Synopsis

In the shadow of Lewes castle lies buried an ancient tablet. Hours after discovering it, dashing local archaeologist Gideon Rivers is dead.

Writer Virginia Woolf and her artist sister, Vanessa, both know firsthand that it doesn’t take much to cause a stir in town. And when Gideon returned home from a dig in Syria with a glamourous Parisian heiress on his arm, all eyes were on him.

But who would have conspired to murder such a charming young man? There are more suspects in his circle than it first an ambitious fiancée, a jealous best friend, and a string of scorned former lovers.

With the police chasing false leads and the murderer hunting down a second victim – one far closer to home – Ginny and Nessa are forced to take investigations into their own hands.

Solving this mystery calls for a little creativity . . .

Review

Although cosy crime isn’t usually a genre I rush to pick up, historical fiction is. Add in the fact that the amateur sleuths are Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell and how could I resist?

This novel is excellent. It’s slow, cosy and gripping, with fantastic characterisation, brilliant visualisation and discreet humour. It’s easy to picture, because Ciar’s writing flows so well; her love of the landscape really shines through the writing, but everything is carefully constructed to ensure nothing dominates the story.

It is – of course – entirely fictional, but it feels real and the characters come across exactly as you would expect, with a few cameos from the Bloomsbury set that are a nice touch. There’s so much simmering scandal in the town, but none of it feels contrived and the motive is believable.

Characters are so well-drawn that I felt like I knew every single one; I wanted to be a part of the community and soak up the literary and artistic talent that lurked around every corner and on every page.

If I had one criticism, it was the overuse of the phrase ‘warm for October’ – I appreciate the weather needed to be sunny for the story to work, but it probably didn’t need to be mentioned so many times. No doubt this has been edited out of the final version so it’s a minor point.

A Deadly Discovery is an absolutely fantastic story and I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Thanks to Headline Books for my proof copy. Opinions my own.