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Jane Jeffry #7
Silence of the Hams
An Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award-winning Author Pompous, pig-headed attorney Robert Stonecipher is a major pain in the ham hocks. So no one is terribly upset when he's fatally mashed by a falling rack of hams at the new deli where suburban single mom Jane Jeffry's son works part-time. But when Stonecipher's most obnoxious employee meets an equally appropriate end, Jane knows the fat's really in the fire.
296 pages, Paperback - Large Print
First published July 1, 1996
4 people are currently reading
324 people want to read
About the author
Jill Churchill
42 books200 followersA pseudonym used by Janice Young Brooks.
Jill Churchill, winner of the Agatha and Macavity Mystery Readers Awards, and nominated for an Anthony for her best-selling Jane Jeffry series, lives as Jane does, in a midwestern suburb. On purpose! She says writing this series and the Grace and Favor series is the best treat she can have without a knife and fork.
Under her real name, Janice Young Brooks, and various pseudonyms, she's written historical novels, a gothic novel, and a history textbook as well as many articles for newspapers and magazines. When she's not writing, she's avidly doing genealogy which she says is a lot like mysteries with all the red herrings, clues, speculations, and surprises.
She gardens enthusiastically, needlepoints superbly, and plays a mean game of gin against the computer. She has a son and daughter and two granddaughters, Rose Louise and Emma. Janice is currently in a battle of supremacy with her cat Max.
Jill Churchill, winner of the Agatha and Macavity Mystery Readers Awards, and nominated for an Anthony for her best-selling Jane Jeffry series, lives as Jane does, in a midwestern suburb. On purpose! She says writing this series and the Grace and Favor series is the best treat she can have without a knife and fork.
Under her real name, Janice Young Brooks, and various pseudonyms, she's written historical novels, a gothic novel, and a history textbook as well as many articles for newspapers and magazines. When she's not writing, she's avidly doing genealogy which she says is a lot like mysteries with all the red herrings, clues, speculations, and surprises.
She gardens enthusiastically, needlepoints superbly, and plays a mean game of gin against the computer. She has a son and daughter and two granddaughters, Rose Louise and Emma. Janice is currently in a battle of supremacy with her cat Max.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
May 17, 2024
A new restaurant/cafe is opening in Jane Jeffry's idyllic suburb. The local busybody lawyer, who badgers everyone for their own good dies, crushed by a rack of hams...or does he?
Jane Jeffry's investigates. She doesn't really find out much until the end.
Seems very much like a soccer mom novel from the 1990's.
Jane Jeffry's investigates. She doesn't really find out much until the end.
Seems very much like a soccer mom novel from the 1990's.
February 25, 2023
I adore Jane and Shelly. These books combine clever plots with humor, but our sleuths are not idiots. (Always a plus.) Jane is often nearly overwhelmed but rises to the occasion and is -- in my opinion-- an excellent mother who looks out for her children without micromanaging their lives and making them the only thing in hers. This is not to say she doesn't love them: she's just wise enough to let them make mistakes and grow up. Anyway, this has one of my favorite scenes and I long for an opportunity to do something similar. A very mild spoiler follows.
At one point an opinionated character who is obsessively tidy and organized and demands other be the same, criticizing people's houses, cars, yards, etc. needs a lift home from the grocery store. Tempted to just drive past, Jane and Shelly pick him up only to have to listen to his complaints all the way. Once at his house, they send him off to call for a tow truck for his car and they put aways his groceries-- in all the wrong places. He's going to be searching for things for hours. Very satisfying.
At one point an opinionated character who is obsessively tidy and organized and demands other be the same, criticizing people's houses, cars, yards, etc. needs a lift home from the grocery store. Tempted to just drive past, Jane and Shelly pick him up only to have to listen to his complaints all the way. Once at his house, they send him off to call for a tow truck for his car and they put aways his groceries-- in all the wrong places. He's going to be searching for things for hours. Very satisfying.
January 3, 2012
I'm afraid I found this book a bit boring, even though I liked the main characters and the set-up of the story. The plot is quite uneventful, unfortunately, and I had a hard time finishing the book...
February 27, 2023
This is a tiny book--almost a novella. So, the setup is equally short.
Jane’s oldest son, Mike, has a summer job working in a newly opened delicatessen. During the launching ceremony of the store, a self-righteous nasty attorney dies when a rack of hams falls on him. The cops are eager to write it off as an accident, or maybe the guy just had some kind of heart attack. But when the attorney's paralegal dies later in the book, single-mom Jane and her friend Shelly realize there's more to this than mere accidents.
this is a fun book, and indeed, the entire series is fun. Part of what makes it fun is the banter between Jane and her friend. She is a great example of a single mom, but she would be the last one to think so. There's nothing shrill or neurotic about her. She's raising teenage kids, and she is wonderfully able to go with the flow. If this were a nonfiction mother, I'd bet heavily on every one of her kids turning out just fine. The wit and dialogue in this entire series is hard to beat anywhere. Jane and Shelly are both highly likeable.
Jane’s oldest son, Mike, has a summer job working in a newly opened delicatessen. During the launching ceremony of the store, a self-righteous nasty attorney dies when a rack of hams falls on him. The cops are eager to write it off as an accident, or maybe the guy just had some kind of heart attack. But when the attorney's paralegal dies later in the book, single-mom Jane and her friend Shelly realize there's more to this than mere accidents.
this is a fun book, and indeed, the entire series is fun. Part of what makes it fun is the banter between Jane and her friend. She is a great example of a single mom, but she would be the last one to think so. There's nothing shrill or neurotic about her. She's raising teenage kids, and she is wonderfully able to go with the flow. If this were a nonfiction mother, I'd bet heavily on every one of her kids turning out just fine. The wit and dialogue in this entire series is hard to beat anywhere. Jane and Shelly are both highly likeable.
May 22, 2019
If I had rated this book when it came out and I first read it--can it really be more than 20 years?--I would have given it a higher rating, even though it was never one of my favorites in the series. But this re-read makes me realize that this series as a whole has not held up as well as I expected. Jane Jeffry's son has a summer job in a new deli, so when an obnoxious lawyer dies during the grand opening, Jane worries about the boy. She and best pal Shelley are even more suspicious when the lawyer's paralegal is killed in her apartment. Then Jane's significant other, police detective Mel, reveals something about the first death that turns the whole case upside down.
March 26, 2018
It took me a while to get into this book. The characters are fun but I wasn't very pulled in until closer to the middle and end of the book. I never stop reading a book though, so I finished and it turned out to be good.
October 16, 2021
A library bag book sale is where I found this and it went in the bag just because of the title, and I might have been a little high while browsing. It was an easy read, nothing special, a bit dated, but overall okay. I got 8 cents worth of enjoyment out of it.
April 17, 2023
When a new deli opens in Jane's neighborhood, no one is upset when arrogant attorney is found dead. It seems the deli was allowed in due to zoning laws, the house was grandfathered in. Then his annoying employee dies Jane wants to find the connection.
April 23, 2018
New series for me love the relationship between characters. Will continue with series.
April 30, 2018
Another great whodunnit!
July 12, 2018
Great cozy where hams may have been used as a murder weapon. Two friends try a figure this out when an aerobics instructor is murdered (I thought I heard a few cheers when I read this).
December 2, 2018
A dramatic suspected murder at the grand opening of a neighborhood deli brings Jane and friend Shelly back into the investigative mode. Fun characters, amusing dialogue add to the charm.
November 11, 2021
good/entertaining
October 4, 2022
Just a fun fast read.
April 23, 2023
Another great Jane Jeffry mystery. These books are extremely endearing. Quick reads, but with good plots, fun characters, and dialogue that moves the story along.
June 13, 2023
It was an okay read. I felt the plot was a little lame.
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June 22, 2023mystery, chick, no sex
November 21, 2025
I always enjoy the Jane Jeffrey books.
February 2, 2010
Jane Jeffrey's oldest son is growing up. He is graduating from high school and working part time at a local deli to earn some money. Jane thinks the only thing she needs to worry about Mike is that he be careful while driving the truck she gave him as a graduation present. But when obnoxious attorney Robert Stonecipher is murdered at the opening party for the deli, she's not sure she wants Mike working there. But he insists he'll be okay and Jane relents. When there is a second murder, Jane can't help investigating the deaths even if her boyfriend, homicide detective Mel VanDyne, doesn't like it.
"Silence of the Hams" is yet another great cozy mystery by Jill Churchill. As always, what makes the Jane Jeffry series so enjoyable is not necessarily the mystery but the details about Jane's family life. Jane's kids are growing up as the series progresses and Mike especially has grown. With his father's death he considers himself the man of the house and Jane is learning to treat him as an adult. Some of the best scenes in the book involve Mike, either directly or indirectly. One of those scenes is when Jane buys the truck for Mike. Her friend, Shelley Nowack, is great at wearing down the salesman and it is a very funny part of the book (wish I could take her with me next time I buy a car!) Equally well done is Mike's graduation party which sounds like a lot of fun. Jane's other children, Katie and Todd, are also well written, Katie especially so as she is going through the growing pains that come with being a teenager. Churchill does an excellent job of capturing the little things that make up life in the suburbs. The mystery itself is okay. Parts of it were a bit unbelievable and it's pretty clear from the beginning who the murderer is. But it's still a fun mystery to read.
Cozy mystery fans will enjoy "Silence of the Hams".
"Silence of the Hams" is yet another great cozy mystery by Jill Churchill. As always, what makes the Jane Jeffry series so enjoyable is not necessarily the mystery but the details about Jane's family life. Jane's kids are growing up as the series progresses and Mike especially has grown. With his father's death he considers himself the man of the house and Jane is learning to treat him as an adult. Some of the best scenes in the book involve Mike, either directly or indirectly. One of those scenes is when Jane buys the truck for Mike. Her friend, Shelley Nowack, is great at wearing down the salesman and it is a very funny part of the book (wish I could take her with me next time I buy a car!) Equally well done is Mike's graduation party which sounds like a lot of fun. Jane's other children, Katie and Todd, are also well written, Katie especially so as she is going through the growing pains that come with being a teenager. Churchill does an excellent job of capturing the little things that make up life in the suburbs. The mystery itself is okay. Parts of it were a bit unbelievable and it's pretty clear from the beginning who the murderer is. But it's still a fun mystery to read.
Cozy mystery fans will enjoy "Silence of the Hams".
January 1, 2015
I got this at a book sale and it was the first book I'd read by this author. I had a difficult time beginning the book and keeping the various characters straight. I could see this is called a Jane Jeffry book, but Jane and her best friend are equally used throughout the book and almost either could be the main character. I know sometimes a series can feel repetitive by re-introducing the main characters, but in this case the book wasn't written very well to be the first book a reader picks in the series. I wasn't given an immediate reason to like or connect with Jane.
Also, I didn't get a sense of time or setting from the first chapter. It would have helped to know it was set in the midwest - various words and phrases used aren't common on the East Coast. And I'm only guessing that it's set in the midwest because that's where it says the author is from - I'm not sure anything in the book specifies. It might not seem like it matters, but there are definitely some things that appeared "strange" to me that giving a setting would have explained (and then I wouldn't have given it a second thought).
For a "murder mystery" it definitely tries to be pleasant about it - no blood, no mess. And it seemed a little forced at times why Jane is bothering to investigate - various reasons are given but none are that compelling. I never felt like she had any investment in finding the killer, and there was never any sense that she was in danger.
I did like the "mom" aspect to it and it seemed realistic - although most of it was done by "telling" instead of "showing." Only one of her children in this story seems to have any personality - her youngest seems to only be mentioned by name and is completely flat - I don't recall much if any dialogue with him. But maybe in other books more focus is given to the other children.
Also, I didn't get a sense of time or setting from the first chapter. It would have helped to know it was set in the midwest - various words and phrases used aren't common on the East Coast. And I'm only guessing that it's set in the midwest because that's where it says the author is from - I'm not sure anything in the book specifies. It might not seem like it matters, but there are definitely some things that appeared "strange" to me that giving a setting would have explained (and then I wouldn't have given it a second thought).
For a "murder mystery" it definitely tries to be pleasant about it - no blood, no mess. And it seemed a little forced at times why Jane is bothering to investigate - various reasons are given but none are that compelling. I never felt like she had any investment in finding the killer, and there was never any sense that she was in danger.
I did like the "mom" aspect to it and it seemed realistic - although most of it was done by "telling" instead of "showing." Only one of her children in this story seems to have any personality - her youngest seems to only be mentioned by name and is completely flat - I don't recall much if any dialogue with him. But maybe in other books more focus is given to the other children.
July 25, 2010
Arrogant, presumptuous, pretentious and infuriating are just a few adjectives that come to mind while trying to describe lawyer Robert Stonecipher. Is it any wonder that no one is upset or surprised when his dead body is discovered under an overturned rack of hams at the grand opening of a neighborhood deli…. an establishment whose opening he had done his best to prevent.
Within a day, another death occurs. Following in Stonecipher’s footsteps in death as she had in life is his assistant, Emma Weyrich, victim number two.
Investigating police detective Mel VanDyne has his hands full. Not only does he have two dead bodies and enough suspects to sink the proverbial battleship, he also has a girlfriend named Jane, who along with her neighbor and gal pal Shelley, is bent on following the clues and solving the case.
Readers will be amused by the harried homemakers as they add detective work to their varied array of domestic duties. Not big on plot, this diverting story is a quick and entertaining read. To quote Forrest Gump, Jane and Shelley go together like “peas and carrots”………….or maybe like ham on rye.
Within a day, another death occurs. Following in Stonecipher’s footsteps in death as she had in life is his assistant, Emma Weyrich, victim number two.
Investigating police detective Mel VanDyne has his hands full. Not only does he have two dead bodies and enough suspects to sink the proverbial battleship, he also has a girlfriend named Jane, who along with her neighbor and gal pal Shelley, is bent on following the clues and solving the case.
Readers will be amused by the harried homemakers as they add detective work to their varied array of domestic duties. Not big on plot, this diverting story is a quick and entertaining read. To quote Forrest Gump, Jane and Shelley go together like “peas and carrots”………….or maybe like ham on rye.
April 17, 2010
Silence of the Hams is one of the very best Jane Jeffry mysteries. It has tons of stuff going on with Mike's graduation, multiple deaths and the resiting investigation. A shockingly unexpected killer was almost just an added bonus with so much interesting back story.
The graduating seniors are treated to a mandatory school-sponsored post-graduation party. The entire thing sounded fabulous, from the decorations in each themed area to the prizes each kid won. Jane's mother-in law and brother-in-law are in attendance for the graduation and any visit from the in-laws always results in funny rudeness. Two characters in Silence of the Hams are controlling types always on one crusade or another for the betterment of the community against the actual desires of said community. Plus, a dead body found under a pile of hams that leads to a lot of time we get to see Jane investigating with Shelley in tow. Silence of the Hams was a delightfully fun, quick and breezy book with a very surprising killer and motive.
The graduating seniors are treated to a mandatory school-sponsored post-graduation party. The entire thing sounded fabulous, from the decorations in each themed area to the prizes each kid won. Jane's mother-in law and brother-in-law are in attendance for the graduation and any visit from the in-laws always results in funny rudeness. Two characters in Silence of the Hams are controlling types always on one crusade or another for the betterment of the community against the actual desires of said community. Plus, a dead body found under a pile of hams that leads to a lot of time we get to see Jane investigating with Shelley in tow. Silence of the Hams was a delightfully fun, quick and breezy book with a very surprising killer and motive.
October 28, 2011
This is another of the Jane Jeffry mysteries. Jane and her neighbor Shelly again help the police solve a murder in the neighborhood. Who wouldn't have wanted to murder the loud mouth, bigoted attorney Robert Stonecipher. But when his paralegal is found murdered too well...
Quick little mystery reads that are pretty good at least till the ends. Why do writers have such a hard time wrapping up well???
Quick little mystery reads that are pretty good at least till the ends. Why do writers have such a hard time wrapping up well???
April 14, 2013
One of many fine Jane jeffry mysteries. It has a nice twist in the middle, and a nice surprise ending. I particularly enjoy the characterization of Jane, suburban mom and widow, who has a best-friend relationship with her next door neighbor, Shelley, who is confident and assertive. The pair make a bit of Holmes and Watson duo, although Holmes and Holmes would be a better depiction. A nice summer read.
October 16, 2007
Why did I buy this book? It's hard for me to get past the silly title, and I've started reading it three times now, only to be continually distracted by better books to read. So I'm going to retire it & call it a lost cause-- it hasn't captured my interest, though I've read about half of it. I feel bad, like I'm abandoning someone's baby.
March 30, 2013
I gave Jill Churchill another chance, and this Jane Jeffry mystery was much better than the last I read (the perfectly dreadful Accidental Florist). I enjoy a cozy mystery, and Churchill mixes humor into her entertaining (though lightweight) plot.
December 3, 2007
Cute if you're into crime-solving soccer moms. Commits the sin of withholding a clue from the reader.
June 14, 2008
what the hey, they're fun.
July 28, 2008
Easy, relaxing, and fun to read with another of her clever titles. Don't expect a philosophically deep investigation of anything. It's just a good read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews