The Kill Fee ~ Review

The Kill Fee
Poppy Denby Investigates #2
By Fiona Veitch Smith 

A missing Fabergé Egg, a shot guard, a couple of murders, an attempted murder, and a world teetering on the on the cusp of revolution.  Poppy Denby has stumbled into yet another mystery that could leave her in danger. What's an employee of The Daily Globe to do but try to make a name for both herself and the paper.

But when the official police investigation could implicate an employee of the paper - suddenly being in the middle of the story doesn't look so appealing.  And the investigation has the potential to become an international scandal with England's close ties to the exiled Romanov Royals. Could the stolen Fabergé Egg be the key to the entire mystery - one that has Russians on both sides of the Revolution claiming? 

But there is a far more sinister plot that could cost Poppy and those closest to her their very lives unless they learn the rules to political intrigue soon. Could the paper have the proof as to the whom the guilty party is? And can they save their lives by offering a kill fee for the very story that all are dying to hear...

Poppy Denby is a resourceful young woman who is trying to find her place in a world that is changing. The daughter of a minister and the niece of a suffragette - 1920's London is just the place to discover who she is. But does she want to embrace the "freedoms" so many are claiming or will she hold to the standards that she was raised with?

With a multiple of suspects this is a who-dun-it that will keep the reader guessing. I liked the back and forth aspect that took the reader to Russia in 1917 and then London in 1920 as the mystery and key characters are slowly revealed. This is a book that fans of historical fiction will enjoy especially those who enjoy the carefree years between the wars when people were trying to forget the turmoil that they had just experienced.

I was provided a review copy of this book by the publisher through Kregel Blog Tours with no expectations of a review positive or otherwise. All expressed opinions are my own.


About the Book:

Poppy Denby, arts and entertainment editor at the Daily Globe, covers an exhibition of Russian art, hosted by White Russian refugees, including members of the surviving exiled Romanov royal family. There is an armed robbery, a guard is shot, and the largest Fabergé egg in the collection is stolen. While the egg itself is valuable, the secrets it contains within are priceless--secrets that could threaten major political powers.

Suspects are aplenty, including the former keeper of the Fabergé egg, a Russian princess named Selena Romanova Yusopova. The interim Bolshevik Russian ambassador, Vasili Safin, inserts himself into the investigation, as he believes the egg--and the other treasures--should all be restored to the Russian people.

Poppy, her editor, Rollo, press photographer Daniel, and the other staff of the Globe are delighted to be once again in the middle of a sensational story. But soon the investigation takes a dark turn when another body is found and an employee of the newspaper becomes a suspect. The race is on to find both the key and the egg--can they be found before the killer strikes again?