📖 Featured Book of the Month ~ Notes of Change by Susan Grossey

In the autumn of 1829, the body of a wealthy young man is found dumped in a dust-pit behind one of London's most exciting new venues. Constable Sam Plank's enquiries lead him from horse auctions to houses of correction, and from the rarefied atmosphere of the Bank of England to the German-speaking streets of Whitechapel. And when he comes face to face with an old foe, he finds himself considering shocking compromises...

The new and highly organised Metropolitan Police are taking to the streets, calling into question the future of the magistrates' constables. Sam's junior constable, William Wilson, is keen, but what is an old campaigner like Sam to do when faced with the new force and its little black book of instructions?

📖 My Review...

Few reviews have given me as much pleasure to write than those of the Constable Sam Plank series of historical crime novels. I first started my journey in 2013 when a new author approached Jaffareadstoo to read and review, Fatal Forgery, the first book in a proposed seven book series. 

Always happy to give new authors a chance, I very quickly realised that this series was historical gold and have lost count at how many times I have recommended the books, delighting in each adventure and engrossed as soon as I opened the page at Chapter One. Getting to know Sam, his wife, Martha, and his assistant, William has been a joy, and as each subsequent story took me deeper into the mean and moody streets of Regency London, so I became engrossed in Sam's valiant quest for justice for the community which he serves so stoically.

So it was with an element of bitter-sweetness that I approached Sam's last adventure on the streets of London, a place which he has made pretty much his own. Notes of Change starts when Constable Plank and his assistant, William are called to investigate the mysterious death of a young man who has been found close to one of London's newest establishments. That there is something suspicious about this death is obvious and Sam's investigation will take him into the dangerous world of gambling and the heinous crime of counterfeiting. 

As with any last book in a long running series there is a sense of the tying up of loose ends, I was especially pleased to see the brief return of an old character, and with the formation of the newly formed Metropolitan Police Force there is definitely a change in the air for both Sam and William as each ponders their future.

Finishing the book with an air of sadness but also the satisfaction which comes from a story well told, I took the time to acknowledge the skill of this wonderfully talented author who has fed my imagination with bright and bold stories, rich in Georgian history, and ferociously alive with intrigue. Jaffareadstoo is especially honoured to have been quoted both on the inside of the books and also to be featured on a couple of the book covers.

Meticulously researched, and beautifully written as ever, I have no hesitation in making Notes of Change my Featured Book of the Month in June.

📖 Best Read with... tankard of dark ale and a generous slice Mrs Plank's rabbit pie.

About the Author

Discover more about Susan's writing and the world of Sam Plank

Website

Twitter @ConstablePlank

His Fic Saturday....Heir Apparent by Susan Grossey

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to ...London,1829

A young man returns to London from the family plantation in the Caribbean after an absence of six years to be at his father’s deathbed – and to inherit his estate. But is the new arrival who he says he is, or an impostor? Anyone who doubts his identity seems to meet an untimely end, but his sister swears that he is her beloved brother.With their investigations leading them into the complicated world of inheritance law and due process after death, Constable Sam Plank and his loyal lieutenant William Wilson come face to face with the death trade and those who profit from it – legally or otherwise. Among them is an old enemy who has used his cunning and ruthlessness to rise through the ranks of London’s criminal world. And, in this sixth novel in the series, it’s now 1829: as plans progress for a new police force for the metropolis, Sam and his wife Martha look to the future. 

What did I think about it..

It’s always such a treat to kick off my shoes, brew a large cup of my favourite Darjeeling tea, and relax with the latest Sam Plank adventure, safe in the knowledge that I am about to enter into the life of this most intriguing of constables in another well imagined historical crime adventure. Heir Apparent is now the sixth book in the series and Sam and his wife, Martha are as familiar as old friends, as indeed, is young constable, William Wilson, who we have witnessed coming into his own in the last few stories.

In this penultimate book in the series, Plank and Wilson face an inordinate amount of mysterious deaths which seem to focus on the problems facing a well to do family and the return of a prodigal son. Dipping into the complicated process of inheritance law, both Plank and Wilson need to keep, their considerable, wits about them as they seek to find reasonable cause for doubt in a complex criminal case which gets more and more complicated which each successive turn of the page.

There’s an authenticity to the characters, particularly Sam, and his wife, Martha, which not only makes these stories such a joy to read, but which also gives such an imagined insight into life in the capital in the early 1800s so that it really does feel as though you are moving in tandem with Plank, Martha, and the intrepid Wilson as they go about their business, forever trying, and usually succeeding, to live their lives in the full glare of the criminal fraternity. Sam Plank is such an out and out good guy that you feel, entirely comfortable in his presence, and undoubtedly it is his strong reliability which brings these stories to glorious life.

Once again in Heir Apparent, the author has given us an adventure which takes us on a riotous journey through London, and beyond, into a dangerous criminal underworld of forged identity, dastardly dealings and general skulduggery. The historical research is impeccable, the nature of the crime is explained in minute detail and the way in which the mystery is solved is expertly concluded in a way which has you nodding your head in wry agreement. As always the author brings time and place vividly alive and it is no exaggeration when I say that the Sam Plank Mysteries are perhaps one of the best historical crime series I have read. 

I had a little bit of a lump in my throat when I finished the story as it is obvious that there are significant changes on the way with the formation of the new Metropolitan Police Force, what this means for Sam, Martha and Wilson we must wait to find out in the last book in this exceptional historical crime series.

About the Author

Read a fascinating interview with Susan here

Discover more about Susan's writing and the world of Sam Plank

Website

Twitter @ConstablePlank

Hist Fic Saturday ~ Faith, Hope and Trickery by Susan Grossey

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to ...1828

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
March 2018

Investigating Crime in Regency London

It's never too late to join Constable Sam Plank as he patrols the mean, and it must be said, often moody streets of Regency London. In this, his fifth adventure, Sam and his assistant Constable, William Wilson, find themselves drawn into the mysterious world of religious meeting houses. Shadowy places where the vulnerable go to find comfort and hope in messages from loved ones who have departed this life. When Sam's wife, Martha, gets drawn into this eerie world, Sam is determined to discover as much as he can about the enigmatic preacher, John Buxton and of the perplexing women, known as ‘heralds’, who receive messages from the dead.

As always, from the very first page, the world of Regency London springs into action and Sam’s patch around Great Marlborough Street takes shape, whether it be serving warrants on behalf of the magistrate John Conant, or attending the scene of a grisly murder, Sam does so with his usual steadfastness and meticulous attention to even the smallest of detail. There’s an inherent dependability about Constable Plank which shines through in every novel and yet, I think that in Faith, Hope and Trickery we see an altogether more vulnerable Sam which is centred on Martha’s unusual susceptibility and of his unerring need to protect her. We rarely go behind the bedroom door of this marriage; there has never been a need before, so it was really interesting to see how this crack in their relationship altered the perceived intimacy between them, something which, perhaps, we have taken for granted in previous novels.

The mystery at the heart of the novel, is as ever, beautifully explained and so meticulously detailed that nothing is ever left to chance and everything flows like the wheels of a well oiled machine. And such is the great partnership which exists between Sam and Wilson that it's an absolute joy to see them continue to work so well with each other.

Beautifully written and impeccably researched, Faith, Hope and Trickery takes us into the very heart of teeming London. Whether it be taking a Hackney coach to the religious meeting place at Cooper’s Gardens in Bethnal Green or visiting the criminally insane in the confines of the notorious Bethlem Hospital, I always know that, travelling alongside Constable Plank as he goes about his purposeful business, I am always going to be held in a safe pair of hands. 

From the minute I opened Faith, Hope and Trickery, cup of tea in hand, I relaxed, safe in the knowledge that neither Sam, nor his creator, will ever let me down.

Susan Grossey has written five Sam Plank novels, set in subsequent years in the 1820s: “Fatal Forgery”, “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat”, “Worm in the Blossom”, “Portraits of Pretence” and “Faith, Hope and Trickery”.

    

Susan has her own blog here

You can purchase her novels (in paperback and various e-editions) here

And you can follow Sam himself on Twitter, where he appears as @ConstablePlank

Hist Fic Saturday ~ Susan Grossey

On Hist Fic Saturday I am excited to welcome back to the blog  historical fiction writer

Susan Grossey

Susan has just published her latest historical novel, Faith, Hope and Trickery and I am thrilled that she has taken the time to talk to me about why she writes historical fiction.

Why I write historical fiction by Susan Grossey

When you think of the Regency period, what comes to mind? I’m guessing that you’re now imagining Jane Austen, or perhaps the astonishing confection that is the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, or maybe the rather portly George IV, or even any one of dozens of heated romances with titles like “The Wicked Marquis and the Innocent Maid”. And if I say “historical detective”, is it Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot who leaps into view? A genre that you rarely see is a mash-up of the two – Regency detective – and yet this is precisely the space in which I find myself writing.

I cannot claim to have thought of it myself. Rather, the timing was foist upon me by real history. In my day job I work as an anti-money laundering consultant (basically, I advise institutions on how to avoid criminal money) and I was doing some research for a client into the history of banking fraud. And I came across the story of Henry Fauntleroy, a London banker who took advantage of his clients’ lack of understanding around the latest financial technology – share certificates – to pinch their assets. He was caught in 1824 and put on trial, at a time when fraud carried the death penalty. (Those were the days….) His story formed the basis of my first historical crime novel – “Fatal Forgery” – and when I realised that I had fallen in love with my narrator, Constable Sam Plank, I decided to write six more books about him. And there he was, firmly anchored in the Regency period.

But if it was not my choice, it was certainly my very great fortune – what a gift of a period! The two strands that thread through all five of the novels I have written so far (there are two more to go) are policing and finance, and both were experiencing enormous, exciting change in the Regency period. In policing terms it was post-Bow Street Runners and pre-Metropolitan Police, with London kept in check by magistrates and their constables (of which Sam is one, based at the magistrates’ office in Great Marlborough Street – now the Courthouse Hotel). And in finance, people were coming to terms with all sorts of innovations: share certificates, paper banknotes and amazing investment opportunities (railways! gas lighting!). As you can imagine, there is tremendous scope for writing about all sorts of financial crime.

So why do I love living in the past? First of all, I love research. I live in a university city with access to the most amazing library, and I like nothing more than a day spent in the newspaper archive or the rare books room, looking at actual publications that someone handled and read in the 1820s. It’s like putting together the most complicated and satisfying jigsaw, with every detail that I learn helping to make the picture that little bit clearer. I can take nothing for granted. Even writing a simple sentence like “Sam sat down with his wife after dinner and she poured him a welcome cup of tea” involves all sorts of checking. When did men of his class eat their main meal in the 1820s? Did they have cups? Did they have tea? Did they have it every day, or was it a special treat? And you know what readers of historical fiction are like – they expect to get both a story and reliable information for their money, so I’d better get it right!

And secondly, I have always preferred the past to the future. I have probably read no more than a handful of novels set in the future, whereas my shelves (stairs, tables, footstools...) are groaning with historical fiction. I like to learn as I read, and I like to escape. Nothing allows me to do this quite as effectively as good historical fiction. Like all readers I have favoured eras: I’m a sucker for anything eighteenth century, and went through quite a long phase of “first world war but on the home front”. But when it comes to my own writing, I’m drawn back time and again to the Regency – so why not tie that wonderful white cravat, gentlemen, or adjust that feather-trimmed bonnet, ladies, and join me.

Susan has written five Sam Plank novels, set in subsequent years in the 1820s: “Fatal Forgery”, “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat”, “Worm in the Blossom”, “Portraits of Pretence” and “Faith, Hope and Trickery”.

   

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
March 2018

Rose Welford, the wife of a bootmaker, is smothered in her bed in the summer of 1828. Her husband quickly confesses to the crime, claiming that a message from beyond the grave told him to do it. At ever more popular gatherings in fields, factories and fine houses, a charismatic preacher with a history of religious offences seems to be at the heart of it all – but who, and what, can be believed when fortunes are at stake? 

In this fifth novel in the series, Constable Sam Plank is drawn into matters beyond his understanding when his wife Martha hears a message of her own and his junior constable Wilson makes a momentous choice.

Susan has her own blog here

You can purchase her novels (in paperback and various e-editions) here

And you can follow Sam himself on Twitter, where he appears as @ConstablePlank

Huge thanks to Susan for being my guest today and for continuing to entertain us with the wonderful Sam Plank Regency Crime series.

Review ~ Portraits of Pretence by Susan Grossey

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
2016

A bit of book blurb..

An elderly French artist is found dead in his rooms in London clutching a miniature portrait of a little girl. Intrigued, Constable Sam Plank delves into the world of art dealing and finds himself navigating the fragile post-war relationship between England and France. What is the link between this and the recent attacks on customs officers in London Docks? And will a beautiful mademoiselle put paid to Martha Plank’s matchmaking?

In this fourth novel in the Sam Plank series, set in the chilly spring of 1827, Plank and his junior constable William Wilson meet Frenchmen in London and daring blockademen in Kent to uncover smuggling and even more dangerous ambitions,

My thoughts about the book..

There are a collection of authors in my arsenal of ‘authors who will never let me down’ and I can officially say that Susan Grossey is now firmly placed in this category. The whole of the Sam Plank series of Regency crime novels have been an absolute joy to read and this fourth outing by Constable Sam and his able assistant Wilson is just as exciting as the previous three books.

The chilly spring of 1827 sees Sam and his junior constable, William Wilson, investigating the unexplained death of an elderly French artist who has been found dead in mysterious circumstances. The only clue left at the scene is an exquisite miniature of a young girl which the old man is clutching in his hand. Given the unusual circumstances surrounding this death neither officer will leave any stone unturned until the mystery is solved to their satisfaction. However, dabbling in the complicated world of art reveals far more questions than it does answers, and Plank and Wilson soon find themselves drawn deeper and deeper into a shadowy criminal underworld filled with conspiracy and dangerous secrets.

Confident in his ability, Constable Plank strides the streets of London with all the self-assurance of a man who knows his place in the world. He strives for justice and truth in an entirely commendable way, and his integrity and honesty shines through with every word that this author so lovingly shares with her readers. What I enjoy most about this series is the way that the world of Regency crime comes alive in the imagination, so that it becomes an entirely believable world of thieves, vagabonds, conmen and criminals who scurry and skulk within the shadows of the great city of London.

There is no doubt that the author has created a plausible and comprehensive Regency world and with each successive novel I feel as if I am returning into the bosom of a well-loved family. Sam and Martha’s thoughtful care and supervision of the ever vulnerable Constable Wilson, and of course, Martha’s marvellous ability, in moments of extreme worry, to be her husband’s still small voice of calm is, as always, written with such thoughtful attention to detail.

As one book finishes I am heartened to know that, like buses another one will be along soon, after all, the author did say that there would be seven Sam Plank stories and I am holding her to that promise. I don’t want to contemplate what I will do when this wonderful crime series comes to an end but maybe by book number seven Sam may well have put his foot down and said… “There’s more”..!

Best Read With.. A tankard or two of porter and a well roasted chop..

About the Author

You can find more about Susan and her writing by visiting her website ~ click here

Follow on Twitter @ConstablePlank or @susangrossey

Read an extract from Portraits of Pretence by clicking here 

My thanks to Susan for sharing Sam Plank's world with me and for including a "Jaffareadstoo" quote on the cover on Portraits of Pretence.

As a reader I am delighted to endorse this wonderful series.

~***~

My guest author today is ... Susan Grossey

I am delighted to welcome back to Jaffareadstoo


the author

Susan Grossey

The third Book in the Sam Mystery Series


Worm in the Blossom


is out now

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
16 October 2015

October is a special month for me.  I should say that I like it because it’s when I celebrate my wedding anniversary, married to a wonderful man, blah blah.  But in truth it’s because, for the past two years and now this year as well, October is when I publish my new Sam Plank novel.  And today’s the day!  “Worm in the Blossom” is the third in my planned series of seven historical financial crime novels: each is set in a consecutive year (the first takes place in 1824, the second in 1825 and this one in 1826) and so it seems only right to publish them in consecutive years as well.

I didn’t originally mean to do a series, honestly I didn’t.  The first book – “Fatal Forgery” – took me four years to write.  It started off as the story of a crooked banker (thank goodness we don’t have those any more – oh, hold on…), based on the true story of one Henry Fauntleroy but with many details (and particularly his ending) changed.  I needed someone to chase him, so I invented a magistrates’ constable called Samuel Plank.  Back in 1824, London did not have a police force – the Met was not formed until 1829.  Instead, people who thought they had been the victim of a crime would complain to their local magistrate, who would then issue an arrest warrant for the suspect and send a constable out to find him – a magistrates’ constable.  But when I finished the first full draft of “Fatal Forgery”, I realised that I much preferred Sam to Henry, and decided (and this after three years of spare time toil) to rewrite the whole thing with Sam at the centre of the story.  I changed my style to reflect the sparer, more factual language of a constable, and dated the chapters in the manner of a police notebook.  I gave Sam a clever wife to help him – Martha – and a young trainee constable for him to guide – William Wilson.  And then, of course, I fell in love with Sam.

  

I was so sad when I finished “Fatal Forgery” that my long-suffering husband drew a deep, shuddering breath and suggested that I write another story for Sam.  Or a series, I countered.  A series of seven.  And so I sat down and plotted out six more books, with a different financial crime at the heart of each.  Book two – “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” – is about investment fraud.  And today’s arrival – “Worm in the Blossom” – deals with corruption and extortion.

One of the joys of being a modern, self-published author is the level of interaction that I can have with my readers.  “Fatal Forgery” sold mainly through word of mouth – although it did get some excellent reviews in various places (such as the Law Society Gazette, who liked the legal angle, and the Guernsey Press, as I do much of my day job there and Guernsey people are interested in finance) – and I started a writing blog (https://susangrossey.wordpress.com/current-project-blog/ ) to get opinions, views and suggestions.  It was such a thrill to hear what people thought of the characters.  Most wanted to hear more about Martha, and about how Sam had become a constable (he started out life as a barber), so I was able to include both of those in “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat”.

Another thing I did through the blog was to ask my readers to choose my titles.  For “Canary”, I had whittled it down to five possible titles but just couldn’t decide, and so I simply created a poll on the blog and asked people to vote – and “The Man in the Canary Waistcoat” was their selection.  So many booksellers said what a strong and intriguing title it was that I trusted to the vote again this time round: I picked five titles that I could live with and asked people to choose.  And “Worm in the Blossom” it is.  (I call it “Worm” for short, but one friend says that Martha would be horrified and I should call it “Blossom” instead.)

And why self-publishing?  To be honest, I did try the “traditional” route: when I first finished “Fatal Forgery”, I did as advised and carefully selected some agents and publishers with a professed interest in my subject – crime and/or history.  And I must have chosen well because they all replied.  But all the replies were in essence the same: great story, well written, but we can’t sell it – publishers are only taking on books by known authors and celebrities.  And no-one is that interested in financial crime.  I was astonished by this last comment; after all, financial crime is in every news bulletin and on every front page.

So I decided to go it alone.  I knew how self-publishing worked as I already did it for my non-fiction, work-related books (I’m an anti-money laundering consultant by day – I advise people on how to spot criminal money in the financial system and what to do about it).  I invested in professional covers for the books – it was the least I could do for Sam, who is rather particular about personal appearance and hates shabbiness – and have been delighted at the way the designer has been able to create a series feel, with elements of the cover repeated each time.  And this has really paid dividends, as when I plucked up my courage and took “Fatal Forgery” into two local bookshops, they said that the things they need before they can even consider stocking a self-published book are a “proper” cover and an ISBN.  And then they both took some copies.  And re-ordered.  And have taken “Canary” and “Worm” as well.  It is so very exciting to walk into a real bookshop and see my books there – it’s my sure-fire cure for a bad mood!

Huge thanks to Susan for sharing her thoughts and ideas about the inspiration, writing and indie publishing of her Sam Plank Mystery novels.

Jaffa and I are looking forward to becoming reacquainted with Sam in 

Worm in the Blossom.

You can find Susan on her blog

Follow her on Twitter @susangrossey

~***~