A Mistake of Murder
By Helen Hollick
The third Jan Christopher Cosy Mystery
Was murder deliberate – or a tragic mistake?
January 1972. The Christmas and New Year holiday is over and it is time to go back to work. Newly engaged to Detective Sergeant Laurence Walker, library assistant Jan Christopher is eager to show everyone her diamond ring, and goes off on her scheduled round to deliver library books to the housebound – some of whom she likes; some, she doesn’t.
She encounters a cat in a cupboard, drinks several cups of tea… and loses her ring.
When two murders are committed, can Jan help her policeman uncle, DCI Toby Christopher and her fiancé, Laurie, discover whether murder was a deliberate deed – or a tragic mistake?
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And here’s my Five Star Review. I’m a big fan of Helen’s cosy mysteries!
Helen Hollick does it again! The third in her Jan Christopher cosy mystery series, A Mistake of Murder is a delightful, fast-paced return to the world of my favourite librarian sleuth and her dishy fiancé, DC Laurie Walker. I must admit part of the lure is that the setting and times are very familiar to me, for Jan’s adventures take place in London in the 70s, and about every ten pages I would smile with pleasure at a recognisable landmark or memory. However, Ms Hollick’s clever plotting, amazing eye for detail and unexpected twists will appeal to any mystery lover, and as each story is a stand-alone, these books can be read in any order.
In A Mistake of Murder there are some definitely edgy characters, and although Jan is in a distracting, newly-engaged state of happiness, she is definitely capable of some pretty succinct deducting. We also find a more mature Jan, whose sense of guilt that she may have been partially responsible for the harm done to the killer’s victims adds a poignant air to the developing story. I like this little bit of grit that Ms Hollick has added, for it makes the characters even more dimensional and interesting.
This series is captivating, blending fast-paced sleuthing with glorious nostalgia, and I am so glad that Ms Hollick has already promised us a fourth one is underway. I shall be first in the queue to check out the next Jan Christoper novel! Highly recommend for all cosy mystery lovers.
First accepted for traditional publication in 1993, Helen became a USA Today Bestseller with her historical novel, The Forever Queen (titled A Hollow Crown in the UK) with the sequel, Harold the King (US: I Am The Chosen King) being novels that explore the events that led to the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Her Pendragon’s Banner Trilogy is a fifth-century version of the Arthurian legend, and she writes a nautical adventure/fantasy series, The Sea Witch Voyages. She has also branched out into the quick read novella, ‘Cosy Mystery’ genre with her Jan Christopher Murder Mysteries, set in the 1970s, with the first in the series, A Mirror Murder incorporating her, often hilarious, memories of working as a library assistant.
Her non-fiction books are Pirates: Truth and Tales and Life of A Smuggler. She lives with her family in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in North Devon, England, and occasionally gets time to write…
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