A delicious classic style whodunnit, dripping in details…
Dora is a would be detective who flees her loathsome fiancé and heads off to London. Murder is on the cards or rather in the bookshelves as Dora finds a body in the London Library.
This book is set in the 1930’s and pays homage to the golden age of detective fiction utilising the classic method of murder, references to crime fiction of the time and a even a fictional writer of the age.
I have to be honest, at the beginning at the book, there was such a lot going on that I didn’t really feel I was hooked into the story. However, that soon changed as the murder investigation got into full swing and Dora began to shine in her own light. She had the mind of a classic sleuth, yet she was a unique character in her own right. We really dig beneath the surface with her background and upbringing. The writer managed this well with many other characters too, including with Dora’s friend who had a rather upsetting story with her freedom and opportunities being severely limited.
I also have to mention Inspector Fox, for me, instead of being another police officer who got in the way of the ‘real’ investigation, he turned out to be another great character. The reader was allowed into his private thoughts and this brought through some of the social issues of the day. I really liked the fact that we saw all sides of life, this wasn’t another story centring on the playground for the rich.
These social details intertwined well for the most part with the main plot line. I have to say I did guess the murderer early on, that’s not to say it was a disappointment, we are led along on the investigation quite methodically. Although perhaps more red herrings and suspects could have been introduced.
It was rather grittier than many a modern cosy crime novel, presenting a more representative view of the 1930’s. I found it more nostalgic for the traditional era of detective fiction. It would be perfect for you, if you like this style with a modern character driven narrative.
D is for Death is written by Harriet Evans, writing as Harriet F.Townson

An unexpected gem of a book!! Loved it!!
Set in 1935 it took me a while to get into the language, then I was hooked into a fascinating world of eccentricity, London in the 1930’s, and a woman’s lot in that life.
Dora Wildwood escapes her fate of marriage from an unsuitable match, on a dawn train from Somerset to London. Meeting up with some of her mother’s old friends she finds herself in a world of libraries, crime writers and trying to solve a murder mystery after finding herself in the middle of a crime scene. Dora is intuitive and sees more than people realise.
Loved the atmospheric descriptions of a smog filled London, great characters, and wonderful locations. The details of the fashions and ways of life was fascinating.
Really looking forward to Dora’s next adventure!!
Thank you NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the early read, hugely enjoyed and appreciated!

I enjoyed this story very much. All the characters were very likeable, especially our heroine, and the mystery slowly built without becoming tiresome. The story is set around the time just before the 2nd world war, but there is minimal mention of events or technology, so that it’s easy to forget it’s not set in another time period. I’m hoping this book will be the first in a series as there were unanswered questions at the end of the book surrounding our heroine

Okay, I love cosy crime, I love mid century fiction which means I really love Golden Age crime, I love any and all books set in libraries and I am a huge fan of Harriet Evans who has branched out into a new genre with D is for Death. All of which means I was very well disposed to this book before getting my grubby hands on it and expectations were HIGH. Luckily it did not disappoint. I adored it!

Dora arrives in London on the milk train, running away from an oppressive and unwanted engagement and to a life away from her sleepy (and full of surprisingly macabre traditions) village looking for her godmother, adventure and giraffes, not neccessarily in that order. She finds the first two straight away, met by her godmother's maid, but almost instantly losing her again when her fiance accosts her. Soon Dora is on the run, ending up by chance at The London Library having acquired by accident a small gun.

A couple of weeks later Dora has a job, friends and a place in a boarding house. Life would be perfect if only her ex fiance would get the hint and leave her alone and people connected to the library and her mother's glamorous novelist friend would just stop being murdered where Dora will find them. What is going on in London's literary world? Why is she slightly obsessed by the Detective Chief Inspector's forearms? What is the deal with mysterious librarian Ben? How can she help her old school friend, also trapped in an unwanted engagement but unlike Dora with no way out? And will she ever see a giraffe?

Clever, funny, poignant and full of gorgeous period detail, D is for Death is no museum piece but looks under the glamarous facade of inter war London at what life is like for those who don't fit in, for women still struggling for any kind of equality, for the poor and helpless. Witty, beautifully plotted and full of memorable characters I for one can't wait to see what Dora does next. Highly recommended.

Thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the series - a heroine who sees things more clearly than others (while also being very eccentric and scatty), fabulous supporting characters (I hope we get Miss Pym back in future books), a twisty mystery, some Very Bad Behaviour from Dora's fiance (and of course the murderer and the red herring), and I think the London Library itself could count as a character. Wonderful period feel. If you're a fan of Dodie Smith and Golden Age Crime, you'll really enjoy this.

I came to this book after hearing the author talk at the Persephone Books festival in Bath, UK. So if you enjoy Persephones - this one's for you, too! Townson excels at creating believable and three-dimensional characters, but not at the expense of pacing. There's also plenty of red herrings along the way, skilfully planted among the real clues, to give the mind an extra work-out! I'll be looking out for more in what I hope will be a series.

A fun fast read featuring a young lady would be detective in 30s London. Lots of references to Lyon's, Cafe Royale and Fortnum's. The plot was somewhat stretched ( could have been so much shorter) and the ending shows a series is on its way. A light read for a rainy day. If this turns into a series I'd probably read the next!

We join Dora Wildwood as she heads to 1930s London to escape her engagement to a man she realises she can't marry. As soon as she arrives in London, she gets caught up in strange goings on and a murder or two. Dora gets to turn detective to try and find out whodunnit.

This was a fun read and an enjoyable homage to the golden age of crime fiction, libraries and peppermint creams.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC - I absolutely loved this. The protagonist Dora is immediately likeable and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

A Most Satisfying Mystery..
It is 1935 and Dora is fleeing a proposed and most unsuitable marriage. With a husband to be on her tail she hides in London - unbeknown to Dora, she is just about to unwittingly discover her first dead body. Finding the body, in the library of all places, means that Dora is now ‘involved’. She can help with this investigation, can’t she? The start of a new historical mystery series with a delightful protagonist, a deftly drawn cast and a well imagined backdrop. The author has done a sterling job in creating a satisfying Golden Age feel with a true mystery at its very heart. A wonderful start to a new series.

'D is for Death' is a fun nod to the 1930s mystery. We're thrown into Dora's eccentric ways from the start, and although she's a bit scatty, she's utterly loveable. The mystery itself is a good one, although the twist isn't perhaps as striking as it could be (I sort of guessed this by the final third), you enjoy the journey so much that it doesn't really matter. A light-hearted romp (even with some dark elements and themes to bring balance), that a mystery-lover will doubtless enjoy.

Oh my god this book! I want to inhale it. I want to live in it. I want to buy the rest of the series and read them all one after the other while feasting on peppermint creams (a top tier reading snack, when I was a kid I often used to spend my pocket money on a new Sweet Valley High from WH Smith and some peppermint creams from Thornton's!) but sadly I have to wait for sequels to be written! They will be written, right? Right???

A glorious love letter to the Queens of Crime, with a sprinkle of Nancy Mitford and Dodie Smith, this book is just absolutely glorious fun. Dora is a joy, the crime is suitably twisty (although in deference to the rules of The Detection Club it's not so fiendish that there aren't Clues along the way), and the supporting characters are delightful. I just want more please, ASAP!

I struggled with D is for Death by Harriet F Townson. It's not that it was bad. Rather, I think there were just too many turns for me and I couldn't make myself care about any of the characters. And yet, I should have enjoyed it. So perhaps I just read it at the wrong time...

Harriet F. Townson’s debut novel, D is for Death, made me laugh many, many, times. There are echoes of PG Wodehouse and Douglas Adams. Charles’s mother cannot feed the chickens because “The magnetic forces are extremely strong around the chicken coop, and it gives her a headache every time she goes near.” Lady Dreda’s habit of drinking a half-pint of Guiness with her breakfast toast could perhaps be considered unconventional; and a random clergyman’s “rather odd-looking novels with pictures in French” caused a respectable matron to moan and cover her eyes.

It’s 1935 and Dora Wildwood is unfortunately engaged to a boor. She realises that she cannot sacrifice herself, so she runs away to her godmother, Lady Dreda, in London. To use another author’s phrase, Dora is a disaster magnet. On her first day in London, she stumbles across a dead body in the London Library. Understandably, and as in all detective stories, she wants to find out whodunnit. There is a handsome librarian and a Detective Inspector with muscly forearms. There are also a couple of Nippies from the Lyons Corner House tea shop.

I enjoyed the book but I felt a couple of points stopped it being perfect. Firstly, how likely is it that two waitresses working at a tea shop would go to the Café de Paris on a regular basis? Yes, I know they were being treated by some upper-class male friends on the occasion Dora joined them, but my disbelief refused to be suspended quite that far. Secondly, I had the impression of a book in two halves. Characters’ motives became complicated and the simplicity in which Wodehousian one-liners thrive seemed much less common in the second half of the book. The light prose and spontaneous wit gave way to a sense that the writing was becoming, maybe not quite a chore, but perhaps a little tedious.

I shall definitely look out for a sequel, but I wonder if Dora would shine better in a set of short stories rather than another full-length novel.

#DIsForDeath #NetGalley

I had the time of my life reading D is for Death, the first crime novel by Harriet Evans. It is absolutely delicious, a mash up of so many of my favourite things, with a heroine who has gone straight to the top of my list of favourite sleuths.

This book is deep in chatty, affectionate conversation with classic crime novels, it is so good and funny and interested in small, important things like velvet lined tweed capes, peppermint creams and pearlescent blue tea cups. It is bristling with loveable characters (Dreda, straight out the pages of Georgette Heyer! Susan, Albert, Maria, a whole crew of loveable librarians! Miss Pym! I’m already hopelessly team Fox and his handsome forearms) It felt like there were potential stories everywhere, like there should already be a hundred more of these, and a long-running twelve season tv series that we all rewatch at the weekend.

I think it’s clear that I loved it, but here is a non-exhaustive list - if, like me, you enjoy these things I think this will be absolutely your cup of tea: Harriet Vane, Phryne Fisher, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, Cold Comfort Farm, Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series, all the London shenanigans in I Capture the Castle, excellent clothes including a sequinned Schiaparelli jumpsuit, Enola Holmes, Nancy Mitford, giraffes, Veronica Speedwell, vintage green penguin paperbacks, and cinnamon toast from Betty’s.

What bliss!

If you enjoy historical mysteries/murder mysteries this is a brand new character to fall in love with. Dora Wildwood is fabulous, you can't help but fall for her charm and spirit. I loved how this story is set in the Library of London and all the charm of pre-WW2 London.

A nice bit of fun, with a main character brimming with personality.
Lots going on to keep you both entertained and amused.

A new heroine for the age, Dora Wildwood is on the run from a potentially disastrous marriage. Her mother is dead and her father too blinded with love of another bride to notice that Dora is in danger of being sucked into a stifling relationship.
Upping sticks Dora is headed to her Godmother’s but fate and circumstance intervene and a brief respite in a library result in her witnessing a murder. Her strong desire to right wrongs, make a living and also to escape the clutches of her persistent fiancé, Dora finds that she is embroiled in a mystery and involved with a mysterious librarian and a contrarian policeman. In between the ghastly murders and controlling would be groom we manage to get some lighter comedic moments that pitch his into more light hearted territory we come to expect from cosy crime.
Great fun to read and enjoy with its period setting and likeable heroine.

I absolutely loved "D is for Death" by Harriet F Townson. Set in the Golden Age, it is exactly how I think murder mystery books should be written. Endearing and inquisitive characters and a funny plot. Look forward to the next one.

The fear of a woman escaping a marriage was very intense and suspenseful, adding in a dead body and mystery to this definitely upped the stakes and made me more immersed.