “Jake” Field (a nod to Insp. Charles Field, the model for Dickens’s Inspector Bucket). The array of delightful and believable characters, as well as a neat turn at the end, will leave readers well satisfied and anticipating the next installment. Agent: George Lucas, Inkwell Management.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        January 1, 2015
        Even in the insular world of book publishing, murder has its place. British book editor Sam Clair has her routine-she gets up early to be in the office with her second cup of coffee before anyone else arrives-and she has her staple authors, those trusted to turn out best-sellers year after year. Kit Lovell, a feisty investigative writer deeply rooted in the fashion world, has just turned in one such manuscript, a book exposing the libelous inner workings of fashion giant Vernet, as well as evidence that the death of its head man, Rodrigo Aleman, was no accident. There are many people who would benefit from this never being published, and soon, a courier delivering the manuscript is dead. When Kit's apartment is broken into, followed by Sam's, it becomes clear that more than the manuscript's future is at stake, especially when Kit misses an important work lunch. Sam won't stand for her best author and good friend being kidnapped-or worse-and she steps in to investigate. Flanders creates a layered mystery in which fingers can be pointed in a variety of directions, from seedy lawyers to Aleman's own brother. Helping Sam are her spitfire mother, Helena, her sweet but isolated upstairs neighbor, Mr. Rudiger, and Detective Jake Field, with whom she ultimately starts a relationship (though their building attraction is curiously never shown). With so much to wrap up, especially as Kit's troubles are found to extend beyond his controversial reporting, the end result feels cluttered; in the rush to the finish line, delightful secondary characters get lost in the mix. The first novel by historian Flanders (The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London, 2014, etc.), though a bit frazzled, is full of charm and characters worth visiting again.

        COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        January 1, 2015
        In a sharp departure from her Victorian social histories, Flanders applies what she learned about the development of the mystery genre in the Victorian era to a smart, action-packed thriller set in modern-day London. Fortysomething Samantha ClairSam, to mostis an editor at a publishing house. At work, she faces the dual challenges of having to reposition a subpar novel turned in by her best-selling novelist while shepherding the tell-all biography of a deceased Spanish designer from fashion journalist Kit Lovell through the libel lawyers before publication. She does not expect, however, to have her apartment burgled or to be questioned by Inspector Jacob Field, CID, after a messenger is killed in a hit-and-run. When Kit disappears, Field and Sam's mother, Helena, a chic dynamo of a barrister, join forces with Sam to find Kit and determine who is trying to sabotage her book. Flanders has applied skillful writing to her knowledge of the London publishing scene, serving up an enjoyable, intricate page-turner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        April 27, 2015
        The good news is that Flanders’s humorous debut thriller about the perils of a British book editor is filled with wit and snarky comments, along with shrewd insight into London’s apparently cutthroat publishing scene. The not-so-good news is that reader Duerden has a singsongy manner of speech that eventually detracts from
        the cleverness of the writing. Otherwise, her delivery—British, breathy, confidential—is a proper, pleasant enough match for Samantha “Sam” Clair, the self-effacing book editor who is the novel’s often-imperiled protagonist and narrator. And Duerden suitably adapts her voice to fit Sam’s glam, glib, razor-sharp corporate attorney mum; her eager and efficient goth assistant; an elderly, gentlemanly upstairs neighbor; and the blasé, slightly short-tempered Insp. Jake Field, who, in the course of searching for an author of Sam’s who’s gone missing, becomes her love interest. A Minotaur hardcover.

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shortDescription

A whip-smart, impeccably crafted debut mystery, A Murder of Magpies takes readers on a whirlwind tour of London and Paris with an unforgettably original new heroine
It's just another day at the office for London book editor Samantha "Sam" Clair. Checking jacket copy for howlers, wondering how to break it to her star novelist that her latest effort is utterly unpublishable, lunch scheduled with gossipy author Kit Lowell, whose new book will dish the juicy dirt on a recent fashion industry scandal. Little does she know the trouble Kit's book will cause-before it even goes to print. When police Inspector Field turns up at the venerable offices of Timmins & Ross, asking questions about a package addressed to Sam, she knows something is wrong. Now Sam's nine-to-five life is turned upside down as she finds herself propelled into a criminal investigation. Someone doesn't want Kit's manuscript published and unless Sam can put the pieces together in time, they'll do...

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