Friday 27 January 2023

A Notable Omission by Isabella Muir (Guest post: Who is Janie Juke?)

 

historical mystery


It is my pleasure to welcome Isabella Muir to my blog today.

 A Notable Omission

A 1970s debate on equality is overshadowed by a deadly secret...

Spring 1970. Sussex University is hosting a debate about equality for women. But when one of the debating group goes missing, attention turns away from social injustice to something more sinister.

It seems every one of the group has something to hide, and when a second tragedy occurs, two of the delegates – amateur sleuth Janie Juke, and reporter Libby Frobisher - are prepared to make themselves unpopular to flush out the truth. Who is lying and why?

Alongside the police investigation, Janie and Libby are determined to prise answers from the tight-lipped group, as they find themselves in a race against time to stop another victim being targeted.

In A Notable Omission we meet Janie at the start of a new decade. When we left Janie at the end of The Invisible Case she was enjoying her new found skills and success as an amateur sleuth. Here we meet her a few months later, stealing a few days away from being a wife and mother, attending a local conference on women's liberation to do some soul-searching...


Purchase Link

UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Notable-Omission-Janie-Juke-mystery-ebook/dp/B0BQCLRYS6

US - https://www.amazon.com/Notable-Omission-Janie-Juke-mystery-ebook/dp/B0BQCLRYS6


historical mystery



Author Bio –

Isabella is never happier than when she is immersing herself in the sights, sounds and experiences of family life in southern England in past decades – specifically those years from the Second World War through to the early 1970s. Researching all aspects of life back then has formed the perfect launch pad for her works of fiction. It was during two happy years working on and completing her MA in Professional Writing when Isabella rekindled her love of writing fiction and since then she has gone on to publish seven novels, six novellas and two short story collections.

This latest novel, A Notable Omission, is the fourth book in her successful Sussex Crime Mystery series, featuring young librarian and amateur sleuth, Janie Juke. The early books in the series are set in the late 1960s in the fictional seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, where we meet Janie, who looks after the mobile library. She is an avid lover of Agatha Christie stories – in particular Hercule Poirot. Janie uses all she has learned from the Queen of Crime to help solve crimes and mysteries. This latest novel in the series is set along the south coast in Brighton in early 1970, a time when young people were finding their voice and using it to rail against social injustice.

As well as four novels, there are six novellas in the series, set during the Second World War, exploring some of the back story to the Tamarisk Bay characters.

Isabella’s love of Italy shines through all her work and, as she is half-Italian, she has enjoyed bringing all her crime novels to an Italian audience with Italian translations, which are very well received.

Isabella has also written a second series of Sussex Crimes, set in the sixties, featuring retired Italian detective, Giuseppe Bianchi, who is escaping from tragedy in Rome, only to arrive in the quiet seaside town of Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, to come face-to-face with it once more.

Isabella’s standalone novel, The Forgotten Children, deals with the emotive subject of the child migrants who were sent to Australia – again focusing on family life in the 1960s, when the child migrant policy was still in force.

Find out more about Isabella and her books by visiting her website at: www.isabellamuir.com


historical mystery


Social Media Links –

https://isabellamuir.com/

https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaMuirAuthor

https://twitter.com/SussexMysteries


historical mystery

A Notable Omission is the fourth novel in the Janie Juke series and here Isabella Muir provides some insight into the novel’s lead character and what has led her to this point in her journey…

Who is Janie Juke?

Janie Juke is a young librarian, living in the fictional Sussex seaside town of Tamarisk Bay in the late 1960s.

The great thing about being a librarian is not just that you get to read all the books you could ever want, but also that you are at the heart of the community.  With people forever popping in and out of the library van, Janie is in the very best place to excel at her other little sideline, as an amateur sleuth.

Throughout her life Janie’s father, Philip Chandler, has been her sounding board. When Janie was just five years old Philip took her to the park one snowy day.  He crossed the road to buy her a doughnut and got knocked over by a bus.  Sadly, as a result, Philip is now blind.  But he hasn’t let that stop him from leading a full and busy life.  He has trained as a physiotherapist and has a long list of clients keen to visit him, grateful for his gentle nature and wise words.

As well as benefitting from her father’s wise words, Janie has a passion for Agatha Christie novels.  As a result, she is a devoted fan of Hercule Poirot and for the last year or two she has had a chance to put all she has learned from him to the test.

In the first book in the Sussex Crime mystery series, The Tapestry Bag, Janie’s good friend Zara goes missing.  When the police appear to be doing little to find Zara, Janie makes it her mission to track her down.  Zara’s boyfriend, Joel, has been killed in a hit and run accident and Zara goes missing on the one-year anniversary of his death.  As Janie explores the strange circumstances of Zara’s disappearance, she starts to question the truth about Joel’s death.  She turns to Agatha Christie’s crime novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, to help her untangle the web of lies and deceit.

Having shown her skills at investigating, Janie takes on her first paid case for a client in the second book in the series, Lost PropertyThis time Janie enlists the help of her friend and local journalist, Libby Frobisher and between them they track down clues and piece together the facts. 

By the time Janie embarks on her third investigation – The Invisible Case - Janie is getting used to being a mum, with baby daughter, Michelle, just two months old. 

In this latest novel in the series - A Notable Omission – Janie has the chance to leave behind her responsibilities as a wife and mother to attend a three-day conference at Sussex University on the topic of equal rights for women. At this point in her life she feels conflicted.  She loves her husband, she loves being a mother to Michelle, but it’s as if there are different parts of herself that need feeding in different ways. She’s hoping these few days away from home will give her the chance to do some soul-searching. But when one of the conference delegates goes missing, once again Janie teams up with Libby and they both become embroiled in yet another mystery…


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