This is the cover for the first in our London Bound series, JS Fletcher's The Charing Cross Mystery (1923). Designed by Ayshea Carter it's the first of at least six, and probably ten, classic crime titles set in London. They're virtually all taken from the Golden Age of Detective fiction - and none of them are available at present (apart from POD of course - and some not even then). They're all great reads but, sometimes more importantly, they also allow a glimpse of the nation's capital at a unique time - between the wars. Britain was changing, and these early detective novels provided a great retreat from some uncertainty, providing solutions, order and calm whilst affirming that the country at that time was absolutely the best place to live.
They provide fascinating reading and, due to their location, all lead us through familiar landscapes, much recognisable still today whilst some merely retains a name. Reading these provides escapist perfection, the years roll back and somewhere in a murky corner of the Smoke's labyrinthine alleys a heinous crime is committed; an innocent loses their life at the hands of a foul deviant. The hero of the hour- a detective, amateur or professional, genius or plodder, steps up and the security of our world is in his, we hope, eminently capable hands...
Each is available as a softback, matt-laminated, French-flapped period cover. There will also be a limited number of hardbacks produced.
