So, here we have it... find it Here and at Amazon.com, also as Kindle.
Jane and the Christmas Masquerades is a book consisting of two novellas in which Jane and Caleb are guests of Araminta's uncle, Major George Coate. This is the fourth volume in the Jane, Bow Street Consultant series, following the detective capabilities of Jane Fairfax, now Jane Armitage, aiding her Bow Street Runner husband.
Before giving the blurb for the novellas I'd like to talk a bit about why I write murder mysteries.
I like to write books about characters who happen to be linked
by murder; I rely on people to hold them
together, not the sensation of the crime. I want to write about my detectives
using legwork and brainwork, in an era where there are no magical CSI
framinstans. The crime is almost an
incidental to permit the peeling off of layers of personalities without
dragging in significant psychological events in their childhood and dwelling on
the angst of the detective, nor throwing in gore and horror to shock the
audience.
A story reliant on
shock value is not, in my opinion, a good murder mystery, but should be classed
horror or thriller. I find so-called ‘psychological thrillers’ anything but
thrilling.
I write books of
the kind that I want to read, about people.
My target audience
is, I suppose, the older woman, over 40’s; though I was seeking out gentle, amusing
and entertaining murder mysteries since my teens so maybe the target audience
is just me and my immediate family – husband of 30 years aged 55, and mother,
aged 82. My son doesn’t read murder
mysteries. Oh, and I’m 48.
Jane and the Vanishing Valet
On arriving at Major Coate's country
house, Jane and Caleb discover a servant crisis as the Major’s son has just given
the congé to his valet; but the new valet, when he arrives, is really very odd
in his behaviour!
The Major’s disparate relatives are
meeting Araminta for the first time, and there are some tensions within the
household as personalities clash when confined to the house in inclement
weather, with heavy snow blanketing the countryside.
When the Major is struck down in
his study, with a cruel blow, and the valet goes missing, it appears that he
may have been the culprit. If indeed the
valet had murderous intent, and is not himself a victim, it appears that he may
have had more reasons than mere theft for doing so. Finding the vanishing valet
becomes a priority for Jane and Caleb; and they must also prevent anyone from
finishing the Major off, since a lack of footprints suggest that the valet is
still in the house…alive or dead.
Invited with Major Coate's other
house guests to a dinner party, it is a shock for Jane and Caleb to discover
next day that their hostess, Mrs Steggall, was murdered overnight.
A mysterious and outrageously
vulgar woman, claiming to be married to one of the Steggall boys, called after
Jane and Caleb’s party had left. It
appears that she may have been responsible for shooting Mrs Steggall, but
finding her, and who she actually is, proves a challenge.
The victim's
well-known meanness apparently leaves no shortage of possible accomplices or
indeed killers if the unladylike female caller is more – or less – than she seems.
Caleb demonstrates
his knowledge of advances Bow
Street has made, in
matching bullets and wads, to be able to have a very good idea which gun was
used to shoot Mrs Steggall, and he and Jane are able to bring the murderer to
book, despite the destruction of evidence!
Meanwhile, Miss Bates has a chance
to overcome her disappointment over Mr Redmayne and find happiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment