06/01/2018
After working as a nurse during the Great War, Kiki Button, the daughter of a wealthy Australian landowner, is back in Europe. She's a gossip columnist, drinking, partying, and sleeping her way around postwar Paris. Then, two men call in favors. Picasso, for whom Kiki had modeled, asks her to find a stolen portrait of his wife. And Dr. Fox, the British surgeon who recruited Kiki as a spy during the war, gives her an assignment. There's a mole involved with the Germans, someone who threatens British interests. Kiki's on a timetable to expose the mole, or her childhood friend will be accused of treason. The true mystery about this debut is why it's called a mystery at all. It's an atmospheric, verbose historical novel that foreshadows the next war while reveling in the debauched bohemianism of Paris between the wars. Although Kiki plays detective and spy, the emphasis here is on her party-girl lifestyle; spying is just part of the excitement. VERDICT Mystery fans may prefer Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher or Kelli Stanley's Miranda Corbie as a detective. [Previewed in Lisa Levy's "Crime Fiction's Girl Power,'" LJ 4/15/18.]—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
05/07/2018
Financially independent Kiki Button, the narrator of Australian author Lunney’s entertaining debut and series launch, served as an Allied spy during WWI, but now she’s the quintessential modern woman of 1921. Her flamboyant close friend from the war, London tabloid copy editor Bertie Browne, gives her a job as a gossip columnist reporting from Paris. There—amid the parties, drinking, and sexual escapades—Kiki meets and models for artist Pablo Picasso, who asks for her help in finding a painting of his that has been stolen. On the same day, the elusive Dr. Fox, who was Kiki’s spymaster during the war, recruits her to find a traitor who’s spying for the Germans. As she befriends both bohemians and members of high society and uses her sharp decoding skills, she realizes that these two mysteries are somehow connected. The result is an intriguing, if predictable spy adventure rather than a whodunit. Lunney’s vibrant picture of Paris, chock-full of flapper fashion and cameos of the Lost Generation, will leave readers eager for more. Agent: Sarah McKenzie, Hindsight Literary Agency (Australia). (July)
"This thoroughly entertaining, delightfully witty debut is imbued with Paris' unique ambiance and will have readers eagerly awaiting Button's next adventure." --Booklist (starred)
"Exhilarating and atmospheric. If you like unusual heroines that are the perfect mix of moxie and vulnerability, you can't go wrong with this one." --Criminal Element
"Lunney's vibrant picture of Paris, chock-full of flapper fashion and cameos of the Lost Generation, will leave readers eager for more." --Publishers Weekly
Liberated from her wartime duties as a nurse, Kiki Button, Tessa Lunney’s main character of her debut April in Paris, 1921, is a gossip columnist-cum-detective who finds herself mixed up in a mystery set against the backdrop of post-WWI Paris. Lunney takes the reader on a breathless, page-turning journey through cafes, streets, and dark alleys of this Bohemian time period, searching for a stolen piece of art. Kiki, who is charming, self-possessed, and sexually free, is readable and fun, a modern woman blazing though the Années folles no holds barred.
Tessa Lunney brilliantly evokes the Années folles of the Roaring Twenties as her heroine—an Australian debutant-turned-nurse-turned-spy—Kiki Button traipses through Paris’s sensual bohemian culture hunting for a World War I mole and stolen Pablo Picasso painting.
An irresistible debut! Adventurous and whip-smart, Kiki Button is Jazz Age Paris's most dazzling ex-pat.
Button is naughtier than Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher, as strong as Suzanne Arruda’s Jade del Cameron, and every bit as clever as Susan Elia MacNeal’s Maggie Hope. This thoroughly entertaining, delightfully witty debut is imbued with Paris’ unique ambiance and will have readers eagerly awaiting Button’s next adventure.
Fascinating characters, beautifully written.
Button is naughtier than Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher, as strong as Suzanne Arruda’s Jade del Cameron, and every bit as clever as Susan Elia MacNeal’s Maggie Hope. This thoroughly entertaining, delightfully witty debut is imbued with Paris’ unique ambiance and will have readers eagerly awaiting Button’s next adventure.
One of those rare debuts that absolutely wowed me. Exhilarating and atmospheric, perfectly capturing a post-war Paris where people of all types could drown their sorrows and become someone else, even if it’s just for a while. Lunney successfully combines mainstream mystery with spy intrigue, making for an intoxicating concoction, and Kiki is a powerful tour guide. If you like unusual heroines that are the perfect mix of moxie and vulnerability, you can’t go wrong with this one. I can’t wait for more adventures with the fascinating Kiki Button and her singular world.
What a deliciously decadent story!
A deftly crafted mystery that combines artistic gossip with interwar political history through witty banter, steamy scenes, and fast action. A compelling and entertaining read from cover to cover, Tessa Lunney's April in Paris, 1921 will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections.
