Review: Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 901 KB
• Print Length: 320 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (May 5 2015)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00VEZEBKK

Book Description

 'Scores of men and women died daily in London, but on this day of days one of them had died in the very midst of a crowd and the cause of his death was a dagger piercing his heart. Death had become something very real.' When Bobbie Cheldon falls in love with a pretty young dancer at the Frozen Fang night club in Soho, he has every hope of an idyllic marriage. But Nancy has more worldly ideas about her future: she is attracted not so much to Bobbie as to the fortune he expects to inherit. Bobbie's miserly uncle Massy stands between him and happiness: he will not relinquish the ten thousand a year on which Nancy's hopes rest. When Bobbie falls under the sway of the roguish Nosey Ruslin, the stage is set for murder in the heart of Piccadilly - and for Nancy's dreams to be realised. When Chief Inspector Wake of Scotland Yard enters the scene, he uncovers a tangled web of love affairs, a cynical Soho underworld, and a motive for murder.

About the Author

 Charles Kingston (1884–1944) wrote over twenty crime novels in the golden age of British crime fiction between the two World Wars. Many of his books―including Poison in Kensington and The Highgate Mystery―are set in London. All have been unavailable for many decades, and Kingston’s work has long been neglected by readers of classic crime fiction.

My Review

 Poisoned Pen Press is publishing a series of vintage British mysteries: A British Library Crime Classic. I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie so I thought I would give some of these a go.

The first one in the series that I have tried is Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston. It was originally released in 1936. 

Murder in Piccadilly is a great book to discover what life was really like in the 1930s in Britain. It is very interesting in that sense. It's not a typical mystery but perhaps it is the type of book that a 1930s reader would enjoy. It took a while to get going! But have patience, as it is an interesting tale.

Looking forward to discovering other "old" authors in this series.