Jan Edwards's Blog

I had thought to wait and see how book six of the series went down before embarking on a new volume – but ideas arrive and can’t be gainsayed.

The second thought that occurred was whether this was Bunch Courtney Investigation #7 or something very different?

Rose ‘Bunch’ Courtney has changed a lot since she came galloping into frame in Winter Downs – a book that was only ever meant to be a stand alone. Five books later I am seeing her in a very different light. Less the slightly bonkers, horse-obsessed – posh girl and into an equally bonkers but far darker sort of detective.

In my mind and imagination she has become far more ‘Rose’ than ‘Bunch’.

At the end of ‘A Party to Murder’ she is left at a crossroads in life and how she moves forward will have a huge impact on how people will view her.

Hmm – which way to jump? I would love to hear your views – message me with your answers

Or Love Sourdough in a Cold Climate!
I smile at the writer of the book on baking sourdough at home currently in use.
Having happily stated that my starter should be kept at between 21 and 24c she then goes on to say, so very prettily, ‘Place your starter in a warm place.”

Hahahaha!

Plainly this person is not living in England – or is she is then clearly not north of Watford!

Its 1st of June and the outside temp at 8 am was 12c – indoor temp just topping 16c.

The starter, which yesterday had begun to bubble happily, and risen over half an inch up the side of the container, had slumped back to the start line marked by an elastic band around the jar and the temp on the therm tape shows a paltry 18c – not good.

So what now?

I don’t have an airing cupboard and there is no way the central heating is going on in June at the behest of this monsterous mould!

I do have a primitive heated brewing mat with a variable temp control, but which only gives you the choice between ‘high’ and ‘low’ on a rotating switch. To get a temperature set requires a game of guess-timating where 21c could possibly be on that sliding scale – dependent on everything from ambient temperature to contents viscosity – or whether or not someone has left a door or window open….

Hmmmm.

Well I have always thought that improvisation was the mother of invention – usually out of necessity its true – the spirit of Heath Robinson lives in us all and (for the time being at least) I have come up with a solution for overnight temp drops.

Heat the jar up to 24c on the mat and then shove it inside a thermal picnic bag.

More thought required – and possible purchases in the offing to get around this one.

The quest for a sourdough homebake continues!

I have tried making sourdough several times and never really got past the ‘starter’ stage. I suspect this is because this is not exactly a warm house and getting the poor yeasts propagate is an uphill struggle. That and the tendency of books on the subject to make things appear far more tricky than they really are.

As I seldom say die – and having gained a new sourdough recipe book that seems to be more accessible than others – and the weather temps being allegedly in my favour I am giving it another try!


This is day one of proceedings mixing flour and water and leaving it out to activate the natural yeasts. The instructions state that it should be left open to circulating air but covered against dust at a min temp 21c…
To paraphrase Kirsty McColl “in this kitchen? I don’t think so!”
It may be that I shall need to invest in a sourdough prover – only time will tell.
Starter is mixed and fingers are crossed.
I shall keep you posted on how it does (or doesn’t) go!

Some years ago I bought a couple of Honeyberry plants from Wilco (which gives you an idea of just HOW long ago…)

After a few years of sulking and, after planting them against a sunnier wall, they finally put on some growth. I had hope of seeing at least SOME fruit…

Here they are… the sum total harvesting of honeyberries…

Ho hum… On the plus side the plants have put on a lot of top growth so maybe next year…

Defrosting the chest freezer in the garage I came across 2 kilos of strawberries from last year’s allotment crop, and its now strawberry season thought perhaps they should be used up.

First up was the making of jam. I have two got-to jams – apricot or strawberry and both are always so much more intense when homemade.

Once I had started making the jam I found that the bottled lemon juice was not quite cutting it pectin-wise – so grabbed a large satsuma and juiced that into the mix. Slightly tart flavour but at has set- albeit more conserve level than jam as such.

It made 5.5 jars, which will keep me going for a fair while!

In clearing the freezer I had also come across a tub of cream that was surplus over christmas
and needed to be used up. Opening the tub I found that it had solidified a little but was still viable. So I cooked up the strawberries with a little sugar and mixed the cream with a can of condensed milk and some vanilla essence… and then disaster struck!

The recipe said to mix cream and condensed milk until it forms soft peaks – this mix skipped soft peaks and went straight into solid. What I had was, in effect, a sort of sweet vanilla butter…

Not being one to waste anything I mixed it with the strawberry coulis- hoping the liquid would reconstitute it….

Nope!

Not one to give up easily I bunged it in the freezer anyway while I gave it some thought.

Today I partially defrosted the mix and forced it through a steel sieve. The texture is still a little granular but a vast improvement and it tastes fine!

Lesson to be learned – frozen cream needs to be used up more quickly than 6 months and once it has lost liquid doesn’t whip well.
Lesson two – its one way to make butter

Of course the wisdom in making strawberry ice cream where one of us is diabetic and the other lactose intolerant is another matter…

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Just had a busy weekend at the Sykehouse Film and Fiction event in Doncaster, which has put me a little behind in keeping peeps up to date – but was so worth it.

We all had a great time – not just with the panels and film showings but in the chat that always goes on at these events when you not only meet up with old friends but make a few more.

This was something that came up in a panel that I was part of on Indie and small press – that social media is an absolute must for any writer or artists to make themselves known to the world at large – but there is nothing quite like face to face chats over a coffee (or stronger) to really make a connection. No matter how shy, or even curmudgeonly an individual might be we humans are social creatures by nature.

So what’s next in Edwardsland, you may ask?

Following close on the heels of my latest novel A Party To Murder : Bunch Courtney Investigation #6 Uk or USA

There is a short novella – Going Upriver : a DCI Wright mystery.

Originally this was meant to be a short taster for APTM – but somehow grew from the intended 2k short story to a 12k short novella.

What is it about?

William Wright is called in to track down the kidnappers of an MI officer’s daughter! (This is the case that took him out off camera a short way into Deadly Plot : BCI #5 – leaving Bunch to plunge headlong into the case of an Italian POW buried under the cabbages in the village victory garden.)

I have included the relevant chapters of Deadly Plot to keep you all in the picture! There is also a reprint of a previous DCI Wright mystery, ‘The Duke’s Head’ (originally published as ‘Down to the Sea’ in the UKBC anthology Criminal Shorts).

Going Upriver will be out on 22nd May! Amazon UK or Amazon.com

First of all I have to say a big thank you to Sam Lee-Howe and Dave Howe for a great weekend in Doncaster at the Sykehouse Film and Writers’ Festival – a two day event of panels,  film showings, workshops and pitch sessions.

Firstly the con report – and  the business end with panels – of which I had three.  I shan’t comment on these in detail – as with all panels so much is discussed that it’s hard to cover it all. Interesting chats and as always the case  ‘you had to be there’ to know who said what. And if you weren’t why the hell not!

Firstly up for me was Writing Historical crime with David Penny and moderator Jason Monoghan which was an interesting discussion on the joys and pitfalls of writing about the past, in particular and how much leeway needs to be allowed for modern eyes.

Next came ‘The Intersection of Fantasy and Horror with Dave Jeffery, Benjamin Adams, Raven Dane and moderator Sara Smith. The chat roved across many aspects with all agreeing that folklore, myths and legends is the glue that binds them.

My third was Success in Self-publishing and Indie Presses with David P Perlmutter, Charlotte Dolman, Graeme Cumming and moderator Sara Smith. We all got into gear on this one on matters of reaching audiences and not giving up the day job. All this while Peter fielded the Alchemy book table. Other chats that are in the laps of deities on the other side of the tables

By Saturday evening we adjourned to the bar, as invariably happens at these events it was the bar where the fun was had. The horror crowd rapidly built itself a ‘nest’ in one corner, consisting of  Dave Jeffrey, CC Adams, Raven Dane, Benjamin Adams, Ben Unsworth, Peter Coleborn and your truly – plus Allen Ashley who joined in on Sunday.

For a variety of reasons we couldn’t stay for the Gala dinner on Sunday but hearty congratulations to all of the award winners – especially as three of them were ‘’horror nest spawn’ – Benjamin Adams gathered the Gold Silken Rope lit award for his short story GIVE ME YOUR HANDS, Dave Jeffreys’ film MOOD SWINGS took the gold award for Best Feature (Horror) Screenplay and  Andew Hook gold  for his experimental short film, ARMADILLOTOWN.

Other equally fabulous people won awards  of course – and a full list can be found on the Sykehouse page – but these three were ‘our’ peeps!

Extra special thanks to Sam – she knows why

I had a great time with a happy crowd of people – caught up with old friends and made a few new ones – and we are booked for next year!

For years now I have been attempting to grow asparagus.

Not that I am especially fond of it but its one of those allotment challenges that I had to try – and after several failures was all the more determined.

For at least four years I tried the  packs in the garden centre – those skinny roots that seldom if ever show signs of life…

Yes, I followed all of the instructions to the letter – and yes, ever year they failed to appear the following spring…

Then – two years ago – another allotment holder said that, after similar experiences, she had tried growing them from seed.

So…

I bought a pack containing the grand sum of 10 seeds… and sowed accordingly.

8 germinated and once they had grown to a reasonable height transplanted them into the raised bed closest to the shed (and thus most frost protected).

This year I waited anxiously to see if they made an appearance … and huzzah! several slightly wonky asparagus spears!

Granted only five crowns emerged but they are green and growing and apparently fine!

I cut a single tiny spear from each crown.

The rest has been left to grow  in the hopes that next year I may even have enough to harvest as a veg crop!

Six whole years to get a tiny handful of shoots but the feeling of achievement after so many attempts made them so worth the wait.

And the fate of my ‘mammoth’ harvest?   Voila!    Asparagus and feta flan!

Sweeping up in the conservatory I noticed a scattering of soil.

Odd, thinks I. I know the hen blackbird has a habit of digging around in the tops of pots out in the courtyard  but not noticed her in here!

Closer inspection revealed the culprits.

Ants had taken up residence in the smaller of my jade plant’s. No option but to take the Jade outside, re-pot it and discard the ant-rich soil.

Not the prettiest of pots I have to say but the only suitable one handy as it needed to have some heft.  Jade plants tend to be somewhat top heavy.

Nothing against ants as such – I just don’t want them setting up house in my conservatory!

Going Upriver is a forthcoming DCI William Wright Mystery
In the title story, “Going Upriver”, when twelve- year-old Chloe Portmann is kidnapped at gunpoint, DCI William Wright is pulled out of an investigation to join the hunt. There is far more than money being demanded from her father – a major in Military Intelligence – and the stakes have never been higher. Wright enters into a race against the tide to rescue the girl from ruthless criminals who will have no qualms in killing her to avoid capture. Also included is the short story “The Duke’s Head” (originally “Down to the Sea”) and an extract from the novel Deadly Plot.

Available HERE on pre-order in Kindle format for 22nd May publication
paper edition will also be available in May.