The Jam Jar Secrets
Penelope Dobb thought the quiet Cotswolds village of Bramble Cross would be the perfect place to start over.
Recently divorced and eager to leave behind the relentless pace of London life, Penelope trades boardrooms and broken promises for copper preserving pans, fresh strawberries, and a charming market stall selling homemade jam and preserves. Nestled among honey-coloured cottages, rose-covered stone walls, and the ringing bells of St Cuthbert's Church, Bramble Cross seems like the ideal setting for a fresh beginning.
Until one of Penelope's jars of strawberry jam reveals a secret no one was meant to find.
Hidden inside the preserve is a centuries-old parish record that could rewrite the history of the village and expose a long-buried inheritance dispute surrounding Blackthorn Close. When local historian Julian Peverell recognises the document's explosive significance, he is thrilled by the discovery. But before he can share the truth, he is found drowned in a rain barrel behind his cottage.
Now Penelope is more than the village's newest jam maker. She is the last person connected to Julian's discovery and a prime suspect in a murder investigation.
With her thriving jam stall under threat and her reputation hanging by a thread, Penelope teams up with two unlikely allies: Iris Bunting, a sharp-tongued neighbour with an encyclopaedic knowledge of village gossip, and Reverend Simon Vale, the thoughtful vicar who knows that history has a habit of resurfacing at inconvenient moments.
Together they uncover hidden parish records, secret archives, vanished documents, and a century-old pact designed to protect some of Bramble Cross's most respected families. As Penelope follows clues through churchyards, solicitor's offices, village pubs, and rose-filled gardens, she learns that beneath the charm of English village life lie loyalties as tangled as old family trees.
Perfect for fans of traditional British cozy mysteries, this warm and witty whodunit combines amateur sleuthing, small-town secrets, and a cast of memorable characters. Readers who love culinary mysteries, village murder mysteries, and female amateur detectives will delight in this atmospheric tale of jam, genealogy, and justice.
If you enjoy Cotswold mysteries, culinary cozy mysteries, women starting over, English village murder mysteries, hidden family secrets, and heartwarming stories of friendship and second chances, you'll love Penelope Dobb's first adventure.
Because in Bramble Cross, every jar preserves a story. And some stories are worth killing to keep hidden.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Penelope Dobb thought the quiet Cotswolds village of Bramble Cross would be the perfect place to start over.
Recently divorced and eager to leave behind the relentless pace of London life, Penelope trades boardrooms and broken promises for copper preserving pans, fresh strawberries, and a charming market stall selling homemade jam and preserves. Nestled among honey-coloured cottages, rose-covered stone walls, and the ringing bells of St Cuthbert's Church, Bramble Cross seems like the ideal setting for a fresh beginning.
Until one of Penelope's jars of strawberry jam reveals a secret no one was meant to find.
Hidden inside the preserve is a centuries-old parish record that could rewrite the history of the village and expose a long-buried inheritance dispute surrounding Blackthorn Close. When local historian Julian Peverell recognises the document's explosive significance, he is thrilled by the discovery. But before he can share the truth, he is found drowned in a rain barrel behind his cottage.
Now Penelope is more than the village's newest jam maker. She is the last person connected to Julian's discovery and a prime suspect in a murder investigation.
With her thriving jam stall under threat and her reputation hanging by a thread, Penelope teams up with two unlikely allies: Iris Bunting, a sharp-tongued neighbour with an encyclopaedic knowledge of village gossip, and Reverend Simon Vale, the thoughtful vicar who knows that history has a habit of resurfacing at inconvenient moments.
Together they uncover hidden parish records, secret archives, vanished documents, and a century-old pact designed to protect some of Bramble Cross's most respected families. As Penelope follows clues through churchyards, solicitor's offices, village pubs, and rose-filled gardens, she learns that beneath the charm of English village life lie loyalties as tangled as old family trees.
Perfect for fans of traditional British cozy mysteries, this warm and witty whodunit combines amateur sleuthing, small-town secrets, and a cast of memorable characters. Readers who love culinary mysteries, village murder mysteries, and female amateur detectives will delight in this atmospheric tale of jam, genealogy, and justice.
If you enjoy Cotswold mysteries, culinary cozy mysteries, women starting over, English village murder mysteries, hidden family secrets, and heartwarming stories of friendship and second chances, you'll love Penelope Dobb's first adventure.
Because in Bramble Cross, every jar preserves a story. And some stories are worth killing to keep hidden.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for J A Clarke's The Jam Jar Secrets