Sweet Poison - David Roberts

Why this book **************** This is a book I borrowed from my local library I have to admit part of the appeal was the books cover, the image of the dashing man in a tuxedo and a spilt goblet made me intrigued as to the books contents. About the author ***************** The author David Roberts had a background in publishing as an editor prior to becoming a full time writer in 2000. His books are crime novels set in the 1930's he has only to my knowledge written the Lord Edward Corinth and Verity Browne series. About the series ***************** Sweet Poison is the first book in the Lord Edward Corinth ...  Read the complete review

The 1930s was an evocative decade in British history. What you say - it was bland? The decade was anything but bland with its culmination in one of the most horrific and bloody conflicts that the World has ever seen (and will hopefully never see again). Whilst some Brits supped Champagne in their homes; Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals and many other groups were starting to realise that the new German National Socialist party were truly evil. The 20s, and to a greater extent 30s, were just a powder keg slowly building up to World War Two - espionage, warmongering, peace drives, economic slumps and booms - the decade had it all. Sometimes contemporaries of the time ...  Read the complete review

A guest at a country house dinner party collapses and dies, and it soon becomes clear he has been poisoned. Two of the other guests are convinced that this was murder, and set out to discover who did it and why. This is a classic opening associated with Golden Age detective stories written in the 1930s, and Sweet Poison pays a sort of homage to that tradition, and in particular perhaps to Dorothy L Sayers (who introduced her most famous characters in a book called Strong Poison). Sweet Poison is a historical mystery, set in August 1935. I found Roberts' handling of his setting quite convincing, with a clear setting of details and attitudes in their time and ...  Read the complete review