The Awfully Wedded Couple

Suspects: Mr. Arthur Welford and his wife Nora.

Age: 41 and 36 respectively.

            Arthur is the eldest son and heir to the Welford fortune. Although he holds a position working under his father, Ezra, in the offices of Welford's Confectionary, his interest in the business is limited only to however much money can be made from it. He is eager to stay in parental good favor, particularly as he knows his father has little time for him and would be glad to cut him off without a penny, leaving everything to the younger son instead. In order to please his mother he has even married where she chose for him, despite the fact that he and his wife can barely stand to be in the same room.

            Never brave enough to rebel openly, but still chafing against his mother's strict rules and her determination to keep everything in order, Arthur has been known to complain about being stifled. He does not see his life as advantaged or privileged and wallows a great deal in self-pity. To cheer himself up, he engages in frequent affairs or "peccadilloes", as he calls them, with women of a lower social class. The adoration with which these women look up to him and are thrilled by anything he can do for them, makes Arthur Welford feel important and powerful in ways that nothing else in his life ever can.

            At home he is a creature under his mother's watchful eye, directed by her in all matters; at work he remains under his father's thumb, given only meaningless tasks that he cannot make a mess of. With every decision in his life taken out of his hands, he has been rendered impotent. It's almost pointless for him to get up every morning. Now, frustrated and seething deeply inside, he must also contend with a wife who despises him and spies upon his every move.

            If only he could get away from them all. Sometimes he nurses that daydream. But, of course, he has no real intention of leaving Welford Hall. One day, all this will be his and he won't let them take it away from  him, even if he has to cling on with bloody fingernails. He's suffered for forty one years and he intends to collect his due when the time comes.

            The sooner the better.

* * * *

     

       Nora, Arthur's wife, never wanted to marry. It was all arranged by the Welfords who wanted her for their son because of her pedigree lineage and the dowry promised by her family. But after the marriage that dowry was slow to be handed over and, eventually, the amount her parents managed to scrape together was barely adequate. Luckily, the aristocratic lineage could not be faulted, and that— in the socially ambitious Ezra Welford's eyes— was more important than money, otherwise Nora suspects she would have been sent back to her parents like an unopened letter in the post.

            It could be said that this "misunderstanding" over the dowry started the union off on a bad foot, but frankly it did not have a chance from the very beginning. The bride and groom took an instant dislike to each other and, in this case, familiarity was not likely to make first impressions improve. While Arthur is mercenary and selfish, Nora is coldly materialistic and embittered. Now, inexorably stuck together in that house, the only way they can manage their marriage is by over-indulging in their own not-so secret vices. For Arthur it is women; for Nora it is gin.

            If she could get out of this marital hell, Mrs. Arthur Welford would gladly run off and never come back, but divorce is a scandal neither can afford. They are trapped, as the vows declared, until death. Now, like her husband, she waits impatiently for the day when she becomes mistress of Welford Hall. Then she can start making some changes and running the place the way she wants. When that happens she can finally begin to reward herself for all this misery. The servants will be forced to obey her orders and her rules. The idea of that power in her hands is certainly a seductive force, for a woman who has been pushed around, used for other people's schemes, and belittled all her life.

            Oh yes, Nora is ready to take over her rightful place as mistress of Welford Hall.

            The sooner the better.

            But with Lady Isolda ruling the roost nobody can go anywhere or do anything, can they? Not without her approval.

            Only one idea comforts Nora. It is, ironically the same idea that soothes Arthur's angry, ruffled feathers too when he's feeling particularly resentful. Unbeknownst to the unhappy couple, it is the one thought they have in common— that one day Lady Isolda will be gone.

            And the sooner the better.

 

 

Find out who killed Lady Isolda Skefflington Welford in "BESPOKE". Coming to an online book store near you on February 20th, 2019.

(Image: "Arrufos" by Belmiro de Almeida 1887)

Cider, Secrets and Secateurs

Now for the next suspect on our list.

Suspect: Jonah/Jack

Age: Indeterminate.

The gardener has been a fixture at Welford Hall since it was first built and Lady Isolda came there as a young bride, more than forty years ago. For all that time, Lady Isolda and her gardens have been his whole life and he can be seen pottering about the lawns all day and in all seasons, keeping everything ship-shape for her ladyship. A big, gruff Yorkshireman of few words, he spends most of his free time at the local pub, "The Blacksmith's Arms". It is one of the few occasions when he might be found indoors, taking shelter from the weather that has shaped his face into a landscape as wild and wind-torn as the gritstone moors and limestone crags of the Yorkshire Dales themselves.

            Of course, his work never takes him inside the grand house of his employers. He is expected to stay outdoors, where he cannot get anything dirty, and he has made his bed in the potting shed, among the tools of his trade. Too much comfort, he thinks, would probably be his undoing. As long as he has his ale and cider in good quantity, he feels no desire to ponder the injustices of life or resent his lowly place in it. Well, almost none.

            Once in a great while, trimming hedges under the bright sun while his "betters" enjoy champagne in the shade, or take a nap in the conservatory, he has cause to grow a little philosophical. Even discontented. Not a good thing for him to be with sharp shears clasped in his meaty, callused fists.

            But everything he has now he owes to Lady Isolda, who once did him a very great favor. It's not something he can forget, no matter how much he drinks to pickle his brains. For as long as she's there to remind him, he knows there is somebody else in the world who shares a dark secret about his past.          

            So he had better keep on her ladyship's good side, had he not?

            The gardener, to all appearances, knows his place and never complains. Never even thinks about protest or revolution. His loyalty is so great that he does not even object when her ladyship changes his name to "Jack", simply because she does not like "Jonah". He goes along with it, as he must with any whim of Lady Isolda's.

            At least for as long as she's alive.

* * * *

Dig into the mystery of "BESPOKE" -- coming to all the best online bookstores, Feb 20th, 2019.

(Image used here: The Old Gardener by Briton Riviere, 1863)

There's something about Ivy.

As promised, today you can meet the first suspect in the death of Lady Isolda Skefflington Welford. Proceed with caution.

Suspect: Ivy Dimmock, Scullery Maid

Age: Unknown

Ivy is a workhouse girl, taken in by Lady Isolda to work as scullery maid at Welford Hall. Nobody knows much about orphaned Ivy. Nor do they care. As the servant on the lowest rung of the ladder, she is teased, shouted at and bullied by certain other members of staff. Expected to keep below stairs, she has no interaction with "The Family" and is never even supposed to be seen by them -- in fact they are probably quite unaware of her existence.

Lady Isolda has hired many girls from the workhouse in the past but they seldom meet her high standards, or those of her punctilious butler. Ivy, however, is resilient, uncomplaining and keener to learn than most. She is also, it turns out, smarter than she looks. At least, she knows when to trust somebody -- even if her criteria is based on whether a person smells of cake and chocolate.

First to rise each day and last to curl up at night (on her bundle beside the kitchen range), she is the hardest worker in the house and the least able to speak up for herself. She is slight of build, quiet, a nervous creature with wide-eyes and large ears. But is she truly as innocent and harmless as she looks? To keep up with the workload she must be physically stronger than she appears, and to withstand the pinches and blows, she must be determined, thick-skinned. A survivor.

As a constable remarks, "Yorkshire lasses can look after themselves, especially them from the workhouse... Young 'uns like that have got a wily instinct."

 There's definitely something about Ivy...

 Such a small person, unnoticed by most, unappreciated by everybody, often sees and hears things they shouldn't. Although intimidated into silence for a while, resentment must surely build inside and with it the likelihood that they might do something desperate one day. Constantly pulled and pushed about, treated like another dispensable workhouse girl— plenty more where she came from— Ivy could find herself stretched too far and then strike out against her tormentors.

The life of a scullery maid is grim and thankless, but for Ivy it's an improvement on her previous place. The last thing she wants is to lose her opportunity in the outside world and be returned whence she came. So how far would she go to stay free of the workhouse?

"BESPOKE" coming to an online bookstore near you on February 20th, 2019.

(Image used here: The Little Potato Peeler by Albert Anker 1886)

The Corpse, the Cake and the Calamity.

There's a dead body in the conservatory and somebody is responsible. But who?

In "BESPOKE", my new Victorian mystery romance, the hero— a recently promoted detective inspector from Scotland Yard— has just been seconded to the Yorkshire police. He's not expecting a great deal of excitement, but within a week he is presented with a dead body, a severed foot, a very suspicious slice of cake and a curious parade of suspects. Even Sherlock Holmes would have his hands full.

Over the next few days, I'll introduce you to the scene of the crime and some of the characters in it.  Don't be surprised if some of the red herrings turn out to be chocolate covered.

 Victim: Lady Isolda Skefflington Welford

Age: 61

             In her youth Lady Isolda was the survivor of both a fire and a shipwreck. Ironic, since she was never the adventurous sort— not one to get her petticoats dirty as a child, or do anything particularly daring. As a woman whose life has been filled with duty and charitable causes, Lady Isolda is much admired and respected, held in high regard by the community as a whole. Indeed, her entire family is considered beyond reproach, even if an occasional blind eye must be turned to the coarse, ill-bred manners of her husband (wealthy businessman Ezra Welford) and the transgressions of her offspring. Out of courtesy, deference and sympathy for the faultless, ever-generous Lady Isolda, these failings are overlooked.

            Her roots are in that soil, you see. As a Skefflington, she is part of an ancient, local family tree that stretches back to the Norman conquest. Although that name is in danger of dying out, the ruins of Skefflington Castle still remain, high on the blustery hill, to remind everybody of her noble lineage. For the people of that county, Lady Isolda is one of their own— and yet higher up on a pedestal. Her behavior is the standard by which all are judged.

            But on one unseasonably hot afternoon at the end of September in the year 1893 something quite unexpected will finally be her undoing. Everything anybody has ever known about that grand lady is about to be called into question.

 

As Oscar Wilde wrote, "Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future."

 

Found dead with a slice of cake in her lap and chocolate on her lips, the impeccable Lady Isolda will leave behind not only crumbs, but a series of clues to frustrate Detective Inspector Deverell. Fortunately, he'll have some help from a certain young woman who, once she's got over the excitement of being a suspect herself, just might prove to be invaluable.

 

 

 

BESPOKE will be available on February 20th, 2019.

 

Image shown here: The Blossom of Youth by Wladyslaw Czachorski 1898)

It's All New

Coming this Spring 2019 - Bespoke

He's just been sent from Scotland Yard to solve a murder in the Yorkshire Dales; she's just opened her own business in York baking killer cakes. He wants a peaceful life; she's aiming for revolution. He likes to keep both feet on the ground; she dreams of scandalizing the neighborhood on a bicycle.

He's never getting married again-- most women ought to be stamped on the forehead with a danger warning and clapped into handcuffs. She thinks men are simply an obstacle to her ambitions and if it's true that the way to a man's heart is through his digestive system, that explains why a great deal of gaseous waste frequently finds its path out of the wrong end.
 

This might be an unlikely recipe, but it's the start of a remarkable partnership in crime-solving. And a match made in chocolate.

They're not Bogart and Bacall; they're not Astaire and Rogers. They're not even Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. It's late Victorian England and the world may be changing, but is it quite ready for this pairing? They're not even prepared for it themselves. Nevertheless, some wayward kind of chemistry keeps drawing them together and it can't be blamed entirely on the cake. Or the corpse in the conservatory.

Meet some new characters this year as they embark on adventure in an old fashioned mystery romance: BESPOKE.

Hot off the presses in 2019. Stay tuned for more news.

Happy New Year!
JF

 

(Cake and photo provided by my remarkably talented sister.)

Have a Verry Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a wonderful holiday with friends and family. Curl up by a crackling fire (even if its the one on Netflix), watch some schmaltzy movies, drink mulled wine and, when you've got a peaceful moment all to yourself, read a good book.

Thank you for sticking with me for another year and I wish you all the best for 2019. Let's make it the best yet.

To you and your families, Merry Christmas x

Jayne

Character Showcase - John Paul "Sigh" Deverell

            John Paul is the youngest son of the infamous True Deverell and his second wife Olivia. His youngest sibling is fifteen years his senior, so he has nieces and nephews who are older than him and this has often caused "J.P." to feel left out— an afterthought in the family.

            As a boy growing up, he was usually alone with his games and books, since the others had little time for him and were seldom home. Eventually he decided he was better off on his own in any case. He was used to it, knew how to cope for himself, and didn't get entangled in other people's troubles. His mother tried to make him polite and gentlemanly, but any attempt she made to involve him with children his age simply made him feel awkward and even more different.

            His father, anxious not to "make a mess" of his last son too, decided long ago that he had better let his beloved wife, Olivia, take the greater hand in rearing this child, while he would take a more distant role. His first wife had been a terrible mother, but Olivia was very different and he enjoyed seeing the special pleasure her son brought to her life. For once, he thought, he could relax, content in the knowledge that his second wife was a warm and loving mother. He would not have to prevent this one from pecking her child to pieces.

            But eventually, as J.P. proves to be remarkably clever, plowing through his school and university career with accolades aplenty, his father— who always wished he could have had a formal education himself— finds it difficult to be close to his son. He fears he has left it too late to make a connection, and that, while thinking to do the best for his son, he has shut himself out. About his other sons, he knows everything, for in many ways they are just like him. But when it comes to J.P., he knows almost nothing.

            True Deverell is immensely proud of his youngest son's accomplishments, but his well-meaning plan not to interfere, has left J.P. thinking that his father has little to no interest in him. Occasionally he secretly wishes he could be more like his rowdy siblings, if that might get him some of his father's attention. But he's now thirty and has settled into his role as the grumpy solitary of the family. At least he has not caused any scandals yet, although, born with the Deverell name, he knows most people have a preconceived notion before they've even met him.

            He is studious, somber, never reckless and not very sociable. Most of the time he finds other people to be annoying and frustrating, their company largely incommodious. Women have passed in and out of his life without making much impression, but that's fine with him. He does not want to be involved too deeply with anybody.

 

            Females were, in general, hysterical creatures; it was well documented. As engines ran on coal and steam, woman ran on smelling salts, screaming fits and accusations.

            He did not intend to commence the cost of keeping one himself on a permanent arrangement at any time in the near future.

 

            His one good friend, Jacob— dear to him since their schooldays together and, strangely enough, the complete opposite in personality— died suddenly last Christmas. This has left J.P. alone to run the business they started together and he has thrown himself into it, sparing little time for a life outside work. Despite his plan never to get entangled in anybody else's strife, he has also taken on the responsibility of caring for Jacob's widow and children.

            This Christmas, Jacob is about to pay a visit to his old partner, to thank him and to point out that underneath that grim, "scrooge"-like demeanor, J.P. Deverell is actually a kind and generous man. He just does a very good job of disguising it— even from himself.

            J.P. has also managed to hide how very much he misses his friend, but memories, ushered in by Jacob's mischievous ghost, will change all that.

            He doesn't believe in magic, either at Christmas or any time of the year, but there is something in the air tonight. And it's looking for him.

            This year a reluctant, unsociable hero will take an unforgettable journey, aided by the spirit of Christmas ("Bah Humbug") and the arrival of a Snow Angel, who is waiting to knock seven bells out of him.  

            Angels, he was about to learn, can do that to a man; they are not the dainty, ethereal creatures one might imagine.

 

            So join poor, unsuspecting J. P. Deverell on a path that will wind through the past, the present and get a bit of kick from the future too. He doesn't generally like company, but I'm sure he wants to tell you this story. That's one thing he did inherit from his father - a talent for story telling. Even his heroine doesn't know for sure how much is true.

Is it really all her fault, or was it his suddenly jolted memory that finally brought them back together? Or was it the magic of Christmas?

 

 

The Snow Angel - e-book

 

The Snow Angel - Paperback

 

Images used here: Photograph of snowy tree - Author's own. Painting "Yes" by John Everett Millais (1877)