Delighted to say ‘Happy Publication Day’ to Jan Edwards on the release of Listed Dead the third in her Bunch Courtney Investigation series.
The series, based in the heart of the Sussex Downs, features Rose ‘Bunch’ Courtney and Chief Inspector William Wright. Their investigating exploits all take place during the turbulent years of WW2. Setting her crime novels in the 1940’s has meant a huge amount of research. Not only in reading around the subject, but also fact checking dates and historical events. Thankfully, while research is time consuming it’s something that Jan enjoys though she does admit,
I do try to keep my research in regard to history as accurate as is possible but I am fallible, and also on occasion play a little fast and loose where the stories seem to need it.
Jan was born in Sussex, hence that location setting, though not everything is as it seems, as Jan explains,
Perringham House and the villages of Wyncombe and Chiltwick do not exist anywhere beyond my fevered imagination. They hover somewhere on the Sussex Downs, not so very far from Worthing, as a land that never was. The same rules apply to the estates of Perringham, Banyard and Hascombe.
Some of the surroundings towns however, are real enough, though you will spot if you happen to live there, or even go to visit. I shall fess up now and admit that tweaks to streets and historic buildings have been made, and all entirely to suit my plots! My sincere and abject apologies to my fellow Sussexonians for taking liberties with the most beautiful county in England, and to anyone who might visit the various landmarks hoping to locate the spots where events took place.
So what does Listed Dead hold in store for us?
November 1940. The Battle of Britain has only just ended and the horror of the Blitz is reaching its height.
Two deaths in rapid succession on the Sussex Downs brings Bunch Courtney and Chief Inspector Wright together once more. What could possibly link a fatal auto accident with the corpse in a derelict shepherd’s hut? The only clue the pair have is a handwritten list of the members of a supper club that meets at London’s Café de Paris.
Two of those on that list are now dead and the race is on to solve the mystery before any more end up on the mortuary slab.
Tempted? I know I am. You can get your copy of Listed Dead via the following : –
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If you want to start the series from the beginning (which as Julie Andrews will confirm, is a very good place to start) here are the first two books.
Winter Downs (A Bunch Courtney Investigation Book 1)
Bunch Courtney stumbles upon the body of Jonathan Frampton in a woodland clearing. Is this a case of suicide, or is it murder? Bunch is determined to discover the truth but can she persuade the dour Chief Inspector Wright to take her seriously?
In January of 1940 a small rural community on the Sussex Downs, already preparing for invasion from across the Channel, finds itself deep in the grip of a snowy landscape, with an ice-cold killer on the loose.
In Her Defence (A Bunch Courtney Investigation Book 2)
Bunch Courtney’s hopes for a quiet market-day lunch with her sister are shattered when a Dutch refugee dies a horribly painful death before their eyes. A few days later Bunch receives a letter from her old friend Cecile saying that her father, Professor Benoir, has been murdered in an eerily similar fashion. Two deaths by poisoning in a single week. Co-incidence? Bunch does not believe that any more than Chief Inspector William Wright.
About the Author
- Winner of the Arnold Bennett Book Prize!
- Recipient of a Karl Edward Wagner Award
- She also gained a BFA Best Small Press (with Peter Coleborn) for Alchemy Press
- Sussex Tales gained a Winchester Slim Volume prize
- Short listed for a BFAs for Best Short Fiction, Best Collection and (as editor) Best Anthology.
- Highly Commended in Potteries Prize for Flash Fiction 2018
Jan was born in Sussex, and currently living in North Staffordshire with her husband, Peter Coleborn. In addition to being a writer she is also a Reiki Master Teacher and Meditational Healer and has been (in no particular order) a Master Locksmith, motorcycle seller, bookseller, civil servant, ostler, market gardener, librarian…
Her short fiction has appeared in many crime, folk horror, horror, pulp, weird fiction, main stream and urban fantasy anthologies.
She is part of the script team responsible for Olive Hawthorne: Daemons of Devils End – a 3 disc Dr Who DVD. As an editor Jan has produced fiction anthologies with editing partner Jenny Barber for The Alchemy Press and Fox Spirit Press. Jan has ghost written for several other titles.
BA hons, Eng. Lit. with creative writing; past chairperson of the British Fantasy Society and Fantasycon organiser.
You can keep up to date with Jan via her website or signup here for her newsletter. You can also follow via Twitter and Facebook. A complete list of contact/follow options can be found on Jan’s website.
Jill's Book Cafe 
Reblogged this on Jan Edwards and commented:
Publication Day shout out for Listed Dead on Jill’s Book Cafe
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