A Freddie Felstead Mystery · Book 1
Freddie Felstead and the Whitmore Affair
Freddie Felstead and the Whitmore Affair is a cozy mystery novel by E.F. March, set in London in autumn 1991. It is the first book in the Freddie Felstead Mysteries and publishes on 22 October 2026. It is available to pre-order now on Amazon.
A City firm, an anonymous letter and a most irregular software problem.
London, autumn 1991. The Cold War is over, the recession is being discussed with varying degrees of urgency, and Freddie Felstead is on the Northern Line in a charcoal double-breasted suit, trying to read at least a page of the Daily Telegraph.
Freddie is twenty-two, a software consultant of the mildest kind, and thoroughly 1920s in dress, manner and conversation. When his manager sends him to the venerable City firm of Whitmore & Partners to look at some software that is "not quite right", he expects a dull week. He does not expect the twenty faces around the boardroom table, the overly flashy cufflinks, or Charlotte Ashworth's news over lunch.
Charlotte is a journalist, Freddie's closest friend from their Bristol Uni days, and the recipient of an anonymous letter alleging fraud at the very firm Freddie has just been hired to help. Something at Whitmore & Partners is not what it seems, and the answer is hiding in plain sight.
Between lunches, Tube journeys, an Art Deco doorway, a cricket club and an Aunt Bea who knows rather more than she lets on, the two friends set out to find it. All they need is patience, several notebooks and the nerve to remain as charming and polite as ever.
A witty, warm-hearted cozy mystery with no murder, a great deal of tea, and a friendship that is slowly becoming something the reader notices well before the characters do.
Book details
Title: Freddie Felstead and the Whitmore Affair
Series: A Freddie Felstead Mystery, Book 1
Author: E.F. March
Genre: Cozy mystery (humorous, no murder)
Setting: London, 1991
Publication date: 22 October 2026
Formats: eBook on Amazon Kindle
Language: British English
Where to buy: Amazon (pre-order now)
Frequently Asked Questions
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It is a cozy mystery set in London in autumn 1991. Freddie Felstead, a young management consultant, is sent to a respectable City firm to look at some troublesome software, while his friend Charlotte Ashworth, a journalist, receives an anonymous tip about fraud at that same firm. Together they set out to find the truth. There is no murder.
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It publishes on 22 October 2026, and you can pre-order it now on Amazon.
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Yes. The mystery in Book 1 is a case of fraud hidden in plain sight, not a killing. The Freddie Felstead Mysteries are built around secrets, forgeries and old objects with a past, so the stakes are real but the tone stays light.
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In London in September and October 1991, between the Strand, the City, Covent Garden and the Northern Line. Freddie and Charlotte live in 1920s style by choice, which gives the book its period atmosphere.
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It is best to begin with Book 1. Each mystery is self-contained, but Freddie and Charlotte's friendship develops from book to book, and Book 1 introduces Aunt Bea, Mr Bolter and the rest of the company.
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Readers who like cozy mysteries without murders, the gentle humour of P.G. Wodehouse and Jerome K. Jerome, Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence stories, or vintage 1920s style in a modern setting.
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E.F. March is the pen name of the author of the Freddie Felstead Mysteries. The author prefers to let Freddie do the talking.
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Yes. Book 2, The Sapphire Bracelet, is next. Join the newsletter to hear first when it is ready.