Dead Drop was published a year ago today by Linen Press. To celebrate the one year anniversary of its publication, I’m giving away 3 free copies. Leave a comment on why you like to read thrillers and names will be drawn at random. #thrillers #thrillerbooks #amreading
A lyrical, daring thriller that hurls you into the dark world of art theft with unexpected insights. Stephanie Carty, author of Shattered
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, 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
There has been much in the news in recent years regarding Nazi looted art from Europe during the Holocaust. It is also the subject of my thriller, DEAD DROP, published by Linen Press in October 2022. You can find out more in a conversation and Q&A with my publisher. Over 600,000 pieces were stollen from Jewish families, collectors and museums in countries that were occupied. It began in 1933 in Germany with the seizure of Jewish property and belongings and continued on during the Anschluss, where Austria was annexed by the Nazis in 1938. Around twenty percent of the art in Europe was looted by Nazi soldiers and, today, more than 100,000 pieces are still missing and have not been returned to their owners, or families. Efforts to recover paintings and other items have been stepped up through new art restitution laws.
Last night, the BBC aired the 2015 film, Woman in Gold, which follows the true story of Maria Altman, the niece of Adele Block-Bauer, who is the subject of Gustav Klimt’s portrait, Woman in Gold, which hung in the Belvedere Palace Gallery in Vienna, Austria. Altman fled to America with her husband, forced to leaving her parents behind, and the film depicts flashbacks to the arrival of Nazi soldiers in Vienna and the looting of art and property. The details, like her father playing the cello and the memory of Maria being given her aunt’s favourite necklace (also worn in the portrait), makes the film all the more poignant. Maria and her young lawyer fight for ten years for the paining to be returned, taking their case to the Supreme Court in America.
This week I was invited to a book group to discussion about my latest book, Dead Drop, published by Linen Press in October. The Q&A session was interesting with lots of interesting questions from readers. A few people asked whether there would be a sequel. Several people said that they had explored more information about the paintings, or visited Vienna, after reading the book. Many shared that they loved the descriptions of the city, the changing seasons, the cafe culture and details about the art and artists, as well as the history.
Some readers asked how Leisl had managed her conscience while stealing priceless works of art and why she had a moral dilemma as the story unfolded. Others wanted to know about the transfer of art to and from galleries, and about my research and writing processes. Many people are unaware of the sheer volume of priceless art which remains missing from galleries. I discussed global art theft, as well as the Art Loss Register and the FBI Art Crime Team.
I also want to share some wonderful recent reviews from readers:
BARNES AND NOBLE –
Jomaghs
5 stars A descriptive masterpiece
“I usually speed read books and whizz through them in no time at all but this book was different. The descriptions were so detailed and captivating that I needed/wanted to take my time and savour every page. It’s beautiful and intriguing at the same time…Couldn’t put it down.”
AMAZON –
Andrea Barton
5.0 out of 5 stars A nail-biting thriller that makes you think Reviewed in Australia on June 19, 2023
“Dead Drop, by F.C. Malby, is a nail-biting thriller that makes you think. Liesl loves her solitary life as an art thief in Vienna, thriving on bursts of adrenaline from rehoming valuable artwork based on clandestine instructions from her illusive employer. But when one of her contacts ends up dead, she realises that she, too, may be in danger. Dead Drop demonstrates that even art thieves have morals, and I found myself questioning the ethics of art ownership.”
Shal Buy
5.0 out of 5 starsHighly recommend Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 May 2023
“A very enjoyable read, I quickly warmed to the main character, Liesl and her involvement in the main plot. Keen to unfold the mystery, didn’t put the book down until I had finished it!”
I cannot recall ever reading a book with such a sensual, sense-ful, scent-ful opening. The tastes and sights and sounds enveloped me as a reader drawing me into Vienna and its streets, cafes and churches. I can smell espresso, then I can taste the Guglehupf. I feel the wind on my cheek and the bustle of people on their way to goodness knows where. It is enchantingly delightful. Malby should be asked by the Vienna tourist board to promote their city. And that is only after the first two chapters!
I haven’t even mentioned the dead body, found by our protagonist Leisl, on Stephansplatz underground steps, as if it were the most natural of things to discover. Well it was where she was told it would be. But who by? And what of the broach and the note she took from the body? Art thief by career, Liesl finds herself in a terrifying world of murder and deception in this well-researched, beautifully written thriller. She is a hero we root for, despite her criminal behaviour, as she goes on an adrenalin-running-high escapade as she seeks the truth. To Malby’s credit. I found myself in the streets and buildings of Vienna, described with the minimum of fuss, but described in such a way that I felt I was part of the city, part of the chase and totally enmeshed in the plot.
I hope this is the first in a series as there is room for so much more.
About the reviewer
Jon Wilkins is 66. He is married to the gorgeous Annie with two wonderful sons. He was a teacher for twenty years, a Waterstones bookseller and coached women’s basketball for over thirty years before taking up writing seriously. Nowadays he takes notes for students with Special Needs at Leicester University. He has had a work commissioned by the UK Arts Council and several pieces published traditionally as well as on-line. He has had poems in magazines and anthologies, art galleries, studios, museums and at Huddersfield Railway Station. He loves writing poetry. For his MA, he wrote a crime novel, Utrecht Snow. He followed it up with Utrecht Rain, and is now writing a third part. He is currently writing a crime series, Poppy Knows Best, set at the end of the Great War and into the early 1920s.
You can read more about Dead Drop by F. C. Malby on Creative Writing at Leicester here.
F. C.Malby graduated with a first-class joint honours degree in Geography and Education. She has travelled widely and taught in the Czech Republic, the Philippines and London. She writes novels, short stories and poetry. Her debut novel, Take Me to the Castle, won The People’s Book Awards. Her debut short story collection, My Brother Was a Kangaroo, includes award-winning stories published in literary journals and magazines worldwide. She is a contributor to anthologies including In Defence of Pseudoscience: Reflex Fiction Volume Five (Reflex Press), Unthology 8 (Unthank Books), and Hearing Voices: The Litro Anthology of New Fiction (Kingston University Press) alongside Pulitzer prize winner, Anthony Doerr. Her website is here.
About Dead Drop
Liesl is an art thief and an exceptionally good one. She steals priceless paintings from Vienna’s art galleries and delivers them to wealthy 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. 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 Leisl comes up against a truth that makes her question everything she knows.
You can read more about Dead Drop on the publisher’s website here. Below, you can read an excerpt from the novel.
From Dead Drop, by F. C. Malby
I hear the roll and clunk of the train’s wheels on the steel tracks below, feel its vibrations in my toes and through my thighs as it leaves the platform. The wind rushes into the tunnel from Stephansplatz, its caress warm as it whips down the steps to the underground platform and fills the void.
The Vienna spring brings with it cherry blossom and azure skies, the blues becoming celestial in the late afternoon light. Most count the short, hot summer months. I count the winter months until spring, and then when the leaves turn to a deep, burnt amber, I begin again.
As I reach the top step, a body lies on the pavement, feet contorted, laces undone, socks pushing through holes in the soles. A red, woollen hat rests on the concrete slab by his head, hands clutch an empty bottle of Kaiser beer. Not a soul stops to look. A body littering the pavement is a familiar sight on this part of the underground. It’s not always clear whether the person is alive or dead.
I am here for the note. Stepping closer to avoid the people coming up the steps behind me, I spot a corner of paper in his top jacket pocket and pull it free. Without reading the words, I slide it into my jacket. Checking the pocket on the other side of his jacket, I feel something hard and rough and pull out a brooch shaped like a star. I count the spokes, ten of them, and run my fingers across its surface. It lacks the pearls, but at a guess it would have been handcrafted by Hapsburg jeweller, Rozet and Fischmeister. I slip it into my pocket. An unexpected treasure. Reaching down and taking his wrist, I feel for a pulse. I should have checked it first but this is new territory for me. All signs of life have drained away and death was recent. A touch of heat still lingers on the skin, rough and calloused. I pull the hat down over his face. The beer bottle, I suspect, will have been planted to make this look like a natural event. He should have been alive when I reached him.
.png)
.png)
F C MALBY 
You must be logged in to post a comment.