Front Page Fridays Week-54
Welcome to Front Page Fridays Week-54. On Fridays I showcase the first page of a new book.
My Front Page Fridays Week-54 guest is Julie Anderson with her new novel, Festival Days. It is the third historical thriller in the Clapham Trilogy and was published by Hobeck Books on 28th April.
Here’s the opening:
Prologue
The sky was the bright, sharp blue of a cold spring day. Through the grill she could see clouds chasing across it in the wind, though inside the van the air was still. The sight of the sky kept her from despair.
When she was first taken, she had shouted through that grill, high up in the van doors, screaming for help. Then someone had shut a metal cover over it, and she had been left in total blackness. Only through touch had she discovered the dimensions of her mobile prison cell and found the mattress. She had lain down in the dark and soaked it with tears.
She didn’t know how long ago that had been. Without light, or any sound at all, she had lost track of time. She had no connection with the outside world. Only questions. Where were they taking her? What was going to happen to her? Hadn’t enough happened already?
And fear.
Eventually her mind ceased to function and she dozed.
She sat up as the engine stopped and the van halted. The harsh sunlight made her flinch and cover her eyes when the doors opened. A fabric bag was thrown into the van and the doors clanged shut.
‘Stay quiet and you can have the grill open,’ a voice called. ‘There’s food and water in the bag.’
In the light from the grill, she found the bag and the food inside it.
The van bumped and jolted. They were on a farm track, maybe, or a road that had been potholed and damaged. She rose and tottered to the grill, pulling herself up beyond tiptoe to see through it. She couldn’t hold that position for long, but she saw enough to realise that they were in the countryside. There were no buildings. No one could hear her, even if she screamed.
Then their motion became smoother. She couldn’t tell how far they’d travelled when the van stopped again. The doors opened and a woman was thrust inside. The doors thumped closed.
‘Don’t!’ Lily urged the newcomer, but she was already at the grill yelling and banging, her long, blonde plait lying between her shoulder blades. ‘They’ll only—’
All light was extinguished. The engine started up.
‘That’s what happens if you shout,’ she said. ‘Then the air in here grows stale.’ And, after a pause, ‘there’s a mattress over here. It’s better than the metal floor.’
‘Merci.’
She sensed the woman moving and then felt a shoulder against her own. So she understood Polish.
‘Are you French? I speak French, I was travelling to Paris. Where are we?’
‘Near Chartres. What is happening to us?’
‘I don’t know. We’re being taken somewhere. How did they trap you?’
‘I was trying to get to Paris, too, but I ran out of funds, so I applied for a job, as a cook in one of the big houses. I was asked to go round the back, to the stable yard and this van was there.’
About Festival Days
May 1951
Celebration is in the air with the Festival of Britain and for the first time in years the mood is one of hope rather than hurt.
For Detective Constable Faye Smith, London is not as safe as it seems. The criminal underworld is gaining strength, enjoying a lively existence below the surface. Then two bodies are found in the war-time shelters, a man and a woman. Who are they? What’s their story? Why were they murdered and how did they end up in the shelters?
Meanwhile, Ellie Peveril is busy with a celebration of a different kind. Ellie does all she can to support her friend but has her own worries, with ex-fiancé Patrick Havistock looming in the shadows. Faye, keen to unravel the mystery of the double murder, finds herself tangled up in crimes that stretch far beyond a simple killing.
Faye and Ellie must face their toughest case yet as their lives change, irrevocably, for the future.
Available from Amazon and Hobeck Books.
About Julie Anderson
Julie Anderson is a CWA Dagger-listed crime fiction author. Her latest books are historical crime; the Clapham Trilogy is set in South London in the 1940s and 50s after the end of the Second World War. She has also written a trio of contemporary political Whitehall thrillers, the third of which was listed for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger 2023 and a short series of adventure stories for young adults, the first of which was long listed for the Children's Novel Award, 2016. She reviews for Time and Leisure Magazine and Aspects of Crime and is a Trustee of the Clapham Book Festival.
Social Media links
You can find Julie at:
Julie Anderson – Writer and author
@julieandersonwriter (@jjulieanderson) / X
Facebook
Purchase links for other books by Julie
The Clapham Trilogy (3 book series) Kindle Edition
Plague: Book 1 in the Cassandra Fortune Series eBook : Anderson, Julie: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Reconquista (The Al Andalus series Book 1) eBook : Anderson, J.J.: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
I hope you enjoyed reading Front Page Fridays Week-54. Please come back next time when I’ll be featuring a different author and the first page of their book.
And please take a look at books already featured on Front Page Fridays:
1. Blood Ribbons by Lin Le Versha – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-1/
2. Fatal Blow by Brian Price – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-2/
3. Can I Trust You? by Rob Gittins – Front Page Fridays Week-3 – Rachel Sargeant
4. The Last Bird of Paradise by AJ Aberford – Front Page Fridays Week-4 – Rachel Sargeant
5. Never Forgive You by Hilly Barmby – Front Page Fridays Week-5 – Rachel Sargeant
6. The Mists of Pencarrack Moor by Terri Nixon – Front Page Fridays Week-6 - Rachel Sargeant
7. The Thief of Joy by Stacey Murray – Front Page Fridays Week-7 - Rachel Sargeant
8. Edge of the Land by Malcolm Hollingdrake – Front Page Fridays Week-8 - Rachel Sargeant
9. The Mind of a Murderer by Michael Wood - https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/front-page-fridays-week-9/
10. The Midnight Man by Julie Anderson – Front Page Fridays Week-10 - Rachel Sargeant
11. Dark Road Home by Sheila Bugler – Front Page Fridays Week-11 - Rachel Sargeant
12. Her Charming Man by Rachel Sargeant – Front Page Fridays Week-12 - Rachel Sargeant
13. Wedding Bells at the Lakeside Hotel by Linda Huber – Front Page Fridays Week-13 - Rachel Sargeant
14. Dark Island by Daniel Aubrey – Front Page Fridays Week-14 - Rachel Sargeant
15. The Shame by Maureen Myant – Front Page Fridays Week-15 - Rachel Sargeant
16. Dead Mile by Jo Furniss – Front Page Fridays Week-16 — Rachel Sargeant
17. The Violin and Candlestick by David Jarvis – Front Page Fridays Week-17 — Rachel Sargeant
18. New Memories by S.E. Shepherd – Front Page Fridays Week-18 — Rachel Sargeant
19. Young Blood by Victoria Gemmell – Front Page Fridays Week-19 — Rachel Sargeant
20. Private Investigations by Rob Gittins – Front Page Fridays Week-20 — Rachel Sargeant
21. The Car Horn revolution by A.J. Aberford – Front Page Fridays Week-21 — Rachel Sargeant
22. What Lies Beneath by Maureen Myant – Front Page Fridays Week-22 — Rachel Sargeant
23. A Safe Place by Stephanie Carty – Front Page Fridays Week-23 — Rachel Sargeant
24. Fatal Image by Brian Price – Front Page Fridays Week-24 — Rachel Sargeant
25. Run For Your Lies by A.A. Abbott – Front Page Fridays Week-25 — Rachel Sargeant
26. A Walk in the Park by Natalie Kleinman – Front Page Fridays Week-26 — Rachel Sargeant
27. A Storm in a Teacup by Rachael Gray – Front Page Fridays Week-27 — Rachel Sargeant
28. The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-28
29. A Death in the Afternoon by Julie Anderson – Front Page Fridays Week-29 — Rachel Sargeant
30. Justice by Madalyn Morgan – Front Page Fridays Week-30 — Rachel Sargeant
31. Let Me Out by Amanda Brittany – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-31
32. A Pocketful of Poisons by Brian Price – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/85orb6bc15cs2voyn37yv3jprw0jec
33. Tribute by Madalyn Morgan – Front Page Fridays Week-33 — Rachel Sargeant
34. Mistress of the Manor by Cara Clayton – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-34
35. Waves of Change in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Chistensen – Front Page Fridays Week-35 — Rachel Sargeant
36. A French Inheritance by Jennifer Bohnet – Front Page Fridays Week-36
37. Beneath the Same Moon by AS Andrejevic – Front Page Fridays Week-37 — Rachel Sargeant
38. The Fallen by Maureen Myant - Front Page Fridays Week-38 — Rachel Sargeant
39. The Bad Women by Jennie Ensor – Front Page Fridays Week-39 — Rachel Sargeant
40. Lies Between Friends by AA Abbott – Front Page Fridays Week-40 — Rachel Sargeant
41. Ftal Shot by Brian Brice – My Front Page Fridays Week-41 — Rachel Sargeant
42. The Alibi by Katharine Johnson – My Front Page Fridays Week-42 — Rachel Sargeant
43. The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-43
44. If I Were You by Helen Matthews – Front Page Fridays Week-44 — Rachel Sargeant
45. (Not Quite) Done With Dating by Bella Osborne – Front Page Fridays Week-45
46. Poison at the Wild Haggis Bookshop by Jackie Baldwin – Front Page Fridays Week-46 — Rachel Sargeant
47. Beattie Cavendish and the Highland Hideaway by Mary-Jane Riley – Front Page Fridays Week-47 — Rachel Sargeant
48. Missing… Rose Malone by Linda Huber – www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-48
49. Fiasco by Nicola Kelsall – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-49
50. 27 Church Street by A.J. Hobart – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-50
51. The Girls of Maple Close by Amanda Britanny – www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-51
52. Growing Old Disgracefully by Karen King – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-52
53. Meet Me At Apple Blossom Lane by Anita Faulkner – https://www.rachelsargeant.co.uk/blog/front-page-fridays-week-53