Meet Lucy Darkwether: Bookseller. Socialite. Sleuth.

Lucy Darkwether has always made her own rules. One of the first women to graduate with a degree from Oxford, she's now the proud proprietor of London's newest antiquarian bookshop, with a side line in scandalous new novels and Ancient Egyptian curios - when she's not attending the latest parties as a woman about town.

So when a rival bookshop is chosen to exhibit a selection of extraordinary new Egyptian artefacts, Lucy's pride is piqued - and when the grand opening ends in a gruesome murder, she finds herself uniquely placed to unravel the mystery . . . Is this the revenge of a disgraced colleague, a private vendetta - or a curse visited upon those involved with the latest tomb opening?

As the crime continues to baffle the police, and the curse threatens to claim yet more victims, Lucy plunges into her role as sleuth, with the assistance of her fellow booksellers. But murder isn't a game - and what she uncovers will have consequences for them all . . .

A witty, gripping and deliciously entertaining mystery, The Bookshop Murders is the perfect reads for fans of Agatha Christie, Phryne Fisher and Golden Age crime