Anna Sayburn Lane's books
Genres: Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Formats: E-Book, Paperback
Marjorie and Mrs Jameson enjoy a trip to a glamorous clifftop hotel for a very English seaside holiday… until a mysterious Italian woman in white appears, anxious to speak to Mrs Jameson. Whoever she is, Mrs Jameson definitely doesn’t want to talk to her. And when a corpse is discovered on the beach, Marjorie is unsure who to trust. What exactly is Mrs Jameson hiding, and why doesn’t she want to investigate? As Marjorie is drawn deeper into the mystery, she realises how much she still has to learn about her employer… Will she finally learn what happened to Mrs Jameson’s husband in Rome?
Genres: Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Formats: E-Book, Paperback
When the Daily Post, the top-selling newspaper of 1924, receives a notice announcing the death of Lord Ravensbourne, something is clearly up. Not only is his lordship the owner of the Post, but he’s still very much alive. Lady sleuths Marjorie Swallow and Mrs Jameson must find out who sent the death notice, before the threat becomes reality. But they quickly discover that Lord Ravensbourne, a belligerent bully, collects enemies like other men collect stamps. Everyone seems to have good reason to wish him dead. The detective duo dive into the murky world of 1920s Fleet Street, the home of British newspapers, where back-stabbing journalists will do anything for a scoop, inky-fingered printers strike at the drop of a trilby hat, and the presses rumble deafeningly in the basement. Can they protect Lord Ravensbourne, find out who sent the death notice – and will Marjorie decide what to do about...
Genres: Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Formats: E-Book, Paperback
A trip to the French Riviera sounds like just the ticket for Marjorie and Mrs Jameson. But from the moment they step aboard the famous Blue Train to the Mediterranean coast, it becomes clear that this won’t be an ordinary vacation. They’ve been invited to stay at the palatial Villa Beau Rivage for a month in the sun, after a dismal summer in London. Surrounded by diamond merchants, film stars, artists and art dealers, Marjorie is swept off her feet by her first experience of the beauty and colour of the Côte d’Azur. She faces a dilemma when one particular artist sets her heart racing – but soon they are both caught up in the aftermath of a tragic death at a glamorous party. Luckily Mrs Jameson is there to keep her mind on the case, as they investigate just how far some people will go for money.
Genres: Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Formats: E-Book, Audio, Paperback
Detective duo Mrs Jameson and Marjorie Swallow are called to investigate when a renowned garden designer suspects that someone is sabotaging her priceless Himalayan Sapphire Lilies, ahead of the 1923 Chelsea Flower Show. But soon it’s not just the flowers that are dying. Rival gardeners, intrepid plant hunters and even King George V himself are caught up in a poisonous bouquet with its roots deep in the mountains of Tibet. The third in the Marjorie Swallow 1920s murder mystery series requires all her wit, charm and pluck to solve.
Genres: Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Formats: E-Book, Audio, Paperback
When Marjorie goes dancing with the flapper niece of the American ambassador to London, she thinks that The Charleston may be her biggest challenge. But when the night ends in tragedy, she goes undercover as a dance hostess at the notorious Harlequin Club, plunging into a shady world of cocaine deals and opium dens. Who is dealing cocaine to the club’s patrons? What is the role of the terrifying Armstrong Brothers? And does the answer lie closer to home than Marjorie and Mrs Jameson suspect?
Genres: Cosy Mystery, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Formats: E-Book, Audio, Paperback
When a bohemian party ends in murder, there’s no shortage of suspects. Half of Bloomsbury wanted Mrs Norris dead – but who wielded the knife? Was it the handsome but troubled artist? The vivacious young actress? Or the brilliant historian who hosted the gathering? When the police arrest the wrong man, apprentice sleuth Marjorie vows to find the true killer. From the garden squares of Bloomsbury to the seedy backstreets of Soho, she navigates the glamour and peril of Jazz Age London in a thrilling story of secrets and lies. Blackmail In Bloomsbury will keep you guessing to the very last page.
Genres: Crime, Thriller
Formats: E-Book, Paperback
When literary researcher Helen Oddfellow finds an old newspaper clipping in an antiquarian bookshop in Rochester, she uncovers a Dickensian murder mystery. But her quest to solve the puzzle takes a dangerous turn when the bookshop owner disappears. The 200-year-old report of a woman’s murder on the steps of London Bridge provides clues to the real-life inspiration for Nancy, one of Charles Dickens best-loved characters. As Helen investigates, she discovers the woman died because she knew a secret that the British establishment was intent on covering up. Now Helen knows… and the secret is still alive today. Helen teams up with the booksellers’ distraught teenage daughter, and enlists help from a charming businessman who seems to have more than a passing interest in Helen herself. As they follows the trail, Helen discovers that the eerie marshes of north Kent are home to a modern-day criminal gang more brutal than anything...
Genres: Crime, Thriller
Formats: E-Book, Paperback
When Helen Oddfellow goes to Canterbury for the opening of an Elizabethan play unseen for 400 years, she is expecting an exciting night. But the performance is disrupted by protests, then a gruesome discovery in the cathedral crypt draws her into a desperate hunt for a murderer. Is the play cursed? The actors think so, but Helen doesn’t believe in curses. As friends go missing and Helen herself is threatened, she pursues the clues through the ornate tombs of the cathedral and the alleyways of the ancient city. Mysteries from the distant and not-so-distant past are exposed. Can Helen find the killer – before he kills again?
Genres: Crime, Thriller
Formats: E-Book, Paperback
When Helen Oddfellow starts work as a lecturer in English literature, she’s hoping for a quiet life. But trouble knows where to find her. There’s something wrong with her new students. Their unhappiness seems to be linked to their flamboyant former tutor, Professor Petrarch Greenwood, who holds decadent parties in his beautiful Bloomsbury apartment. When Helen is asked to take over his course on the Romantic poet William Blake, life and art start to show uncomfortable parallels. Disturbing poison pen letters lead down dark paths, until Helen is the only person standing between a lone gunman and a massacre. THE PEACOCK ROOM is the intriguing follow-up to the acclaimed thriller UNLAWFUL THINGS, which introduced the literary sleuth Helen Oddfellow.
Genres: Crime, Thriller
Formats: E-Book, Paperback
When London tour guide Helen Oddfellow meets a historian on the trail of a lost manuscript, she’s intrigued by the mystery – and the man. But the pair are not the only ones desperate to find the missing final play by sixteenth century English playwright Christopher Marlowe. What starts as a literary puzzle quickly becomes a quest with deadly consequences... Shortlisted for the Virago/The Pool New Crime Writer award.

















