Have you ever felt like all your dreams have come true? I have! If you haven’t met me yet – I’m Frances Palmer – sorry, Sullivan, since my wedding. It’s heavenly being married to Jack, I have the kindest mother-in-law anyone could wish for, and staying with her and her husband in London is good-oh, too. Before that, the farthest I’d travelled from my hometown of Adelaide was to Melbourne, to see family. Only – if I’m honest, I never thought having nothing to do would become a little boring! I even had to fight the maid for silly little jobs.

Yes, Jack’s mother has a maid. Many people here do, although it’s 1932! We don’t, back home in South Australia. We’re used to taking care of everything ourselves. You should have seen the maid when she first caught my lighting the fire and making morning tea to take around! Now that she’s getting used to my “funny foreign ways” (I overheard her chatting to the servants next door), she’s glad to leave me tidy our room and run around with a duster in the morning.

I’m used to housework – and to dealing with crime. Still, it came as a nasty surprise when my mother-in-law and I stumbled upon a blackmail scheme at her club for ladies! But we’ll figure out how to catch the joker. “We” includes my godfather, ex-Vaudevillian Uncle Sal, our new friends in high places, and our puppy, Leo. Mostly I only have to act trustworthy yet slightly naïve – I’ve noticed that my Australian accent helps me being overlooked. Being a stranger also means that nobody outside our circles suspects that I, a telephone exchange operator, have become an expert when it comes to disguises, picking locks, and outwitting hardened criminals.

That anonymity suits me. It’s much better than sticking out too much and have people look at you funny, because you’re committing a bloomer, or have picked up a bit of Cockney slang that slips out.

Have you ever been to London? Although a million chimneys fill the air with an acrid smell, it’s bonzer. We go for walks in the park, visit the theatre, have tea at Selfridge’s, and we mingle with a real Lord and a real Lady. Thanks to reading so many P.G. Wodehouse novels, I was well prepared for everything (or at least prepared enough not to embarrass myself constantly).

One thing I’ve found out during my stay: I’m much happier doing something – if it’s sleuthing or helping out with chores – than being a lady of leisure. Now you’ll have to excuse me. Breakfast will be ready in a twinkle, and then we have a blackmailer to stop.

Murder By The Letter: A Cozy 1930s Jack and Frances Mystery, Book 7
Genre: Historical Mystery
Release: January 2025
Format: Digital
Purchase Link

Haunted by the past …

1932. Frances is settling into married life with Jack and enjoying their prolonged stay in London. Her peaceful times end when she and her mother-in-law stumble upon a blackmail scheme, targeting a war widow they meet at the ladies’ only Athena Club.

With the woman’s reputation at stake, they need to find the blackmailer and put an end to his machinations. But when the intrigue escalates to murder, Jack and Frances race to investigate among war veterans and club members and identify the cold-blooded criminal, before the past claims more victims …

A golden age mystery full of intrigue, in the best traditional of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.

About the author
Carmen Radtke has spent most of her life with ink on her fingers and a dangerously high pile of books and newspapers by her side. She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and always dreamt of becoming a novelist.

Her first mystery, The Case of the Missing Bride, was inspired by a true event in 1862. It became a Malice Domestic finalist and was nominated for a CWA Historical Dagger. Since then, she has penned several more cozy mysteries, including the Jack and Frances series set in the early 1930s. She’s currently living in Italy with her two-legged and four-legged family.