A Mischief of Murder
Jan Christopher Murder Mystery – Episode #6
by Helen Hollick
The sixth Jan Christopher Cosy Mystery:
The village Flower and Veg Show should be a fun annual event – but who added mischief and murder to the traditional schedule?
July 1973
Old friends and new enemies? Jan Christopher’s Aunt Madge is to be a judge at Chappletawton’s annual village flower and vegetable summer show – a chance for the family to have a holiday in the Devon countryside, especially as Jan’s fiancé, DS Laurie Walker, is still recovering from gunshot wounds and her uncle, DCI Toby Christopher, is enduring injury-related sick leave.
The event should be a fun occasion where friendly rivalry between gardeners, cooks and crafters lead to the hopeful winning of the coveted Best In Show trophy – but who added mischief and murder to the traditional schedule?
Praise for the Jan Christopher Mysteries:
“A delight—Miss Read meets The Darling Buds of May, with a dash of St. Mary Mead. Helen Hollick's signature voice shines throughout, full of warmth and wit. The characters keep growing in such satisfying ways, making every visit feel like coming home.”
~ Elizabeth St.John, award-winning author of The Godmother's Secret and The King's Intelligencer
“The Darling Buds of May ...but in Devon instead of Kent.”
~ Alison Morton, award-winning author of the Roma Nova series
“I sank into this gentle cosy mystery story with the same enthusiasm and relish as I approach a hot bubble bath, and really enjoyed getting to know the central character, a shy young librarian, and the young police officer who becomes her romantic interest. The nostalgic setting of the 1970s was balm, so clearly evoked, and although there is a murder at the heart of the story, it was an enjoyable comfort read.”
~ Debbie Young, author of the Sophie Sayers cosy mysteries
~ Debbie Young, author of the Sophie Sayers cosy mysteries
“A delightful read about a murder told from the viewpoint of a young library assistant. The author draws on her own experience to weave an intriguing tale.”
~ Richard Ashen – South Chingford Community Library
~ Richard Ashen – South Chingford Community Library
Slugs were not at all popular with my family. Those connected to the no-good criminal kind and the other sort. I’m talking the slimy garden variety. You know, homeless snails. (As I thought of them when I was a kid.) Slugs were never popular at any time of the year for a keen gardener like Dad, but come mid-to-late July they were especially abhorred because the last Saturday of the month was the very important Village Flower and Vegetable Show. A big, by village standards, event, where anyone who was anyone in many a rural setting vied to become the proud owner of a silver trophy. My village of Chappletawton was no exception to this annual, national, traditional rivalry for a coveted First Place red rosette.
This sort of show had been going since the Victorian age, when they’d been introduced to encourage good practice in horticulture – and to keep the general hoi polloi’s gardens tidy. Even small flower shows like ours were judged according to the precise (and to my mind, nit-picky) rules laid down by the Royal Horticultural Society. Rules that had been known to elicit various strategies of cheating, and on occasion in the past, even outright sabotage. Not for the gain of prize money, as the winnings were little more than a recuperation of the few pence per class entrance fee. No, winning was for the prestige of a year-long ownership of a silver trophy and the accompanying gardening expertise kudos.
Helen Hollick
Known for her captivating storytelling and rich attention to historical detail, Helen’s historical fiction, nautical adventure series, cosy mysteries – and her short stories – skilfully invite readers to step into worlds where the boundaries between fact and fiction blend together.
Helen started writing as a teenager, but after discovering a passion for history, was initially published in 1993 in the UK with her Arthurian Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy and two Anglo-Saxon novels about the events that led to the 1066 Battle of Hastings, one of which, The Forever Queen (USA title – A Hollow Crown in the UK) became a USA Today best-seller. Her Sea Witch Voyages are nautical-based adventures inspired by the Golden Age of Piracy. She also writes the Jan Christopher cosy mystery series set during the 1970s, and based around her, sometimes hilarious, years of working as a North London library assistant. Her 2025 release is Ghost Encounters, a book about the ghosts of North Devon – even if you don’t believe in ghosts you might enjoy the snippets of interesting history and the many location photographs.
Helen and her family moved from London to Devon after a Lottery win on the opening night of the London Olympics, 2012. She spends her time glowering at the overgrown garden, fending off the geese, chasing the peacocks away from her roses, helping with the horses and wishing the friendly, resident ghosts would occasionally help with the housework...
Other recent releases:
an anthology of short stories by various award-winning authors
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