Best-selling crime writer Karen Charlton sets new novel in York

Smoke & Cracked Mirrors, the eighth novel from historical crime fiction writer Karen Charlton, is the first book she has set in her native county.

It is the first instalment in the York Ladies’ Detective Agency mystery series, which features two young women who launch a private investigation business in wartime York.

Karen has already sold more than 700,000 worldwide copies of The Detective Lavender Mysteries.

The popular novels are set in Regency London and centre around character Stephen Lavender, who was a real-life principal officer with the Bow Street Runners. Her writing has won Karen a large fan base in the United States.

Smoke & Cracked Mirrors opens in 1940 with Jemma James returning to York, the city of her birth, to set up the agency with her best friend, Roberta ‘Bobbie’ Baker.

The budding detectives quickly find themselves embroiled in a series of mysterious cases. They also stumble across an unsolved murder.

Born in Sheffield, Karen grew up in Leeds and now lives on the coast at Marske-by-the-Sea. The former teacher has also lived in Hull, Harrogate and Scarborough.

Karen Charlton

She said: “I feel like I’ve finally come home. My fan base is mostly American, and I know they’re going to love a series set in historical York. But it would also be a real thrill to achieve a greater literary presence at home with Yorkshire and UK readers picking up the first book and following the new series closely.

“The crime fiction genre has always fascinated me, particularly the golden age of the 1930s and 40s. York is a stunning city and is steeped in history and intrigue, so it’s the perfect backdrop for a mystery novel – especially during the grim years of the Second World War.

“One of the most enjoyable parts of writing a home-based novel has been the chance to use my own dialect in the speech of the characters. Their dialogue is peppered with all sorts of Yorkshire sayings and phrases. That’s been a lot of fun. I’ve even managed to squeeze in the saying: ‘Where there’s muck, there’s brass!’ Although what my American readers will think of that, I don’t know!”

Karen researched newspaper and museum archives to gain a close insight into the lives of ordinary people in York during the war.

“Everyone I’ve approached, from the curators at the city’s museums to the staff at the central library and Bettys Tea Rooms, could not have been more helpful,” she said.

Karen is already writing the second novel in the series, ‘Dancing with Dusty Fossils’, which features the mysterious murder of a museum curator from the York’s Castle Museum. It will be published in November 2022.

Smoke & Cracked Mirrors is released this April and is available to buy in selected book stores, and from Amazon in eBook, paperback, and audiobook at https://geni.us/TcUcZH9