Thursday, 7 December 2017
Front Page Murder by Peter Bartram
Series: A Crampton of the Chronicle Mystery #3
Release Date: 24th November 2017
Publisher: Roundfire Books
Genres: Murder / Mystery Publisher: Roundfire Books
Condemned man Archie Flowerdew is to hang for the murder of
rival artist Percy Despart. Convinced of his innocence, Archie's niece,
Tammy, persuades Evening Chronicle reporter Colin Crampton to take up
the case, but the more Colin investigates, the more it looks like Archie
is guilty. But as Colin continues to probe he realises that he is
putting his job, and his life, in peril... Join Colin in this Swinging
Sixties fun adventure, where the thrills and the laughs continue right
to the last page. The third book in the popular Crampton of the
Chronicle mystery series.
EXTRACT
It's Christmas 1963 and Colin Crampton, crime
correspondent of the Brighton Evening
Chronicle, is hard at work on a big story
- the danger an innocent man may hang for a murder he didn't commit. Colin has
had a difficult day and arrives back at his lodgings only to come face-to-face
with his landlady, Mrs Beatrice "the Widow" Gribble - and more
trouble…
It was close
to midnight when I stepped through the door of my lodgings in Regency Square.
I'd barely shut the front door before the
Widow shot out of her parlour and cornered me by the hatstand. Mrs Gribble, my
landlady - the Widow to her tenants - and I nurtured a healthy dislike for one
another but found a way to rub along. Me because my rooms on the top floor of
her house were convenient. She because she had a habit of getting herself into
awkward scrapes and usually called on my help to extricate herself from them.
The Widow was dressed in a long flannelette
dressing gown in shocking pink. She'd put her hair in curlers and fixed a net
over it all.
She said: "I'd offer you a glass of
cream sherry but I've locked up the bottle for the night."
"Best place for it," I said.
"Good night, Mrs Gribble."
A bony hand held me by the shoulder.
"There was one other little matter."
I knew it. Otherwise the Widow wouldn't have
been lurking behind her parlour door waiting to pounce on me. It was usually
quicker to hear her out.
So I said: "What's the problem?"
"It's to do with my Christmas cards.
You see, my late husband's sister, Eunice, is coming to stay over Christmas,
but she's let me know she won't be arriving until the late train on Christmas
Eve. Anyway, I always get up early on Christmas morning on account of I have to
get the turkey in the oven. So I'll have gone to bed by the time Eunice gets
here. So I thought I'd leave her supper warming in the oven."
"What's all this got to do with
Christmas cards?"
"Well, I was writing the cards today
and I wrote them for Eunice and Mr Evans, the butcher."
"I thought you'd fallen out with
Evans."
"We sorted out that business about the
faggots." The Widow shuffled uncomfortably in her fluffy slippers.
"Anyway, the thing is this. I got the cards for Eunice and Mr Evans mixed
up."
"You mean you sent Eunice's card to Mr
Evans and his card to Eunice."
The Widow nodded. She seemed close to tears.
"Does it matter?" I said.
"It's what I wrote inside them that's
worrying me."
"Which was?"
"In Mr Evans…"
"Which has gone to Eunice."
"…I wrote, 'Seasons greetings. I won't
be needing any of your tripe over Christmas.' And in Eunice's…"
"…Which has gone to Mr Evans."
"…I wrote, 'When you come on Christmas
Eve, I'll be in bed but keeping something hot for you.' I'm worried that both
of them may misinterpret the messages. What do you think I should do?"
I said: "It's late and I'm tired, Mrs
Gribble. I'll see if I can think of an answer by the morning."
The Widow nodded as though it was only a
matter of time before her world fell apart. She crept back into her parlour.
I raced upstairs to my room and buried my
face in a pillow before I started laughing.
Front Page
Murder e-book is on special offer until
the end of December for 99p/99c
For readers
who want to start the series at the beginning, there's a deal which includes Headline
Murder, Stop Press Murder and Front Page Murder in e-book formats
for £4.97/$4.97. This offer also closes on 31 December.
ABOUT PETER BARTRAM
Peter
Bartram brings years of experience as a journalist to his Crampton of the
Chronicle crime mystery series, which features Colin Crampton, crime correspondent
of the 1960s fictional newspaper the Brighton Evening Chronicle. Peter began his career as a reporter on a
real-life local newspaper not far from Brighton. Then he worked as a journalist
and newspaper editor in London before becoming freelance. He has done most
things in journalism from door-stepping for quotes to writing serious
editorials. He’s pursued stories in locations as diverse as 700 feet down a
coal mine and Buckingham Palace. Peter's "Swinging Sixties" murder
mysteries combine clue-solving with comedy - the laughs are never far from the
action. Other books in the series, which has already logged more than 100
5-star reviews on Amazon, include Headline
Murder and Stop Press Murder.
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