Pauline Barclay : A Cosy Mystery at Kettle Lane

As you know, I have recently published my first cosy mystery, Serendipity and like all in this genre, it is an easy read with a warm feeling. If, like me, you love to snuggle down with a cosy mystery, then please settle down and meet my wonderful guest and author friend, Barbara Gaskell Denvil who talks about her cosy mysteries.

THE COSY MYSTERY AT KETTLE LANE

I have so enjoyed the cosy mysteries written by others over the past couple of years, and I find it such a delightful genre. Nothing too intrusive on a cold evening, nor spine tingling when you’re ready to curl up and enjoy sweet dreams.

But I must admit, I believe mine are just a little different, since I didn’t want to repeat what other authors have done.

The Rookery, which is a series of three principal stories so far, plus a couple of short additions, is set in the Middle Ages in a small English village, where the inhabitants are quite unaware that the Rookery, the local retirement home, caters only for aged witches and wizards,

Kettle Lane is the first in the series. Although there is a short prequel available. Number four is still in progress, but hopefully will be published soon.

Rosie doesn’t know her full powers yet, and she’s rather taken for granted as the cleaner and tidier-upper by the inhabitants. However, when a sudden mystery death shocks them all, Rosie turns out to be cleverer than first believed.

These are books with humour and some very unusual characters, but at heart it is a cosy mystery like all the others, and the occasional shadow never gets too dark. This is a medieval village of secrets amongst the farms and markets, and the retirement home is even more secretive. But Rosie likes secrets and enjoys unravelling what seems shut tight.

I love writing and I adore exploring different genres, but at heart the English medieval has always been a passion, so here we are again. Without mobile phones, computers, cars and buses, and even without books and supermarkets selling ready-made food, people in those days needed to keep their wits about them and sort out problems themselves. And after all, if a powerful wizard is suddenly murdered, it’s a puzzle in more ways than one. Why couldn’t such a man protect himself? Who could possibly be even more powerful than the powerful?