JP Fraser's
Three Villages Cosy Mysteries
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It's July 1977: A curious death, a house full of secrets and a tapestry of lies… Nothing is as it seems on sleepy Druids' Lane.
With Downscliffe knee‑deep in jumble sale chaos, news spreads of a sudden tragedy: Martin Bramble, a quiet, unassuming botanist, has died in a fall at home. Inspector Strickland is confident it was just a tragic accident, and for once, Catriona Cameron agrees.
Martin's wife, Angela, was on the phone when he fell, and she is convinced no one else was in the house. How could it be anything other than a tragic accident?
But then certain little discrepancies begin to emerge, the tiniest inconsistencies that are guaranteed to get Catriona's nose twitching. Who was Angela speaking to on the phone? Could Martin's death have anything to do with the mysterious and secretive research station where he worked? And what role did a local art tutor play?
All Catriona knows is that someone is lying, and if she can uncover who and why, the whole plot will unravel. There is just one flaw in her plan: exposing the truth may put her in mortal danger.
If you'd like a physical copy of Fifteen Steps to Murder to add to your collection, it's also available in paperback for £4.99.
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The Three Villages Cosy Mystery Series
Book One
A Jubilee Murder
A village murder mystery with platform shoes, bad hair and a lot of cake.
During the summer of 1977, in the chocolate-box village of Downscliffe in Kent, preparations for the Silver Jubilee are thrown into disarray when a local television celebrity is found dead.
Veronica Castle is wealthy and successful. She has it all: fame and money, thousands of fans across the region and a luxury house in the country. So why did she hang herself? The police have no doubt that it was suicide, but not everyone agrees. Newcomer to the village, Catriona Cameron, fights to uncover the truth and prove that this was murder. But in order to understand Veronica Castle's death, Catriona must first delve into her murky past. Only there will she discover who killed her. And why.
A Jubilee Murder is an absorbing story of rural English life and village intrigue. It is liberally sprinkled with '70s nostalgia, from vol-au-vents and prawn cocktails to Kojak and Suzi Quatro. It offers an affectionate and light-hearted glimpse of village life half a century ago, as well as a cracking murder mystery for Catriona to solve in her first adventure.
A Novella
Fifteen Steps to Murder
It's July 1977: A curious death, a house full of secrets and a tapestry of lies… Nothing is as it seems on sleepy Druids' Lane.
With Downscliffe knee‑deep in jumble sale chaos, news spreads of a sudden tragedy: Martin Bramble, a quiet, unassuming botanist, has died in a fall at home. Inspector Strickland is confident it was just a tragic accident, and for once, Catriona Cameron agrees.
Martin's wife, Angela, was on the phone when he fell, and she is convinced no one else was in the house. How could it be anything other than a tragic accident?
But then certain little discrepancies begin to emerge, the tiniest inconsistencies that are guaranteed to get Catriona's nose twitching. Who was Angela speaking to on the phone? Could Martin's death have anything to do with the mysterious and secretive research station where he worked? And what role did a local art tutor play?
All Catriona knows is that someone is lying, and if she can uncover who and why, the whole plot will unravel. There is just one flaw in her plan: exposing the truth may put her in mortal danger.
Fifteen Steps to Murder is a novella of around one hundred and twenty pages. It is available to buy in paperback format, or you can get it as a free PDF when you sign up to the JP Fraser newsletter. See the 'Free Novella' page for details.
Book Two
Death in Pilgrims' Wood
Autumn, 1977: one dead body, a hundred and fifty vol-au-vents and a village scandal that refuses to stay buried.
When Catriona Cameron, cookbook author and reluctant sleuth, discovers a body on a secluded bridlepath, she becomes embroiled in a mystery as tangled as the brambles in Pilgrims' Wood.
The police are quick to dismiss Laura Sage’s death as an accident, but Catriona isn’t so sure. One by one, cryptic notes begin to appear, rumours swirl, and beneath Downscliffe’s genteel surface lurks a knot of twisted secrets involving shady developers, illicit affairs, and a detective inspector determined to keep the truth buried.
With her loyal friend Debbie by her side, sharp instincts and a car full of tasty vol-au-vents, Catriona must unravel the truth and unmask this most cunning of murderers. But when the latest note suggests another death may be imminent, Catriona knows she must do something – even if it means ruffling a few feathers and incurring the wrath of Detective Inspector Strickland.
Book Three
Death in the Circle
November 1977: a body in an ancient stone circle, a manuscript worth killing for, and a village where history refuses to stay buried.
When a man is found dead at a local stone circle, everyone assumes it’s just a tragic accident. Everyone except Catriona Cameron. Something about the scene feels wrong. Digging deeper, she uncovers an identical death nearly four decades earlier, and when a second body appears, the past and present collide in a chilling pattern of mirrored murders.
Both victims belonged to a local historical group, and Catriona is convinced the truth lies somewhere within its eccentric ranks. But what links these deaths to two wartime tragedies in 1941? And how does it all connect to a mysterious manuscript and the long‑forgotten fall of a medieval village?
With Debbie as her ever‑enthusiastic partner in crime‑solving, Catriona races to uncover the truth, despite knowing what it may cost her personally.
Warm, witty, and wonderfully twisty, Death in the Circle proves that in the three villages, secrets never stay buried forever.
Book Four
Murder at Darkwood Hall
It’s 1977, and we're off to a 1920s‑themed Christmas party in an archaeologist’s mansion.
What could possibly go wrong?
When Catriona Cameron accepts an invitation to the grand and glittering Darkwood Hall, she anticipates sparkling gowns, a cheeky cocktail or three, and perhaps the odd bit of scandalous gossip. She doesn’t expect to find a house full of secrets, devious characters or a dead body in the gallery.
When glamorous socialite Yvonne Temple is discovered murdered, the worsening snow ensures no one will be leaving… including the killer. Everyone is a suspect: an archaeologist with a deadly secret, a garrulous MP with a shady history, a jealous wife, a mysterious Egyptian diplomat and a bitter daughter with far too much to hide. Does the truth lay in an ill‑fated expedition to the land of the pharaohs a quarter of a century earlier?
With her friend Debbie at her side, Catriona will have to work through the night to uncover the killer. To do so, she must delve into Yvonne’s murky past, discover what really happened on that fateful dig and find a missing artefact that could be the key to the entire mystery. The murderer is cunning and ruthless, and Catriona soon realises she may be the next victim.
Help is a very long way away.
Book Five
Death Through a Broken Lens
Lights, camera… Murder! A period drama becomes a deadly mystery.
And Catriona Cameron may star as the next victim.
The sleepy village of Downscliffe is buzzing as a film crew descends on lakeside Larkham House, transforming the stately home into the set of a lavish period drama. Catriona Cameron, local cookbook author and part‑time sleuth, is just as excited as everyone else, especially when she recognises the director from her former life in Scotland. Their fleeting romance may be long since faded, but he certainly hasn’t forgotten it. Or her.
Excitement turns to tragedy when glamorous starlet Emma Whittaker is found dead in the lake and the production grinds to a halt. With another actress missing and a valuable necklace stolen, the production is in turmoil. Catriona reluctantly agrees to be drafted in as a last‑minute replacement, and she quickly discovers that the drama behind the camera is far greater than anything in the script.
As Rivalries simmer and long buried secrets emerge, it becomes clear Emma was far less popular than her public image suggested. With suspects everywhere she turns, Catriona’s investigation becomes even more complicated when she reunites with a certain detective chief inspector she’s worked with before. Now acting as his eyes and ears on set, she soon realises the killer is closer than she ever imagined, and her new role might be her last.
