The End of the Vodka

In 1938, showgirl-turned-socialite Dorothy Hale falls from a Manhattan skyscraper. Her friend Clare Boothe Luce writer, diplomat and rising political figure commissions Frida Kahlo to paint a memorial portrait.

Months later, reporting from Europe, Clare encounters the Duchess of Windsor in Paris and begins to question what really happened that night. In New York, Frida, estranged from Diego Rivera, wrestles with betrayal, ambition and the demands of her art. As she works on the painting that will become one of her most unsettling, she edges closer to the truth.

At the heart of this novel lies a real-life mystery: was Dorothy Hale's death an act of despair, or something far more dangerous, entangled with the power struggles shaping the modern world?

Praise for The End of the Vodka

'Brilliantly blends fact and fiction. The political plot was gripping... does justice to Frida's unique place in history, her pride, her passion and her pain.' S. J. Bennett

Praise for A Frey & McGray Mystery series

'I enjoyed this properly creepy and Gothic' Ian Rankin

'A hugely entertaining Victorian mystery' New York Times

'Fun to read and a fast page-turner. Love and murder they go together like strawberries and cream' Independent

'This is wonderful. A brilliant, moving, clever, lyrical book I loved it' Manda Scott

'A great cop double-act...It's the pairing of the upright Frey and the unorthodox McGray that notches up the stars for this book' Sunday Sport

'One of the best debuts so far this year' Crime Review