Retired private detectives Lawrence and Violet Harpham are back in the capital for sightseeing and relaxation. But Lawrence becomes increasingly isolated when artist Walter Sickert befriends Violet, acting as a mentor for her new hobby.
Bored and with nothing better to do, Lawrence delves into the recent murder of Emily Dimmock. But Emily was not the only woman to die under mysterious circumstances.
As Lawrence discovers more suspicious deaths, an old enemy returns, threatening the lives of all he holds dear. Meanwhile, the killer is moving in and will stop at nothing to fulfil his destiny. Can Lawrence unmask him before others die?
Fans of Andrea Penrose, Emily Organ and Irina Shapiro will enjoy this intricately plotted murder mystery set in Edwardian London. Based on true crimes.
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Trapped in a cage and left for dead, Adam Harding narrowly survives his enforced captivity. Fast forward three years and the peaceful towns of Truscombe and Tewkesbury are shaken by the appearance of bodies bearing shackle marks. Fear ripples through the community.
With the police resources stretched thin, seasoned investigators Sean and Saskia are called to help, soon realizing they are up against a twisted and methodical killer. But the arrival of Sean’s newly separated friend strains the partnership, causing him to become increasingly distracted, while Saskia feels pushed aside.
As the body count rises, clues lead to a local therapist and a succession of unnerving emails from a depraved killer. Will Sean and Saskia unmask the murderer before it’s too late, or will they become the next targets in this deadly game of cat and mouse? Journey to the darkest corners of the human mind in this chilling psychological mystery with a killer twist.
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The Victorian Era was a golden age for literature, culture, and the arts. However, strange quirks and odd traditions emerged alongside the industrial revolution. From the obsessions around mourning to the beginnings of Victorian spiritualism, the world of death and the beyond was a topic that captivated Victorian culture and traditions.
Dead Men Smiling
For a time, Victorians reserved death portraits for prominent people. But that soon changed. Creating a death portrait in the home during the mourning period became fashionable. The original mourning portraits were expensive and reserved for the upper-middle-class as photography had yet to advance. However, with the invention of the Daguerreotypes, those with limited income could also create an image of their deceased loved ones.
Daguerreotypes were remarkably detailed photographic images exposed onto a silver-plated sheet of copper. First developed in mercury fumes, the sheets were then stabilised with salt water, resulting in a clear picture. This process required a subject to remain still for a time, though less time than photography had once taken. Usefully, the dead tend not to move, so it was a logical step for mourning families to use this method for their portraits.
Hand-held Daguerreotypes were popular for parents of deceased youngsters who may not have taken their image in life. The photograph often showed the child lying in bed as if asleep. As the era progressed, including the bereaved parents became common. The trend varied for adults, often arranging the deceased subject to appear as lifelike as possible. This might involve the subject sitting upright or standing in the parlour. Many families would join their deceased loved ones in the image, ensuring a focus on remembrance rather than sadness.
Communication With The Other Side
During this period, the Fox sisters gained prominence. Leah, Maggie, and Kate Fox claimed a resident ghost named Mr Splitfoot would respond to their questions by rapping on the floorboards. Their story became popular, leading them to take their performances on tour, conducting seances for a paying audience in Corinthian Hall, Rochester. However, their supposed supernatural abilities were proven a hoax. The sisters had tapped their feet against the table beneath their voluminous dresses.
Spiritualism fascinated the author Arthur Conan Doyle, but Charles Dickens remained unconvinced, satirising his cynicism in The Christmas Carol.
Returning From the Dead?
As science and the Scientific Method spread throughout Victorian England, so did the central idea of resurrection. In fact, the study of the body, its limits, and how to heal it became a strong focus for many gentlemen, medical practitioners and scientists. Following the first successful blood transfusion in 1818, Blundell used his knowledge and experience to complete the first whole blood transfusion in 1840, helping treat a patient’s haemophilia. Soon after, in 1884, saline was introduced as a blood replacement, taking over from milk, a treatment we still use today. Unfortunately, successful experiments were not typical. Many theories missed the mark or came closer to mad science than medicine, like galvanisation. This process created electrical signals through chemical reactions by shocking something with electricity to get a result. After Luigi Galvani’s shows involving electricity used to stimulate the muscles of dead frogs and other animal carcasses, several theories considered electricity the key to resurrection. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein also inspired some of these ideas with her creation of Frankenstein. Sadly, Victorian scientists never realised their dream of resurrection.
Despite the strange customs of the Victorians, some of their ideas and methods are still in use today, though vastly changed over the years. The advances in medicine and understanding have been incorporated and improved in the modern day, allowing us to utilise blood transfusions, skin grafts and more. Many ideas from the spiritualism movement appear in today’s writing world, inspiring everything from possession stories to tales of the walking dead. Thankfully, we have phased out the concept of photographing our dead post-mortem, which could have led to a rather esoteric social media trend.
I’m proud to post that I am now a member of The Crime Writers’ Association, an aspiration I’ve held for many years. This prestigious organisation, founded in 1953, represents all kinds of crime writers, from psychological to thriller and cosy to supernatural – a good thing, as my cross-genre writing encompasses all the above!
And I’m in good company among best-selling authors like Rachel Abbott, Angela Marsons and M W Craven, to name but a few. It’s good to belong, and in the fullness of time, I hope to attend one of their regular conferences.
Talking of which, the SPF Conference is almost here in its regular venue at The Southbank Centre. Now in its third year, I’ll be there again, catching up with author friends and gaining valuable insight on self-publishing matters. Perhaps I’ll even learn what makes the ever-changing Amazon algorithms tick!
I based this book on twenty-nine-year-old Doctor Sophia Hickman, who vanished in August 1903. Outlandish theories raged in the press about the reasons for her disappearance which I won’t mention here for fear of spoilers! Apart from my fictional solution, I have mostly kept to the facts of the case as described in the newspapers of the time.
Featured also is fraudulent medium Jane Savage, loosely based on Mrs Strutt, the wife of Major Charles Henry Strutt, who attempted to defraud Henry S H Cavendish, a renowned African explorer. Posing as a medium, Mrs Strutt introduced Cavendish to seances, in which she conveyed spiritual messages from his late mother. The Struts seized his fortune, only relinquishing control after a judgement against them in a hearing known as The Planchette Case.
Though primarily set in London and Richmond Park, I couldn’t resist another foray into my beloved home county of Suffolk. This time, the action takes place in the tiny village of Akenham, involving the ancient legend of the Akenham Devil. Walk thirteen times widdershins around the ancient split stone in St Mary’s Church, and the devil will rise, or so they say. Lawrence, naturally, becomes embroiled. But I will say no more for now!
The Disappearing Doctor is available in all good ebook stores by following this link https://books2read.com/u/mYxRdd If you prefer to read physical books, head over to my bookstore.
Sass Denman is tired. Tired of being unemployed, tired of being alone and tired of the sickly smell coming from her floorboards.
But a chance conversation leads her to Sean Tallis, a lizard-loving private eye with a maverick approach to the law. Their routine case soon uncovers a missing girl with connections to an unsolved murder from the past. Has the Skin Thief returned after lying dormant for a decade?
As the evidence mounts, the trail leads to Saskia’s flat in Bosworth House. Petty problems confound her neighbours, each one more sinister than the last. Why is the cellar door padlocked shut, and will the arguments in Flat Four never stop?
The Fressingfield Witch by Jacqueline Beard 2017 mystery
This was listed as a thriller but since the killer was unknown, I consider it a mystery. Private Investigator Lawrence Harpham is hired by the church to investigate strange deaths attributed to witchcraft by several of the residents in Fressingfield in 1890 when science is stressed and not superstition. Plenty of characters are introduced who could be the suspect, and the reader follows Lawrence as he interviews and researches the past for answers.
The research takes him into church records dating back to 1639 and follows the misfortunes of Faith Mills, the first witch of Fressingfield. These passages reveal candidly the challenges faced by a woman. Faith was married to a merchant but when he fell on hard times, he killed himself. Left with four children, she moved in with a relative in Fressingfield. Her young daughter is raped, and the wife…
Lieutenant Hugh Chevis ate his final meal at home on 21 June 1931. Dining on a starter of slip soles, he was looking forward to the main event – a brace of partridges he intended to share with his wife, Frances. It only took one mouthful to realise that something was terribly wrong, and he died later that night in Frimley hospital. Three days passed, and a telegram arrived at his father’s house. Sent from J Hartigan, The Hibernian Hotel, Dublin, the message read ‘Hooray, Hooray, Hooray.”
The sender was never identified; the poisoner never found. This mystery is the basis for Book 3 in The Constance Maxwell Dreamwalker Mysteries.
I don’t know who I am, but he does – and he’s coming for me.
Connie’s life is a mystery, her background unknown, her future unclear. But one thing hasn’t changed – an unusal talent perfect for solving crimes.
A random meeting, a brace of poisoned partridges, and Connie is knee-deep in trouble again. Her life is slowly unravelling, the truth almost in grasping distance. If only she could remember. But somebody can. And he’ll use any means to get to her. Can Connie escape his clutches one more time?
The Poisoned Partridge is the third book in a gripping 1920s mystery series with a supernatural twist. Based on the true unsolved poisoning of Hugh Chevis. Pre-order here for delivery on 26th June.
Jacqueline Beard Writer 