Coming Soon: The Tickler's Jam Murders by Peter Tickler

Published 24 February 2024,
by Oxford eBooks

It is 1919. The First World War is over, the soldiers have returned home, but brutal death is not far behind.

When businessman Sir Wilfred Walker is blown up in his Rolls Royce by a bomb made from a Tickler's jam tin, Detective Sergeant Kite is sent to investigate. Kite, ejected from the London Metropolitan police, has a reputation as a troublemaker, a serious health problem, and an obsession with asking awkward questions. Constable Sparrow is a livewire with tales to tell. And all the inhabitants of Crowthorpe Manor have secrets to hide.

Trapped and cut off by the snow in rural Lincolnshire, Kite's time is soon running out. It is a case that no-one, especially his boss, wants him to solve. But the Tickler's jam killer is hiding in plain sight and has not finished yet.

Peter Tickler is the great-grandson of T G Tickler, supplier of jam to the troops in the trenches. Tickler's Jam was real, British soldiers really made bombs out of the tins when they had eaten all the jam in them, but this novel is entirely fictional.

For the history behind the book click here

Peter Tickler has lived in Oxford for over 30 years, and was also a student at the university, it is the side streets, the sense of local community, and water ways of non-tourist Oxford that he loves. It was inevitable that when he started to write crime fiction, it would be firmly based in this milieu.

His Oxford whodunnits have attracted wide praise for their pace, excitement and authentic Oxford background. They feature a hard-nosed, irascible DI Susan Holden and a private-eye (Doug Mullen), a conflicted protector of the weak, a soft spot for any damsel in distress and a determination to right wrongs.

Mystery People: "The story entices, jolts and disorientates on almost every page as the reader is caught up in an increasingly frenzied Danse Macabre."

Chris Williams (Oxford United): "Peter's novel is a fantastic read"

Maggie Hartford (Oxford Times): "A perfect gift for someone who enjoys traditonal detective stories, and knows and loves the non-university side of Oxford, beyond the dreaming spires."

Oxford Today: "Deliciously thrilling and wildly unpredictable".

OUFC Programme: "The characters are superbly drawn ... and this latest offering is mature, thought-provoking and highly recommended.

 https://www.petertickler.co.uk