The Lena Szarka Mysteries
3 total works
'Warm-hearted but sharp-tongued...it's hard to think of a better amateur sleuth series in the last decade' Morning Star
'Light-hearted and engaging . . . a perfect antidote to the January blues' Irish Independent
The only way is murder . . .
Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner working in London, is forced to brush up on her detective skills for a third time when her cousin Sarika is plunged into danger.
Sarika and her reality TV star boyfriend Terry both receive threatening notes. When Terry stops calling, Lena assumes he's lost interest. Until he turns up. Dead. Lena knows she must act fast to keep her cousin from the same fate.
Scrubbing her way through the grubby world of reality television, online dating and betrayed lovers, Lena finds it harder than she thought to discern what's real - and what's just for the cameras.
Praise for Elizabeth Mundy
'Beautiful writing' The Sun
'Perfect for our multicultural age' Vaseem Khan
'A deliciously light and amusing souffle of a book' Irish Independent
'Witty and warm but with an unsentimental core of steel' Morning Star
'Poignant, funny and races effortlessly along' Elodie Harper
'As warm and satisfying as a bowl of goulash' LC Tyler
'A deliciously light and amusing soufflé of a book' Irish Independent
Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner, dusts off her detective skills when a masterpiece is stolen from a gallery she cleans with her cousin Sarika. But when Sarika goes missing too, accusations start to fly.
Convinced her cousin is innocent, Lena sweeps her way through the secrets of the London art scene. With the evidence mounting against Sarika and the police on her trail, Lena needs to track down the missing painting if she is to clear her cousin.
Embroiling herself in the sketchy world of thwarted talents, unpaid debts and elegant fraudsters, Lena finds that there's more to this gallery than meets the eye.
What did other readers have to say about A Clean Canvas?
'Witty and warm but with an unsentimental core of steel in its chronicling of London's guest-workers, this looks set to become a highly popular series' Morning Star
'Formidable and funny' Sunday Independent
'Terrific and heartwarming; a charming debut' Daisy Waugh
'A warmly-crafted crime debut, perfect for our multicultural age' Vaseem Khan
'I loved In Strangers' Houses - poignant, funny and races effortlessly along. Lena is a wonderfully unusual heroine and I can't wait for her next adventure' Elodie Harper
'Lena's tenacity and common sense illuminate this engaging story' Daily Mail
'Beautiful writing, a fine debut' The Sun
'A deliciously light and amusing souffle of a book, the second in a series that is bound to run and run' Irish Independent
There are some crimes you can't sweep under the carpet...
Lena Szarka, a Hungarian cleaner working in London, knows all too well about cleaning up other people's messes. When her friend Timea disappears, she suspects one of her clients is to blame. However, the police don't share her suspicions and it is left to Lena to turn sleuth and find her friend.
Searching through their houses as she scrubs their floors, Lena desperately tries to find out what has happened. Only Cartwright, a police constable new to the job, believes that this will lead to the truth - and together they begin to uncover more of Islington's seedy underbelly than they bargained for.
But Lena soon discovers it's not just her clients who have secrets. And as she begins to unravel Timea's past she starts to wonder if she really knew her friend at all.
Praise for Elizabeth Mundy:
'Terrific and heartwarming; a charming debut' Daisy Waugh
'A warmly-crafted crime debut, perfect for our multicultural age' Vaseem Khan
'I loved In Strangers' Houses - poignant, funny and races effortlessly along. Lena is a wonderfully unusual heroine and I can't wait for her next adventure' Elodie Harper
'Lena's tenacity and common sense illuminate this engaging story' Daily Mail
'Beautiful writing, a fine debut' The Sun