The Art Fiasco

Poppy Denby Investigates, Book 5

By: Fiona Veitch Smith

Narrated by: Helen Keeley

It's 1924 and investigative reporter Poppy Denby is heading up to Northumberland to celebrate her father's 60th birthday. She stops off in Newcastle en route to visit her Aunt Dot, who has temporarily relocated from London to renovate a house she's inherited. One of Aunt Dot's guests is the world renowned artist Agnes Robson, who is staging an exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery. Reluctantly, Poppy is roped in to help when the artist's press liaison man falls ill. She soon discovers that the local press have dug up some dirt on Agnes relating to the tragic death of a young art teacher in Ashington Colliery, 27 years earlier. As she tries to suppress the story, Poppy begins to suspect that the teacher might have been murdered and that the killer may still be on the loose....

©2020 Fiona Veitch Smith (P)2020 W F Howes

Story and a history lesson

As usual, lots of twists and turns with snippets of well-researched feminist history along the way. Sorry I have read all the books now and will have to leave the indomitable Poppy behind!

The Best of the Series

I loved this book and story line in the series better than any of those that were written before.

Slightly different, possible triggers

I appreciate the jump in time, though I was admittedly thrown by it, but the whole book, and theme, seemed to have altered too.

This installment is a bit darker and covers more controversial topics than the previous books. I have allowed my 12 yo to read the earlier books, but I think we will have to skip this one until she is a bit older.

For those that may have had traumatic physical events in their lives, this book may have triggering scenes and memories so be aware.

Justice does prevail, and the ending we were all hoping for is ahead.

Excellent series!

Truly excellent writing, plots well thought out, and never relying on cheap sex or gore in place of solid mystery. I wish there were a dozen more.

More mystery, less melodrama, please!

The books in this series have been well written & interesting, with the events & characters colored by the women suffrage movement & attitudes towards women’s rights in the 1920’s, which issues are, unfortunately, still relevant if you are paying attention to current events & increasingly hostile attitudes toward women. That said, the tone & plot of this book tipped tipped too far into melodrama. It would not have surprised me if one of the heroines had been tied to a railroad track by a “Snidely Whiplash” character equivalent. To me, the plot was pretty obvious early on and the moralizing was too heavy. However, I remain a fan of Rollo & will give the next book a try. The reader does a wonderful job of differentiating the characters, as she has throughout the series.