Olga Wojtas
Olga Wojtas is an unconventional – and very witty – writer of postmodern crime fiction whose surrealist humour has been compared to the likes of PG Wodehouse, Jasper Fforde and the Marx Brothers. Her debut novel, Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar, has been published in the UK and US to great critical acclaim – being longlisted for the inaugural Comedy Women in Print Prize 2019, shortlisted for a CrimeFest Award, and named as one of the best mysteries and thrillers of the year by Kirkus.
A journalist for more than 30 years, Olga was Scottish editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement before she began adding creative writing to her portfolio. She won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2015 and has had numerous short stories and several novellas published. Olga’s second novel, Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace, was published in 2020.
The third book in the Miss Blaine’s Prefect series, Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Weird Sisters, was published in 2022.
She lives in Edinburgh, where she once attended James Gillespie’s High School – the model for Marcia Blaine School for Girls, which appears in Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the novel that inspired the Miss Blaine’s Prefect series.
Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar
by Olga Wojtas
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Comedy Women in Print Prize 2019: LONGLISTED
CrimeFest Awards, Last Laugh Award 2019: SHORTLISTED
Fifty-something Shona is a proud former pupil of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, but has a deep loathing for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which she thinks gives her alma mater a bad name.
Impeccably educated and an accomplished martial artist, linguist and musician, Shona is thrilled when selected by Marcia Blaine herself to travel back in time for a one-week mission in 19th-century Russia: to pair up the beautiful, shy, orphaned heiress Lidia Ivanovna with Sasha, a gorgeous young man of unexplained origins.
But, despite all her accomplishments and good intentions, Shona might well have got the wrong end of the stick about her mission. As the body count rises, will she discover in time just who the real villain is?
Cover for first edition. Still distributing whilst stocks last.
REVIEWS OF Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Golden Samovar
“Wojtas’ debut is every bit as light-hearted, level-headed, inventive, hilarious, and altogether enchanting as its heroine, who richly deserves another jaunt through time and space.” Kirkus (starred review)
“This is a delightful addition to the ranks of comic crime, mixing sharp observation with a lightness of touch.” Laura Wilson, Guardian
“A thrilling and fast-paced tale of time-travel, murder, mayhem, matchmaking and manners … written with verve, lightness of touch and joie de vivre … unadulterated fun.” Alistair Braidwood, Scots Whay Hae
“A hefty dose of Jane Austen stylings and Stella Gibbons satirical wit … Like a sliver of sponge cake on a dainty tea plate, Miss Blaine’s Prefect… is light, fluffy, sweet and delightfully insubstantial.” Scotsman
"If you read one new author this year, make it this one - the crème de la crème of crime fiction debuts." Al Guthrie
"Anna Karenina written by P.G. Wodehouse." Linda Cracknell