A Quiche Before Dying

Jane Jeffry #3

by Jill Churchill

With the kids packed off on their summer road trips, it's an ideal time for Jane Jeffrey to pursue other interests, so the harried suburban mom enrolls in a writing course at the community college. But when an obnoxious aged classmate keels over dead after sampling a tasty treat from a pot luck student buffet, Jane realizes there's a culinary killer among the local would-be literati.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Suspense

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1993

About the author

A 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.

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, quick read. I enjoy the characters. The mystery was good and I enjoyed it.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Monica Willyard Moen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent cozy mystery set on the background of a friendly neighborhood writing class. Jane Jeffrey has joined the class to spend time with her mother who has come for a visit. A nasty, old locally published author joins the class for the purpose of hackling everyone. She is equally disliked by everyone in the class. She is poison while eating a dish Jayne prepared at a potluck dinner. Jane and her friend Shellie work together with the policeman to solve the crime.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm liking this series more as it goes along. She is a fun writer. I truly love her Grace & Favor series & am keeping copies of those books. I need to check out her other historical books. Might do that when I run out of books here. I should live so long! LOL

[Nancy Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third in this series. But my first chance to read any of these books. And I really enjoyed it. I've just discovered this older series, so I've got all the other books to find and read. Jane is really very down to earth, as are her friends. I look forward to finding the other book in this series.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Jeffry is a widowed mother of three in a Chicago suburb who has an on-and-off romance with a police detective named Mel, with whom she has already solved a couple of crimes. One summer week while two of her kids are away from home and her too-perfect mother has dropped in for a visit, Jane decides to take a neighborhood writing class focusing on autobiographies. But instead of writing her own life story, she starts the memoir of a fictional character. Also, she gets sidetracked when a horrid woman gets murdered on the second night of the class.

Mrs. General Pryce – I don't know how she's styled to her friends, because she doesn't have any – is as battle-axy as they come, but even she isn't equal to a stiff snort of poison. It apparently got into her system through a quiche that Jane brought to the dinner party, attended only by members of the writing class. Difficult as it is her for her to suspect her friends and neighbors, Jane must wrestle with the fact that someone in that class is a murderer – and having killed once, they may kill again. And with the police making little apparent progress, Jane feels responsible to solve the crime before the week is up, and the class ends, and the suspect gets away.

This is a quick-paced, cheerful murder mystery with vivid characters, crisp dialogue, a bright streak of humor and some romance as well. Despite her self-image as a domestic frump, Jane proves to be a dangerous opponent for a killer to tangle with. It's a warm, cozy, down-to-earth mystery populated by suburban moms, teenagers, pets, appetizing dishes – and I'm not just talking about Detective Mel here – all livened up by one dastardly character and a murder that you almost don't feel bad about, except that it means there's a murderer about.

This 1993 novel, not to be confused with a mystery of the same name by Joanne Pence, is the third of 16 books in the "Jane Jeffry" series by Jill Churchill (1943-2023), an award-winning, Kansas City-based mystery author. It feels weird to say this about an era I lived through (I was in college in 1993), but these days this book reads like a period piece. Some other titles in the series include Grime and Punishment, The Class Menagerie, Silence of the Hams, War and Peas, Fear of Frying, Mulch Ado About Nothing and The Accidental Florist. From the 1970s to 2013, Churchill also wrote three "Lady of Fire" novels under the pen name Valerie Vayle, seven "Grace and Favor" novels," and around 15 other novels, often under the pen names of Vayle, Amanda Singer and Janice Young Brooks.

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jane Jeffry’s two boys are off on a variety of summer adventures. Only teenaged Katie is home, and she’s far too busy to hang with Mom much. She has her lifeguard job and her friends. It’s quiet in the house, and the single mom wonders what to do with all this glorious free time. Her mom is coming to visit, and that worries Jane, because Mom comes across as a paragon of perfection—something that bothers Jane, as it would any of us. How does Jane entertain Mom? Is there something they can do together to make the visit more harmonious? It isn’t long before Jane, her mother, and Jane’s close friend, Shelley Nowack are taking a memoir-writing class at the community college.

Agnes Pryce is a local author who treats everyone in the class horribly. None of the other students like her, and she insists that they join her for a potluck lunch. Jane brings a quiche, Agnes eats it, and Agnes soon dies. No way did Jane want the old woman dead, and it’s up to her with the help of dreamy Officer Mel Vandyne to figure out how the poison got in the quiche that killed Agnes Pryce. There’s no shortage of suspects; Pryce treated everyone in the class horribly. She accused the town mayor of embezzlement. Jane’s mom was an embassy hanger-on, referring to her husband’s work prior to retirement. The teacher of the class, a romance writer, crafts porn, according to Agnes Pryce. No one gets a break from the sharp tongue and nasty disposition of the woman.

The book is super short, but it’s long on great writing and great characters. Jane and Shelley are amazing together, and part of that amazing is that their differences are vivid and complement one another. I can’t help but celebrate the family closeness of the Jeffry clan. The glimpses of the two boys you get in this book indicate that two fine men are evolving, and credit goes to a great mom. In short, these are fictional characters with whom I’m comfortable. I didn’t see how this would turn out, and you’d think with a book this short, I would have. These are top-flight cozy mysteries, and I’m looking forward to my next visit with Jane and her fellow fictional characters.

[Chanel Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane mother has come for a visit.
Mom and I have only read to book's with Jane, but already mom and I could not wait to inhale more books with her in them.
Jane's mother has decided to sign up for a writing class, and Shelley of course wish to partake in this endeavor. I liked that Shelley and Jane have such a beautifully flowing relationship. They don't have planned times to meet up. They just come over to each others houses, probably those of you who are use to living in a place were houses are right next to each other might be use to this kind of flow in your life, but although mom and me have lived in a small town that is not one of the things that makes up part of our lives. Anyway Jane mom arrives and Jane's who was little worried about her mom's visit, no because her mom was a terrible mother, just that they have never spent much time together. (As Jane comes to spend more time with her mom, she comes to realize how much she truly does like her mom, and looks forward to future visits.) Jane and the crew go to the class and meet a colorful cast of characters. Mom and I really do apricate Jill Churchill beautiful cast of characters. They are never boring people, and there are always at least a handful mom and I would love to meet in person. Except for one class member. A nice mean shrew of a woman who says mean things about everyone. I know you are shocked to learn she is killed of, but the true question is who killed her? It was during a dinner that was attended by the class, yet now one in the class seems cruel enough to off the old busy body. Watching Jane and Shelley try a figure out who killed the old lady while trying not to being accusative of the class mates is a beautiful thing and one must experience first hand by reading this book.

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't understand the appeal of this genre and am only continuing mostly because I found the titles amusing and downloaded the whole series off BARD. Most of them are puns of one kind or another and making me laugh is a good way to at least get me to look closer.

I'm now three books in and all I see is a bunch of women who don't know how to mind their own business and unconvincing romantic tension with some detective who has shown me no reason why he should be considered romantically interesting. I don't care if he's a looker driving some red car. I don't find him interesting, nor do I find the pace convincing (it seems like the women expect the police to have answers within hours of murders and set arbitrary deadlines on how long policework ought to take), and I don't find the plots or characters interesting. These women like to add 1+1 and come up with 394. They make lots of assumptions and speculate without real data.

Maybe I read like a man and not a woman, if this is the kind of mystery supposedly designed for women. I'm still waiting to find someone who knows how to write a good mystery that doesn't have to include a romantic subplot at the least.

I will admit I'm probably giving the book a lower rating and harsher review than it deserves, but reviews are, by their very nature, subjective. I like longer books with less forced-feeling plots and actual policework and analysis highlighted, not amateur hour with assumptions galore. I also don't get why someone thought there needed to be a specific mystery genre for women.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

#3 in her mid 30’s and recently widowed now single parent of three children Jane Jeffry mystery series set in a Chicago suburb. Supporting characters add weight to the story: her three children, neighbor, fellow investigator and good friend Shelley Nowack, dreamy police homicide detective Mel VanDyne and earthy neighbor Suzie Williams.

With the kids packed off on their summer road trips, it's an ideal time for Jane Jeffrey to pursue other interests, so the harried suburban mom enrolls in a writing course at the community college while her mother visits. But when an obnoxious aged classmate keels over dead after sampling a tasty treat from a pot luck student buffet, Jane realizes there's a culinary killer among the local would-be literati.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The boys are away, and Jane Jeffry's notoriously perfect mother is visiting her. She's thinking about writing her memoirs, so the two, along with Jane's neighbor Shelley, sign up for a short memoirs writing class. Unfortunately, the local dragon lady, Mrs. General Pryce, is also in the class, and demands the other members have dinner at her house. A death follows, which brings Mel back into Jane's life. The victim was not likeable, and the suspects are, but Jane and Mel agree on one thing, at least: Murder is wrong. Jane starts receiving strange clues, which no one else takes seriously, but which enable her to find a murderer.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was published in 1993, and yes, a certain set of Baby Boomers really were this smug.

Our sleuth, looking for something to do, joins a writing class, and learns she is a skilled fiction writer. The class is good, but there's the usual obnoxious person. When the obnoxious one gets their just desserts, our sleuth has to clear her name.

Not bad, but someone was watching way too much CNN at the time.

[Brandy Pelzel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first "cozy mystery" I've read and I'm hooked. It reminded me of the Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie. It was the perfect book to read on a raining Saturday morning, especially after a week of tragic world news (earthquakes, hurricanes, terror attacks, etc.). It was a great escape.

[Tatiana]

So I only bought this book because I have the edition with the deranged cat on the cover and I love him.

On that note, this book was not for me. I love a good murder mystery, but this book was only 15-20% actually about the murder part. It was a story about a middle aged housewife trying to get her groove back. And good for her, but not really the sort of thing I'm interested in. (no rating)

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't see that one coming, already reading the next one!

[Barb Ashby · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of these books in this series are quick murder mysteries. I like them.

[Melva Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read.A writing class turns deadly.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun characters…good story.

[Sharon Bezrutczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can’t wait to start the next one.

[Velma Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Churchill writes a good cozy mystery.

[Xyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice characters and story but for less than 200 pages it took me too long to finish.

[Lisa Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Cute but there are better and the MC, Jane was really kind of negative!

[Drebbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Jeffry's mother Cecily is in town on a visit and she and Jane sign up for a writing class at the local community center. Cecily has traveled all over the world and thinks the class on writing autobiographies is a good way of preserving her memories. Jane and her friend Shelley Nowack are taking the class to keep Cecily company, but Jane soon discovers she may have a talent for writing. Jane's enjoying the class, although she wishes the obnoxious Agnes Pryce hadn't signed up as well. Jane's not the only one who doesn't like Mrs. Pryce and when she demands that the entire class attend a pot luck dinner at her house, someone takes the opportunity to poison Mrs. Pryce's quiche during that dinner. Even though the police, including Jane's friend Detective Mel Van Dyne, are investigating the murder, Jane does a little snooping of her own, since someone used the quiche that Jane made to poison Mrs. Pryce. When someone starts leaving Jane a series of clues, she realizes who the murderer is and that the truth isn't always easy to handle.

"A Quiche Before Dying" is another delightful entry in Jill Churchill's Jane Jeffry cozy mystery series. In this, the third book in the series, Jane is really developing as a character, as she is leaving the memory of her late husband behind and coming into her own as a person. The little tidbits about the writing class and Jane's discovery that she may have the talent to be a writer are a fascinating glimpse into the world of writing. Two of Jane's children, Mike and Todd, are away for most of the book, but Jane's interactions with her daughter Katie add to the realism in the book. And it was nice to meet Jane's mother Cecily, who added yet another dimension to Jane's character. I also loved the way the romance between Jane and Mel is developing. Jane's writing classmates and teacher are all well written and great suspects: teacher Missy who writes romance novels; the affable Grady Wells; sisters Ruth Rogers and Naomi Smith; the offbeat Desiree Loftus; and ex-military man Bob Neufield. The mystery elements are well written and well plotted and with so many suspects readers will have fun trying to figure out who the killer is. Churchill has a tendency for Agatha Christie like scenes in her books when the murderer is revealed, which can be a bit unbelievable, but in this case it does add some poignancy to the end of this book.

"A Quiche Before Dying" is a nicely done cozy mystery.

[Connie N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

#3 in the Jane Jeffry cozy mystery series

It was fun to revisit with Jane and Shelley, and get to know Jane's mother Cecily a little better this time. They all decide to take a one-week autobiography writing class. When one of the participants is murdered, it points the finger at everyone else in the class. As usual, Jane doesn't feel that Mel is moving forward quickly enough, so she and Shelley decide to do some investigating on their own. I like that they just ask questions among acquaintances within their town, nothing crazy, although of course, if they accidentally contact the killer, then they've put themselves (and their families) in danger. Jane is cautiously beginning a relationship with Mel, much to her daughter's chagrin. Jane's also enjoying her writing so much that she's considering continuing with it as a potential career. I had planned to give this a 4-star rating, but unfortunately the reveal turned out to be so convoluted\, that I had to remove one whole star. It all made sense eventually, but it seemed awfully farfetched and contrived. But because everything up to that point was fun and interesting, I'll give her a bye and focus on the fact that I enjoyed most of the book. Looking forward to the next in the series.

[Shinyfox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me realize that the novels I've been reading haven't been as good as I thought they were. This book made me laugh and kept me wondering who the killer was. In the end I realized that my first choice had been correct (of course since my first choice I'd made about 5 other choices haha). I loved the characters and by the end of the book I felt like they were some of my friends. Friends who I would love to visit again and again. The writing style was fluid and easy to follow and I felt like the people in the book were real. Like they could exist some where in the world and that their lives could have happened.

This book reminded me why I read, a reminder I didn't realize I needed.

I will be looking into more books by this author and I can't wait to meet up with these characters again, hopefully soon!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Jane Jeffry mysteries and I especially loved the focus on writing in A Quiche Before Dying. Jane's mom is visiting and they sign up for a class about writing autobiographies. A wretched old woman dies in class and Jane is once again in the middle of a murder investigation. The mystery was great and while I had a few ideas, I wasn't certain until the killer was unveiled. I enjoyed seeing the beginning of Jane's interest in writing and all of the mother/daughter focus between Jane, her mom and her daughter Katie.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third book in the Jane Jeffry mystery series.

Jane's mother comes to visit and they decide to take a writing course together. When one of their classmates (An irritating older woman named Mrs. Pryce) is bumped off during a class - Jane steps into detective roll again along with her neighbor/sidekick Shelley.

An easy read and definetly Mystery Light. Someone described Jane Jeffry as a cross between Erma Bombeck and Miss Marples - Great description!

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#3 in the Jane Jeffrey series.

Jane Jeffrey with her visiting mother Cecilia and neighbor Shelley decide to take a weeklong evening course in autobiography writing. The first evening, harridan Mrs. General Pryce insults everyone. The second evening, they have dinner at Mrs. Pryce's home and she is poisoned. Jane must, of course, find the killer. Romantic interest with detective Mel VanDyne escalates.

[Moira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series, it is quickly becoming a favourite. I particularly enjoyed learning more about Jane's mother, her childhood and the dynamics of her relationship with her mother.

The book left us with the possibility of Jane herself becoming an author. I can't wait to see what happens.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so it's not classical literature, but when I've worked all day and I'm exhausted, I love to read Jill Churchill books. They are relaxing, interesting, and well written. They're FUN, ok? I mean, Heart of Darkness is great, but after a hard day slogging it out at work? This is pure escapist literature, and I highly recommend it.