15 July 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-06877216-0 (PB)
It is summer 1973, and Jan Christopher is looking forward to going to Devon to stay with her fiancé and his family. A few months ago, Jan’s fiancé, Detective Sergeant Laurie Walker, had been seriously injured by a gunman, and he is still convalescing. Jan has kept herself busy, both with her work at the local library and by looking after the horses belonging to her aunt and herself, but nevertheless she has missed Laurie very much. Jan is accompanied to Devon by her aunt and uncle, Maud and Toby Christopher, who had adopted Jan when she was a small child, and her own parents died. Toby is a Detective Chief Inspector, and Laurie’s senior Officer; he also is on sick leave, having severely sprained his ankle.
When Jan and her aunt and uncle arrive, the whole of the village is preparing for the Annual Flower and Vegetable Show, including Laurie’s parents, Alf and Elsie. Everybody is very busy, checking that their finest fruits and vegetables are pristine, cooking cakes and scones, selecting jams and chutneys, choosing perfect blooms and arranging flower displays. There will be three judges: Maud, who is judging the handicrafts; Beatrice, a television cook, judging the baked goods and preserves; and Rose, a television celebrity gardener, who is in charge of flowers, fruit and vegetables. Jan is happy to join in with preparations for the Show, and the evening before the event, the people who have worked to set it up are invited to a party at the largest house in the village. At the party Jan encounters many new people, including both of Maud’s fellow judges. She finds Beatrice very pleasant but thinks that Rose is extremely unlikeable: she is overdressed for the occasion, and is predatory towards some of the male guests; above all, Rose is drunk when she arrives and gets progressively more drunk throughout the evening.
The evening ends badly when it is discovered that their host’s rose beds have been stripped of all their blooms. This is a great blow, as he was one of the most likely people to win First Prize at the show. Things get even less enjoyable for Jan and Laurie when it becomes obvious that Rose is so drunk that she’s incapable of getting herself home and she has been abandoned by her sister, who has taken the car home without her. Laurie has to drive Rose home, and, of course, Jan accompanies him. As they attempt to unload their intoxicated passenger, they meet Rose’s acerbic and bitter sister, and their severely learning-disabled younger brother. Later that night, more show entries are stolen and vandalised, resulting in bad feeling and distrust. However, things become really nasty when mischief turns into murder. Laurie and Toby are both convalescent, and Devon is not within their jurisdiction. This means that they have to watch from the sidelines, as an arrogant and incompetent detective sergeant makes such a mess of the investigation that it seems unlikely that justice will ever be done.
A
Mischief of Murder
is the sixth book in the series featuring Jan Christopher. It is an enjoyable
addition to a charming, cosy series. Jan and Laurie are engaging protagonists,
and their families are warm and likeable. The seventies setting is skilfully
depicted, with enough period detail to be interesting and convincing, and the
descriptions of the Annual Show, with all its jealousies, petty feuds and small
triumphs, will supply nostalgia for those who remember such shows and
enlightenment for those too young to recall such unsophisticated pleasures. A
Mischief of Murder is a delightful cosy crime novel, which I recommend as a
perfect summer read.
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Reviewer: Carol Westron
https://www.helenhollick.net/
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