Catch up with the launch of Dead Drop – Readings and a Q&A with Linen Press

We had a wonderful evening of readings and a fascinating Q&A, with questions from the director of Linen Press, Lynn Mitchell, and some really interesting questions from the audience.

Thank you to so many of you for joining us. Do send in any questions in the comments. We enjoyed taking you on a journey through Vienna and the art underworld. Find out more about Liesl’s dangerous dead drops and the mysterious letters from Albert.

Pick up a copy from Linen Press

A fast-paced, intelligent thriller that exposes the undercover world of art heists and takes us on a roller-coaster ride through Vienna’s renowned galleries and museums as skilled art thief, Leisl, steals paintings for private collectors, until she comes up against a truth that makes her question everything she knows.

“Malby’s novel proves once and for all that thrillers can be both hugely compelling and beautifully written. This is virtuosic storytelling, as vibrant as a Klimt painting, as lyrical as a Viennese waltz, as atmospheric as a Carol Reed film. I loved it.”
– Jonathan P Taylor, author and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester

Publication date: October 31, 2022
978-1-9196248-6-0 Paperback
Price: £7.99
978-1-9196248-7-7 Digital
Price: £5.99

Dead Drop Online Book Launch

Tickets for the Online Book Launch of Dead Drop with Linen Press on 2 November are available through Eventbrite

Date and time

Wed, 2 November 2022, 18:00 – 19:00 GMT

Location

Online

About this event

Book Launch: DEAD DROP by F C Malby

Join Linen Press for an evening celebrating the launch of F C Malby’s latest novel, DEAD DROP, and for a chance to hear from the author herself in conversation with Lynn Michell.

About the Book: A fast-paced, intelligent thriller that exposes the undercover world of art heists and takes us on a roller-coaster ride through Vienna’s renown galleries and museums as skilled art thief, Leisl, steals and returns paintings to private collectors. Until she comes up against a truth that makes her question everything she does and everything she knows.

Dead Drop – Book Release

Pre-order Dead Drop from Linen Press from 20 October

Malby’s novel proves once and for all that thrillers can be both hugely compelling and beautifully written. This is virtuosic storytelling, as vibrant as a Klimt painting, as lyrical as a Viennese waltz, as atmospheric as a Carol Reed film. I loved it. 

– Jonathan P Taylor, author and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Leicester


An exquisitely written, poetic journey through the underbelly of Vienna’s artworld, Dead Drop is littered with secrets and laced with tension. F C Malby is a writer to watch!

– Jane Isaac, best-selling author of crime thrillers

Leisl is an art thief and an exceptionally good one. She steals priceless paintings from Vienna’s art galleries and delivers them to private collectors. This life of anonymous notes and meticulous planning, of adrenaline-fuelled dead drops and dramatic escapes, suits her restless spirit and desire for solitude and anonymity. But when Leisl finds a body on Stephansplatz underground steps instead of the expected note, she understands that she’s involved in a deadly game and that her own life is in danger.

A fast-paced, intelligent thriller that exposes the undercover world of art heists and takes us on a roller-coaster ride through Vienna’s renown galleries and museums as skilled art thief, Leisl, steals and returns paintings to private collectors. Until she comes up against a truth that makes her question everything she knows.

Linen Press Books

Dead Drop

The cover for my second novel, Dead Drop, has just been released by Linen Press.

This fast-paced, intelligent thriller exposes the undercover world of art heists and takes us on a journey through Vienna’s galleries and museums until skilled art thief, Leisl, comes up against a truth that makes her question everything she knows.

I’ve Joined the Linen Press Family

I’m thrilled to be able to share the news that I’ve been signed by Linen Press, who I really respect and admire. We are looking forward to releasing my second novel, a psychological thriller about the art underworld, in early 2023.

“Linen Press is a small, independent publisher run by women, for women. We are now the only indie women’s press in the UK.

Our bar of exceptional writing is raised with each new publication and I’m fiercely proud of our talented authors.

Our policy is to encourage and promote women writers and to give voice to a wide range of perspectives and themes that are relevant to women. We display and rejoice in the differences in female creative voices.

We publish books that are diverse, challenging, and surprising. The collective background of our writers is a multi-coloured patchwork of cultures, countries, ages and writing styles.”

Established 2005  •  Finalist 2015 Women In Publishing Pandora award  •  Shortlisted 2019 Most Innovative Publisher Saboteur Awards.