The Picture House Murders

Miss Clara Vale, Book 1

By: Fiona Veitch Smith

Narrated by: Hannah Genesius

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 Duke (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, and 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?©2023 Fiona Veitch Smith (P)2023 Bonnier Books UK

Entertaining

The Picture House Murders is an entertaining cozy mystery with engaging characters. However, the story moves slowly and falls flat in the middle of the movie. Overall, the mystery and characters are interesting. I'll get the next book to see if it get better.

Very Good Story

I enjoyed listening to this story. I have to say though, that I wish the author had paid a little more attention to some aspects of the story that seemed a bit anachronistic to me. For example, I do not think you would have had too many "respectable" women in the 1920s UK who would have jumped into bed with a man she knew for less than a few days, equally, a man who thought highly of/loved a woman would be more concerned about her reputation and refrain from doing anything that could result in her disgrace in society; people who barely knew each other were hugging, not something that was common until a few decades ago in the UK; then were some phrases that I am quite sure were not used back then, e.g. "best practice." These and a few other similar issues spoiled what was otherwise a good book, too many 21st century behaviours have been transported back to the 1920s. To write authentically about a past period requires good research and to resist imputing today's customs in a setting where they certainly did not exist or would not be acceptable.

Fantastic new 1920s detective!

I was sad to see this author’s Poppy Denby books weren’t continuing but absolutely loved this new detective and supporting characters and interesting mystery. Love Clara’s science background and learning about evidence collection techniques for this period. I had to immediately buy the second book in the series after finishing this one! If you’re a fan of well plotted 1920s mysteries, endearing characters, and sprinkles of 1920s fashion, cocktails, cars and architecture you’ll love these. The narrator does an incredible job with so many accents and characters to keep separate.

What an enjoyable and engaging story!

The main character Clara is intelligent and this book kept me engaged from start to finish.
I hope this will lead to a long series of- cannot wait for more!

Enjoyed it

I really enjoyed the book. It was refreshing with details of solving a murder. Hope to read more books written by her.