In 1920's London Poppy Denby is an arts editor on the Daily Globe where she gets involved with White Russian refugees, Faberge eggs, an art exhibition and murder.
I tried hard to get involved with the characters and the plot but unfortunately it didn't really excite me.
A NetGalley Book ( )

I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program.

What a great "find" of a heroine Poppy Denby is!! I really enjoyed this 1920s whodunit revolving around a Faberge egg, the Russian royal family and the Bolshevik Revolution as all of it ricochets around a group of London citizens. There was a lot of action and information packed into this novel's 327 pages!! The Kill Fee is the 2nd in the Poppy Denby series, and I have not read the 1st novel, but I do not feel that that hampered my enjoyment of this novel in any way. I'm actually now looking forward to read future novels in this series to see what the incorrigible Poppy gets up to next! ( )

I rec'd this book in exchange for an honest review. It's the 2nd book in a series but enough details are thrown in harkening back to the 1st book that one catches up easily enough. The to e is that of novels written in the 1920's. Occasionally, however, the attitude and tone of the 21st century com in to strike a dissonant note. It's a pleasant enough book that will make for great smmer reading on the beach. ( )

The Kill Fee is the second book in the Poppy Denby Investigates series. I haven’t read the first book, The Jazz Files, but I had no difficulty reading this second book as it reads well as a standalone, with enough detail of previous events for me to follow the story.

It is set in London in 1920 with flashbacks to Russia in 1917. Poppy is the Arts and Entertainments Editor at the Daily Globe and whilst she is covering an exhibition of Russian Art at the Crystal Palace a guard is shot and injured and one of the Fabergé Eggs on display is stolen. It’s not just an extremely valuable Egg, one that had been owned by a member of the Tsar’s family, but one that is said to contain a secret that could threaten royal families throughout Europe.

This is reminiscent of the Golden Age crime fiction as Poppy sets about finding who stole the Egg and there are plenty of suspects. The theft is followed by a couple of murders and a poisoning, and a secret passageway as Poppy chases around London in hot pursuit of the killer.

Its an enjoyable read that kept me entertained with a mix of fictional and historical characters and a look at 1920s’ society. I particularly liked the Russian connection and the information about White and Red Russians and the Russian Revolution of 1917 – by 1920 this was coming to a head in the Crimea. The book begins with an episode in Moscow in 1917 as an unnamed man in a bearskin coat enters the house of an aristocratic family to find a scene of carnage. Most of the family have been murdered, but he rescues a small girl, her little dog and her English nanny. How this fits into the rest of the book only gradually becomes clear.

There is a map of 1920s London that helps to follow the action and a list of the fictional and historical characters that I found useful. Fiona Veitch Smith explains in her historical Note at the end of the book how she got the idea for The Kill Fee and how she blended fact with fiction. Apart from a few ‘tweaks’ she has stuck to the historical timeline, as far as she is aware, moving the Russian Embassy to Kensington Gardens seven years earlier than it really did and bringing forward the selling of paper poppies by one year – these were launched by the British Red Cross in 1921. The plotline of the theft of the Fabergé Egg and the exhibition at the Crystal Palace is a figment of her imagination. She apologises for ‘any unintentional errors you may find.’

Well, I did find another anachronism. At one point (page 209 in my paperback copy) Poppy and Daniel are arguing as he drives across London approaching the Victoria Embankment when he had to slow down ‘to allow a family to cross the road at a pelican crossing.‘ I think this must be a typing error as although pedestrian crossings existed more than 2000 years ago, pelican crossings weren’t introduced in the United Kingdom until 1969.

None of this affected my enjoyment of the book as the world of London in the 1920s came to life and the complex plot and fast pace kept my brain ticking over, keeping track of the different sub-plots and characters. The kill fee in the title refers to the money offered to Rollo, the Daily Globe owner and editor-in-chief, to stop him from publishing the story concerning the theft of the Fabergé Egg. ( )

The Kill Fee is the second book in the Poppy Denby Investigates Series by Fiona Veitch Smith. I admit I haven’t read book one, The Jazz Files. I do not think that had any impact on me jumping into this story. It focuses on Poppy Denby, the Entertainment Editor at The Daily Globe. Poppy is one of the few women in the newspaper business in 1920s London. The book does a great job of describing the era, and the characters are an embodiment of the changing times. The characters in the story area great fit for the 1920s era, they had lavish style in fashion and art.

At the beginning of the book is a map of Poppy’s 1920s London, a list of the fictional and historical characters, and a short history lesson about the White and Red Russians. This information is great to keep who all of the characters are straight and to provide background information on the political motives behind the story. The Kill Fee is very much a historical mystery book, but at times a slow read because of all the historical explanations. You can get dragged down into all the details. The story centers on White Russian aristocrats escaping the Red Russians by traveling to London. At an art expedition to raise money for the flight from Russia, a Faberge Egg was stolen. Who did it? Was it someone Poppy knows? This story was full of suspense and intrigue with murder, kidnappings, and multiple suspects. If you like historical mysteries, this book is for you.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Kregel. All opinions are entirely my own. ( )