THE HARLOT OF ST. CECELIA'S
by Darcy Graves
September 21 - October 16, 2026 Virtual Book Tour
Synopsis:
An Inspector Garrett Mystery
London, 1923. American expat librarian Eden Brior thinks things are bad when she is accidentally locked overnight in the St. Cecelia’s Library vault with the charming and unreliable Simon Cross. Then she emerges to find the body of his estranged wife — a celebrated French actress — draped over a chair upstairs.
Detective Inspector William Garrett is methodical, quietly perceptive, and already fairly certain he has his man. He tells Eden firmly to go home and leave the detecting to the professionals. But how can she?
Racing to clear their names before Garrett closes the case, Eden follows the truth from the bright footlights of the London stage through the sleek drawing rooms of Jazz Age society, and into secrets that someone will kill to keep buried.
Steeped in the style of the golden age of detective fiction, The Harlot of St. Cecelia’s captures a London still glittering on the surface and shadowed underneath — where every drawing room hides a secret and every secret has a price.
Perfect for fans of Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series.
Praise for The Harlot of St. Cecelia's:
"This novel consistently delights, from the spicy title to the last page."
~ Kirkus Reviews
Book Details:
Genre: Historical Mystery
Published by: Independently Published
Publication Date: May 3, 2026
Number of Pages: 306
ISBN: 979-8195315580
Series: Inspector Garrett Mystery Series, Book 1
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | BookBub
Read an excerpt:
Author Bio:
Darcy Graves grew up in Boston and holds an MA in English history and a BS in copywriting. A marketing content writer for over thirty years, she brings to her work a deep love of the golden age of detective fiction — particularly Agatha Christie and P.D. James — and the whimsy of P.G. Wodehouse.
Darcy lives in the Berkshires with her daughter, two ragdoll cats, and a very naughty terrier named Merial. The Harlot of St. Cecelia's is her first novel.
Catch Up With Darcy Graves:
DarcyGravesAuthor.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub - @darcygravesauthor
Instagram - @darcygravesauthor
Review:
Secrets run deep, and emotions run high in this new historical mystery debut.
The Harlot of St. Cecelia's is the first book in author Darcy Graves's new 1920s London-set mystery series featuring Detective Inspector William Garrett of the Dayneton CID. When the body of a beautiful French actress is discovered in the Reading Room of the university library, DI William Garrett is tasked with finding her killer. Clues, however, are hard to come by, and the only witnesses on site were purposely locked in the basement vault the entire time.
The 1920s time frame and London setting provide a vivid, often rainy backdrop for this tale of jealousy, betrayal, revenge, and murder. The victim, Isabelle Jalbert, while having many admirers over the years, is not well liked among her peers, and several characters are glad to see her demise. Jealousies among the theatre fold abound, and I thought there were a couple of very strong suspects coming from that direction. However, Isabelle had also developed strong emotions outside the theatre, and Garrett had his eye on both witnesses from the library.
While Simon Cross, a former soldier with a damaged soul from his time in the First World War, seemed resigned to his being the chief suspect, his sister, Meg, and his library companion, Eden Brior, were not nearly as complacent as to allow the police to dilly-dally around. I enjoyed how they teamed up and took the bull by the horns, working through several clues to try to identify the real killer. The final reveal is exciting and is a surprising showdown of sorts. I look forward to seeing these characters return for the next case.
I recommend THE HARLOT OF ST. CELELIA'S to readers of
historical mysteries.
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