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Jason Davey #3
Lost Time
In 1974, top UK band Figgis Green was riding high in the charts with their blend of traditional Celtic ballads mixed with catchy, folky pop. One of their biggest fans was sixteen-year old Pippa Gladstone, who mysteriously vanished while she was on holiday with her parents in Spain in March that same year.
Now it's 2018, and founding member Mandy Green has reunited the Figs for their last-ever Lost Time Tour. Her partner, Tony Figgis, passed away in 1995, so his place has been taken by their son, professional jazz guitarist (and amateur sleuth) Jason Davey.
As the band meets in a small village on the south coast of England for pre-tour rehearsals, Jason's approached by Duncan Stopher, a diehard Figs fan, who brings him a photo of the band performing at the Wiltshire Folk Festival. Standing in the foreground is Pippa Gladstone. The only problem is the Wiltshire Folk Festival was held in August 1974, five months after Pippa disappeared. Duncan offers Jason a substantial sum of money to try and find out what really happened to the young woman, whose mother had her declared officially dead in 1981.
When Duncan is murdered, it becomes increasingly clear to Jason that his investigation into Pippa's disappearance is not welcome, especially after he follows a series of clues which lead him straight back to the girl's immediate family.
But nothing can prepare Jason for the truth about Pippa, which he discovers just as Figgis Green is about to take to the stage on opening night—with or without him.
Now it's 2018, and founding member Mandy Green has reunited the Figs for their last-ever Lost Time Tour. Her partner, Tony Figgis, passed away in 1995, so his place has been taken by their son, professional jazz guitarist (and amateur sleuth) Jason Davey.
As the band meets in a small village on the south coast of England for pre-tour rehearsals, Jason's approached by Duncan Stopher, a diehard Figs fan, who brings him a photo of the band performing at the Wiltshire Folk Festival. Standing in the foreground is Pippa Gladstone. The only problem is the Wiltshire Folk Festival was held in August 1974, five months after Pippa disappeared. Duncan offers Jason a substantial sum of money to try and find out what really happened to the young woman, whose mother had her declared officially dead in 1981.
When Duncan is murdered, it becomes increasingly clear to Jason that his investigation into Pippa's disappearance is not welcome, especially after he follows a series of clues which lead him straight back to the girl's immediate family.
But nothing can prepare Jason for the truth about Pippa, which he discovers just as Figgis Green is about to take to the stage on opening night—with or without him.
204 pages, Paperback
Published August 28, 2020
1 person is currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Winona Kent
24 books71 followersWinona Kent is an award-winning author who was born in London, England and grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, where she completed her BA in English at the University of Regina. After moving to Vancouver, she graduated from UBC with an MFA in Creative Writing, and a diploma in Writing for Screen and TV from Vancouver Film School.
Winona's writing breakthrough came many years ago when she won First Prize in the Flare Magazine Fiction Contest with her short story about an all-night radio newsman, “Tower of Power”.
Her debut novel Skywatcher was a finalist in the Seal Books First Novel Award and was published by Bantam Books in 1989. This was followed by a sequel, The Cilla Rose Affair, and her first mystery, Cold Play, set aboard a cruise ship in Alaska.
After three time-travel romances (Persistence of Memory, In Loving Memory and Marianne's Memory), Winona returned to mysteries with Disturbing the Peace, a novella, in 2017 and the novel Notes on a Missing G-String in 2019, both featuring the character she first introduced in Cold Play, professional jazz musician / amateur sleuth Jason Davey.
The third and fourth books in Winona's Jason Davey Mystery series, Lost Time and Ticket to Ride, were published in 2020 and 2022. Her fifth Jason Davey Mystery, Bad Boy, was published in 2024.
Winona also writes short fiction. Her story “Salty Dog Blues” appeared in Sisters in Crime-Canada West's anthology Crime Wave in October 2020 and was nominated as a finalist in Crime Writers of Canada's Awards of Excellence for Best Crime Novella in April 2021. “Blue Devil Blues” was one of the four entries in the anthology Last Shot, published in June 2021, and “Terminal Lucidity” appeared in the Sisters in Crime-Canada West anthology, Women of a Certain Age (October 2022). “On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog”, will appear in the upcoming Sisters in Crime-Canada West anthology, Dangerous Games (October 2024).
A collection of Winona’s short stories, Ten Stories That Worried My Mother, was published in 2023.
Winona has been a temporary secretary, a travel agent, a screenwriter and the Managing Editor of a literary magazine. Winona's currently the national Vice-Chair and the regional BC/YT rep for the Crime Writers of Canada, and is also an active member of Sisters in Crime – Canada West. After many decades working in jobs completely unrelated to writing, Winona is now happily embracing life as a full-time author. She lives in New Westminster, BC with her husband, and a concerning number of disobedient houseplants, many of which were rescued from her apartment building’s compost bin after being abandoned by previous owners.
Winona's writing breakthrough came many years ago when she won First Prize in the Flare Magazine Fiction Contest with her short story about an all-night radio newsman, “Tower of Power”.
Her debut novel Skywatcher was a finalist in the Seal Books First Novel Award and was published by Bantam Books in 1989. This was followed by a sequel, The Cilla Rose Affair, and her first mystery, Cold Play, set aboard a cruise ship in Alaska.
After three time-travel romances (Persistence of Memory, In Loving Memory and Marianne's Memory), Winona returned to mysteries with Disturbing the Peace, a novella, in 2017 and the novel Notes on a Missing G-String in 2019, both featuring the character she first introduced in Cold Play, professional jazz musician / amateur sleuth Jason Davey.
The third and fourth books in Winona's Jason Davey Mystery series, Lost Time and Ticket to Ride, were published in 2020 and 2022. Her fifth Jason Davey Mystery, Bad Boy, was published in 2024.
Winona also writes short fiction. Her story “Salty Dog Blues” appeared in Sisters in Crime-Canada West's anthology Crime Wave in October 2020 and was nominated as a finalist in Crime Writers of Canada's Awards of Excellence for Best Crime Novella in April 2021. “Blue Devil Blues” was one of the four entries in the anthology Last Shot, published in June 2021, and “Terminal Lucidity” appeared in the Sisters in Crime-Canada West anthology, Women of a Certain Age (October 2022). “On the Internet, Nobody Knows You’re a Dog”, will appear in the upcoming Sisters in Crime-Canada West anthology, Dangerous Games (October 2024).
A collection of Winona’s short stories, Ten Stories That Worried My Mother, was published in 2023.
Winona has been a temporary secretary, a travel agent, a screenwriter and the Managing Editor of a literary magazine. Winona's currently the national Vice-Chair and the regional BC/YT rep for the Crime Writers of Canada, and is also an active member of Sisters in Crime – Canada West. After many decades working in jobs completely unrelated to writing, Winona is now happily embracing life as a full-time author. She lives in New Westminster, BC with her husband, and a concerning number of disobedient houseplants, many of which were rescued from her apartment building’s compost bin after being abandoned by previous owners.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 18, 2020
Title – Lost Time
Author – Winona Kent
Genre – Mystery, Amateur P.I.
Word Count 68,000
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 36- 2020
Posted 9/18/2020
My Impressions: Good cozy mystery in the vein of Miss Marple.
Main Characters:
Jason ‘Figgis’ Davy – Fortyish musician, amateur sleuth.
Mandy Green – Jason’s seventy year old mother, half of the Figgis/Green band.
Duncan Stopher – Mysterious person driving an investigation of a long missing teenager.
Pippa Gladstone – sixteen year old girl who went missing in 1974.
A large cast of support characters.
Jason Davy agrees to perform in a last band tour with his mother, Mandy Green. She is a founding member of the Figgis Green band. Her husband is dead, so her son, Jason, has agreed to replace his father on the final tour. Jason is also an amateur sleuth with a reputation for finding missing people.
Most of the story concerns the band members practicing and arguing incessantly. Jason also has a culinary chronical blog where he posts pictures and details of all his meals. I found that boring and silly.
During a break, Jason is approached at a restaurant by a man who identifies himself as Duncan Stopher. He petitions Jason to search for a young girl who disappeared when sixteen years of age in 1974. A short time later the same man is found murdered, but his name is not Duncan Stopher. Jason planned to refuse the case but is intrigued that the dead man assumed an identity to approach him. With his curiosity aroused, Jason starts his investigation. Soon after Jason is attacked when he enters his hotel room. The thug is surprised when Jason beats the hell out of him. Then mysterious people appear to clean the room and dispose of the attacker.
The story is more of a cozy mystery in the vein of Miss Marple than a hardcore murder mystery.
Toward the end, a plot is exposed that will unravel plans of a person aspiring to high office.
Before the ending Jason has to deal with thugs, the police, and Britain’s M15 intelligence service.
The story contains some hardcore cursing and no sex scenes.
The editing and sentence structure are unusually good.
Character Development is good for the main characters and okay for support characters.
Details and research are good and carry the story
The plot is fresh, intricate, and complex but too involved in the workings of a band for my taste.
The writing style is relaxed but contains many false leads and conflicting evidence.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Winona Kent
Genre – Mystery, Amateur P.I.
Word Count 68,000
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 36- 2020
Posted 9/18/2020
My Impressions: Good cozy mystery in the vein of Miss Marple.
Main Characters:
Jason ‘Figgis’ Davy – Fortyish musician, amateur sleuth.
Mandy Green – Jason’s seventy year old mother, half of the Figgis/Green band.
Duncan Stopher – Mysterious person driving an investigation of a long missing teenager.
Pippa Gladstone – sixteen year old girl who went missing in 1974.
A large cast of support characters.
Jason Davy agrees to perform in a last band tour with his mother, Mandy Green. She is a founding member of the Figgis Green band. Her husband is dead, so her son, Jason, has agreed to replace his father on the final tour. Jason is also an amateur sleuth with a reputation for finding missing people.
Most of the story concerns the band members practicing and arguing incessantly. Jason also has a culinary chronical blog where he posts pictures and details of all his meals. I found that boring and silly.
During a break, Jason is approached at a restaurant by a man who identifies himself as Duncan Stopher. He petitions Jason to search for a young girl who disappeared when sixteen years of age in 1974. A short time later the same man is found murdered, but his name is not Duncan Stopher. Jason planned to refuse the case but is intrigued that the dead man assumed an identity to approach him. With his curiosity aroused, Jason starts his investigation. Soon after Jason is attacked when he enters his hotel room. The thug is surprised when Jason beats the hell out of him. Then mysterious people appear to clean the room and dispose of the attacker.
The story is more of a cozy mystery in the vein of Miss Marple than a hardcore murder mystery.
Toward the end, a plot is exposed that will unravel plans of a person aspiring to high office.
Before the ending Jason has to deal with thugs, the police, and Britain’s M15 intelligence service.
The story contains some hardcore cursing and no sex scenes.
The editing and sentence structure are unusually good.
Character Development is good for the main characters and okay for support characters.
Details and research are good and carry the story
The plot is fresh, intricate, and complex but too involved in the workings of a band for my taste.
The writing style is relaxed but contains many false leads and conflicting evidence.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
November 14, 2020
At its heart, this is a mystery with an amateur sleuth trying to solve a case. In this specific instance it involves a girl who went missing several decades ago and was never found. The setting for all of this coming about is Jason Davey, our amateur sleuth, filling in for a reunion and final tour of a band that was fronted by his parents years ago, He’s been recruited to fill in for his dad who has been dead a few years. That makes for some interesting situations. Because Jason isn’t his dad it requires adjustments be made by all concerned musically as well as emotionally at times. Even though the band in the story is fictional, the author has them singing what are often real songs, albeit obscure songs at times, from real songwriters. I found myself laying down the book to go investigate a song that got mentioned once or twice. Music nerds, consider yourself forewarned. To be clear, while this might seem like a distraction, it pulled me into the spirit of the story that much deeper. Then I’d come back from my musical interlude and Jason would move a step closer to solving the mystery as he uncovered one more strange clue that I’d have never anticipated, taking us to a conclusion that also surprised me.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
March 3, 2021
Professional musician and aspiring P.I., Jason Davey is approached by a man to learn the truth about Pippa Gladstone, a teenager who disappeared in 1974. Since Jason’s not yet acquired his P.I. license and is about to launch a reunion tour with his mom and her former band, he’s reluctant to get involved. Still, the information he receives intrigues Jason enough to ask questions. When the man who hired him is murdered, things become dangerous.
Set in Hampshire, England, this book is a delicious mix of old and new. The folk/pop band and its music are a throwback to earlier times, as it the old manor where they’re rehearsing. But modern technology like photoshopping, Instagram, and chat groups play key roles in crime solving. It’s a story about family, about doing the right thing under challenging circumstances, and protecting secrets that perhaps should have stayed buried.
This is an intelligent, beautifully written mystery with plenty of red herrings and plot twists. Just when I thought the plot was heading in one direction, it spins another way. Jason and his mom are terrific characters, and the many references to music and behind-the-scenes prep will delight music fans. Lost Time incorporates the best of traditional mystery storytelling techniques in a hi-tech world. Highly recommended.
Set in Hampshire, England, this book is a delicious mix of old and new. The folk/pop band and its music are a throwback to earlier times, as it the old manor where they’re rehearsing. But modern technology like photoshopping, Instagram, and chat groups play key roles in crime solving. It’s a story about family, about doing the right thing under challenging circumstances, and protecting secrets that perhaps should have stayed buried.
This is an intelligent, beautifully written mystery with plenty of red herrings and plot twists. Just when I thought the plot was heading in one direction, it spins another way. Jason and his mom are terrific characters, and the many references to music and behind-the-scenes prep will delight music fans. Lost Time incorporates the best of traditional mystery storytelling techniques in a hi-tech world. Highly recommended.
September 27, 2021
Jason Davey Mystery #3…I gather, not having read #1 and #2, he's a keen missing-persons investigator. In this, his third case, he's asked to find out the truth about a young teenager who went missing some 45 years earlier whilst on holiday in Spain. He has to jump through quite a number of hoops to get to the truth, and people are not quite what they seem to be—all this while performing with his parents' band on their farewell tour.
It's a compelling story and you do have to stay alert: there are a number of characters to be introduced to, and there's quite a sway towards the band's music: its hits, the arrangements of those hits, the members past and present, etc. It's an interesting backdrop to Jason's investigative adventure.
It's a well-written and constructed story and motors along at a good pace and is very enjoyable. There are a few naughty grammatical errors, but when you get priceless lines like: “Where in the withering tits of Nell Gwyn’s strumpet arse are you?”, well, you can forgive them, can't you? There I was, nearing the conclusion of a really good book with a satisfying ending, and then I stumbled on that line. Thank heavens I wasn't drinking coffee at the time: I would have been all a-splutter!
I might have to catch up with Jason in books #1 and #2. And hopefully #4!
It's a compelling story and you do have to stay alert: there are a number of characters to be introduced to, and there's quite a sway towards the band's music: its hits, the arrangements of those hits, the members past and present, etc. It's an interesting backdrop to Jason's investigative adventure.
It's a well-written and constructed story and motors along at a good pace and is very enjoyable. There are a few naughty grammatical errors, but when you get priceless lines like: “Where in the withering tits of Nell Gwyn’s strumpet arse are you?”, well, you can forgive them, can't you? There I was, nearing the conclusion of a really good book with a satisfying ending, and then I stumbled on that line. Thank heavens I wasn't drinking coffee at the time: I would have been all a-splutter!
I might have to catch up with Jason in books #1 and #2. And hopefully #4!
Read
June 16, 2023Mistaken identity, car chases, and thunderstorms run rampant in this thrilling continuation in the Jason Davey mysteries. As the third instalment in this collection, Winona Kent’s Lost Time follows Jason Davey, an amateur investigator by day and a jazz musician by night, as he joins “a folky pop group” (p. 1) on their last tour before retirement. Assuming rehearsals will run smoothly and uneventfully, Jason’s expectations are quickly shattered when he’s recruited to look into the 1974 disappearance of Pippa Gladstone — a sixteen year-old girl who disappeared during a trip to Spain and was legally declared dead by her family. When more questions than answers arise during his investigation, Jason immerses himself in the long process of uncovering the truth behind Pippa’s disappearance.
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To read my full review of the novel, check out the BC Review: https://thebcreview.ca/2021/03/14/106...
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To read my full review of the novel, check out the BC Review: https://thebcreview.ca/2021/03/14/106...
September 8, 2020
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Notes on a Missing G-String (Book 1 in the series), I looked forward to this second installment. But I did wonder if Ms. Kent could possibly surpass the tension and pace of her previous work. I needn’t have worried. The storyline is an intriguing one filled with musical stage drama, subterfuge, crisp dialogue, and unexpected plot twists. I strongly recommend setting aside large uninterrupted blocks of time to read this unputdownable novel.
December 9, 2020
Lost Time is perfect for people who love music and mysteries. This started off a little slow for me, but once we got to the mystery things began to pick up. I think the beginning would have been a little easier to get into if I was more into the music scene, honestly. If you're a music lover you'll undoubtedly love how music is intertwined with the mystery. There are enough twists to keep you guessing and turning pages until the end.
October 1, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed this story of the Figgis Green reunion and the mystery of missing girl. Nice twists and all round good read.
July 9, 2024
A great summer read
Another fun read. Great for the beach! I enjoy the mix of music and mystery. Certainly has some interesting twists.
Another fun read. Great for the beach! I enjoy the mix of music and mystery. Certainly has some interesting twists.
January 20, 2021
This author has a cool style and her writing is humorous. It was nice to laugh out loud because of the situation but also the wit of her characters.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews