Murder Mysteries – and a Teddy Bear!

 Murder Mysteries – and a Teddy Bear!

By Helen Hollick

 

Cosy Mysteries (or coZy if you are reading this in the USA,) are fairly short, entertaining, light-hearted, amateur sleuth ‘who-done-it’ reads. Think Murder She Wrote or Father Brown on TV as opposed to Morse, Foyle’s War or Lewis. Most ‘cosies’ have a female heroine who inadvertently gets herself mixed up in a murder investigation (or sometimes just a mystery, not necessarily murder). There’s usually an element of romance as well, with a few unwritten ‘rules’ – no explicit detail of sex or gore, not too much police procedure and the entire story must lean towards the ‘cosy’, a good read that keeps the reader guessing as to ‘who-did-it’ without leaving anyone facing nightmares. The red herrings should be good red herrings, the need to find out what happens next and that ‘ah, that was an enjoyable read’ as the last page is reached are also essential.

To achieve all this, an author needs to tell an engrossing story with a clever plot, set in an interesting location with some instantly likeable main characters. (I think I’ve managed all this in my Jan Christopher Murder Mystery series – I hope so!)

Set in the 1970s, Jan Christopher, a north London public library assistant, was orphaned as a young child and adopted by her policeman uncle, DCI Tobias Christopher and his wife, Madge. In the first book, A Mirror Murder, Jan meets the DCI’s new Detective Constable – Lawrence (Laurie) Walker and it is love at first sight for the young couple. But will the discovery of a murder strengthen their budding relationship, or hinder it?

The second ‘episode’ A Mystery of Murder, takes Jan and Laurie to his parents, who live in Devon, for Christmas. But the festivities are marred by some escaped pigs and the discovery of human remains in a compost heap.

Another essential element of the Cosy Mystery are the secondary characters who often appear throughout the series, and in ‘Cosies’ these do not necessarily have to be human characters! My kind hostess, Pauline, has a wonderful Gardner & Chattaway mystery series – with one of the leading characters being Barney the dog.

In my Jan series I have some horses (Aunt Madge and Jan are keen horse riders), the occasional cat pops up, and then there are those pigs. However, a small character is becoming quite popular: Bee Bear, Jan’s teddy! He is called ‘Bee Bear’ because when he was new he had a yellow and black striped jumper. He has a staring role by being on the cover of A Mystery of Murder, even though he isn’t a significant character, but he does provide some humour, like when he falls out of a window and when Jan is visiting Laurie who is temporarily in hospital...

“I brought you this to borrow,” I said, as I handed him a paper bag. “I thought he would keep you company, but you don’t have to have him if you think it’s silly.”

Laurie opened the bag and brought out my teddy bear.

“It’s Bee Bear!” he laughed. “Hello mate. I bet the nurses will start cooing over you far more than they do me.”

“If you think having him with you is a bit childish...” I began.

“Nonsense. He’s wonderful. I can tell him all my woes and grumbles and he’ll not say a word back, or ever repeat them.”

 “He might do,” I laughed. “I’ve planted a listening device in his tummy.”

Laurie chuckled, held up my teddy, rattled him, then inspected the stitching of all his seams. “Don’t take this wrong, Jan love, but I know the standard of your sewing. These neat little stitches ain’t of your doin’ darlin’.”

I kissed Laurie – and Bee Bear – goodbye, and managed to keep a straight face as I opened the door.

“Well, Mr Smarty Pants,” I said, grinning, “I bribed Aunt Madge to do the sewing.”

Hah! That would keep him thinking.

Or when Jan says:

I thought I was plump, especially after the fabulous Christmas food I’d put away, but Laurie maintained that I was ‘suitably cuddly’. Which, I had pointed out, also perfectly described my teddy bear.

So there’s a blossoming romance to follow, cats to stroke, horses to ride, a teddy to cuddle – oh and some dastardly mysteries to solve as well!

I do hope you join Jan’s world, and for those who remember them, enjoy revisiting the 1970s!

*

Jan Christopher #1 A Mirror Murder

Jan Christopher #2 A Mystery of Murder

Jan Christopher #3 A Mistake of Murder

 

A MISTAKE OF MURDER by Helen Hollick

The third Jan Christopher Cosy Mystery

Was murder deliberate - or a tragic mistake?

A series of burglaries and an elderly person is murdered. Can library assistant Jan Christopher help discover whether murder was a deliberate deed – 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 Lawrence 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?

 

About Helen:

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, 'Cozy 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 and occasionally gets time to write...

 

links:

A Mistake of Murder by Helen Hollick available from an Amazon near you, or order from any bookstore. Paperback and e-book available.

https://mybook.to/MISTAKEofMURDER

Helen’s Amazon author page: 

https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick

Helen’s Website: https://helenhollick.net/

Subscribe to Helen’s Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/HelenHollick