Jennie Melville

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Jennie Melville - Page 1

Dead Again

21 Jan 00

Stone Dead

Revengeful Death

The Woman Who Was Not There

The Morbid Kitchen

About the Author (Photo by Anthony Kinsella)

Bibliography

First British Edition Macmillan (2000)

Dead Again
As Joan Dingham awaits release from prison, her former partners in crime - Beryl Andrea Barker (otherwise known as 'Baby'), Phyllis and Bee - prepare for her return with hushed excitement. Only one of the original gang is missing - Diana King, now deceased.
But even before the prison gates have opened for Joan, another spate of murders rocks the town. And extraordinarily the corpses bear the very same markings as the bodies of Joan's victims years before.
Senior policewoman Charmian Daniels, assigned to protect Joan, is also put in charge of the new murder cases – and soon senses an uncomfortable echo of the past inhabiting the present. Is Joan responsible for these killings, or could there be a copycat killer on the loose…?
Then Diana King appears out of the blue. But she has been dead for years - hasn't she?

Critical Acclaim for Jennie Melville
'Melville is terrific at building up atmospheric tension.' The Times
'A new book from Jennie Melville is a copper-bottomed guarantee of a fine atmospheric and intriguing mystery' Sunday Telegraph
'Melville combines the uncertain world of Ruth Rendell with the gruesome attention to detail of Prime Suspect' Crime Time

First British Edition Macmillan (1998)

Stone Dead
Winifred Eagle and Birdie Peacock, white witches of Windsor, are preparing for the opening of their new bookshop, which will specialize in crime fiction. So perhaps they are extra-sensitive to the mystery that is currently dominating local news - the disappearance of two Windsor women.
But they would be even more disturbed if they knew what Chief Superintendent Charmian Daniels now knows - that four other women have gone missing from the surrounding areas. And that with every disappearance the local police have received a letter containing the victim's name and one of her possessions.
To take her mind off the increasingly worrying case, Charmian attends the champagne launch of her friends' bookshop. But the respite does not last long. For the builders, still hard at work digging up the shop's garden, suddenly make a gruesome discovery - a stone coffin and two bodies.
One body is nothing but bones and has been in the ground for centuries. But the second body that of a woman - is much fresher…
'Eery and disturbing.' The Scotsman
'A real humdinger of murder and mayhem.' Peterborough Evening Telegraph

First British Edition Macmillan (1997)

Revengeful Death
Mary March had been having some murderous thoughts as she walked through the Great Park in Windsor early that October morning. So perhaps it was fate that she should find the first victim…
For only a few hours later, in the recently abandoned home of her neighbour Alice Hardy, Mary discovers the body of a young man, his face painted red, white and blue - his thymus gland expertly cut from his chest.
And for high-ranking policewoman Charmian Daniels, brought in to head the investigation, this is just one of a number of disturbing features. Because the thymus gland in animals is known as the sweetbread, an edible delicacy - and Mary has received a note which claims this murder is just a ‘taster’.
But is Mary all she seems? Is she the persecuted or, in fact, the persecutor? And why has Alice Hardy disappeared? Has she become another victim - or could she be the murderer?
As Charmian seeks the answers to these questions, the killer has more work to do…
'Melville imparts a dreadful disquiet to whatever she so cunningly touches.' The Sunday Times
'Her inventiveness never seems to flag… theses novels… are constructed in a spirit of drollery and sagacity which sets them apart.' TLS
'Jennie Melville is one of the most original writers of the English mystery. All her recent books have been top notch, but this is a new high. Treat yourself’ Crime Time
'The crime novels of Jennie Melville unfold spookily in a parallel, off-centre kind of world… Great fun as usual.’ Hampstead and Highgate Express

Paperback - Allison & Busby (1998)

The Woman Who Was Not There
A London prostitute goes missing. A rundown Windsor brothel stands empty except for erotic wax models which move. A boy finds a shoe containing a woman's severed foot. How do these events fit together? Top policewoman, Charmian Daniels investigates…
'Bravura brew of broomstick comedy and quite unguessable whodunnit' Matthew Coady, Guardian
'An engaging read.’ Lincolnshire Echo

Paperback - Allison & Busby (1999)

The Morbid Kitchen
The murder of a Windsor schoolgirl at Miss Bailey's Nursery School ten years ago shocked the local community. Closed down, the school stood empty and rotting, but Nancy Bailey would not sell. Sometimes the neighbours thought that they heard voices I and saw lights in the 'murder house'… Nancy's half-sister inherits the house and, opening up the basement room, is greeted by a horrifying sight: the body of a woman, a decapitated head between its legs. As the police re-open their investigations, high-ranking policewoman Charmian Daniels must dig deep into an underworld of dark secrets and witchcraft to unmask a ruthless, perverted killer.
‘Jennie Melville shoots to the top of the crime class with The Morbid Kitchen.’ Peterborough Evening Telegraph
‘A gripping, sinister crime mystery… unmissable’ Kingston Informer 'Melville imparts a dreadful disquiet to whatever she so cunningly touches.' Sunday Times
‘Ms Melville excels in conveying the way the past shapes the present. Senior policewoman Charmian Daniels leads a gripping investigation.' Daily Post

About The Author
Dead Again is the twelfth novel in Jennie Melville's series featuring Charmian Daniels. Jennie Melville is the pseudonym of Gwen Butler who also writes the popular Inspector Coffin series. Jennie lives in Windsor, where she sets her Charmian Daniels books.

Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

Dead Again (Macmillan, 2000) Jan 00 (Charmian Daniels)

Stone Dead (Macmillan, 1998) (Charmian Daniels)

Revengeful Death (Macmillan, 1997) (Charmian Daniels)

The Woman Who Was Not There (Macmillan, 1996) Allison & Busby Pbk Feb 98 (Charmian Daniels)

The Morbid Kitchen (Macmillan, 1995) Allison & Busby Pbk Jun 99 (Charmian Daniels)

Whoever Has the Heart (Macmillan, 1993) Allison & Busby Pbk Jan 00 (Charmian Daniels)

Dead Set (Macmillan, 1992) Allison & Busby Pbk Mar 99 (Charmian Daniels)

Footsteps in the Blood (Macmillan, 1990) (Charmian Daniels)

Witching Murder (Macmillan, 1990) (Charmian Daniels)

A Cure for Dying (Macmillan, 1989) a.k.a. Making Good Blood (Charmian Daniels)

Windsor Red (Macmillan, 1988) CTPublishing Pbk Feb 98 (Charmian Daniels)

Death in the Garden (Macmillan, 1987) a.k.a. Murder in the Garden

Listen to the Children (Macmillan, 1986)

Murder Has a Pretty Face (Macmillan, 1981) (Charmian Daniels)

The Summer Assassin (Hodder & Stoughton, 1971)

A New Kind of Killer, an Old Kind of Death (Hodder & Stoughton, 1970) a.k.a. A New Kind of Killer (Charmian Daniels)

The Hunter in the Shadows (Hodder & Stoughton, 1969)

A Different Kind of Summer (Hodder & Stoughton, 1967) (Charmian Daniels)

Nell Alone (Michael Joseph, 1966)

There Lies Your Love (Michael Joseph, 1965) (Charmian Daniels)

Murderers' Houses (Michael Joseph, 1964) (Charmian Daniels)

Burning is a Substitute for Loving (Michael Joseph, 1963) (Charmian Daniels)

Come Home and be Killed (Michael Joseph, 1962) (Charmian Daniels)

Ironwood

Baby Drop

Nun's Castle

The Hand of Glass

Raven's Force

Dragon's Eye

The Painted Castle

Axwater

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