The much-anticipated sequel to ‘The Tapestry Bag’.
This new case takes Janie Juke back in time to the Second World War, where she learns about secret missions and brave deeds.
Hugh Furness asks Janie to track down an old friend, she discovers there is much more at stake than a missing person. It is the past that holds the key, but she needs to be at her most intuitive to work out what lies behind the rumours and conjecture.
A new decade is looming. In these last months of the 1960s, time is against them. Hugh Furness is seriously ill and Janie is just months away from the birth of her first child.
Following in the footsteps of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, Janie enlists the help of local journalist, Libby Frobisher. Racing around the seaside towns of Tamarisk Bay and Tidehaven, Janie and Libby track down clues and piece together the facts.
Can Janie and Libby find out who is telling the truth before it is too late?
Isabella is never happier than when she is immersing herself in the sights, sounds and experiences of family life from the Second World War years through to the 1960s. Researching all aspects of life back then formed the perfect launch pad for her works of fiction. Isabella rediscovered her love of writing fiction during two happy years working on and completing her MA in Professional Writing and since then she has gone on to publish six novels, three novellas and two short story collections.
Her 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.
Her latest novel, After the Storm, is the second novel in a new series of Sussex Crimes, 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.
Her first Sussex Crime Mystery series features young librarian and amateur sleuth, Janie Juke. Set in the late 1960s, in the fictional seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, 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. As well as three novels, there are three novellas in the series, which explore some of the back story to the Tamarisk Bay characters.
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
A nice cosy detective story with tales from the war mixed in. Despite being the second book in the series and having not read the first I did not feel that this took away from the overall enjoyment, it can definitely be read as a stand alone. I listened to this via audible and found the narrator added to the book, she read it with great feeling. I enjoyed the fact that Janie an amateur private detective took on a case to find her client’s - Hugh - old friend. The fact that Janie was heavily pregnant made her more sympathetic to Hughs case, I think this added to the book.
A nice quick listen/read with great characters, brilliantly written - overall a great mystery story. I look forward to reading the first book and hopefully there is more to come.
https://www.audible.co.uk.cdn.amazon.... I have to include the audio link here because it complements the book very well. If you enjoy historical thrillers and romances with twists but ones you may follow with ease, then this book is for you. Muir is a pro and her story telling is better than Netflix. It is well worth the time and price. The audio book highlights the brilliance of the author even more. If it listens well, it reads better.
Janie is a fabulous character - here she finds her feet as a unofficial PI. with links back to the war, this is a fascinating case, i love this historical crime series and have already started book 3. I would say the series is best read in order as the characters develop throughout the series and some stories link. a 4.5* read for me
I love how the characters have developed in this book which is full of perfect period details (the Italian food scene made me laugh) and twists and turns till the end. Will definitely be reading the next in the Janie Juke series.
Loved this. Quite different to the first one in plot - slower and gentler - more a cosy mystery - the first one was a bit grittier in setting. About to start the third one now