Nicola Slade
Perhaps one of the foremost contemporary practitioners of the Cosy Mystery
Welcome
I was brought up in Poole, in Dorset, and since then have lived in various places including Cairo, in Egypt. I now live with my husband near Winchester in Hampshire.
I wrote children’s stories while my three children were growing up, moving on to adult short stories for several national magazines. Winning a short story competition in FAMILY CIRCLE encouraged me to start writing seriously and since then my stories and articles have been commissioned regularly.
My first novel, Scuba Dancing, (published in 2005), was a romantic comedy but I’ve now turned to crime and am currently working on two separate series.
My Harriet Quigley Mysteries featuring recently-retired headmistress, Harriet Quigley and her clergyman cousin, Canon Sam Hathaway, are contemporary and take place in and around Winchester. With the publication of The Art of Murder (September 2016) there are now three of Harriet’s adventures published. The other two are Murder Fortissimo, and A Crowded Coffin — see my books page for more details.
With the publication of The Dead Queen’s Garden (December 2013) there are now three novels in my historical series "Charlotte Richmond Mysteries" which features a resourceful young Victorian widow who just can’t help stumbling over the occasional corpse. The earlier books in this series are: Murder Most Welcome and Death is the Cure — see my books page for more details.
Besides writing I love travelling and have tried my hand as an antiques dealer.
My Books
The Merry Month Of Murder
May 1918. In a world where the men are at war and the women keep the home fires burning, Christabel Fyttleton is faced with domestic crises involving lodgers, rationing, maypole dancers and Kaiser Bill (don’t ask!) – as well as her most daunting challenge ever.
Not only that! There’s a sudden death – again – as though she hasn’t enough to cope with already.
But is it murder, misadventure, or merely misfortune?
The Convalescent Corpse
My latest book, a seasonal novella that continues the story of The House at Ladywell. There are already some lovely reviews coming in and I’m thrilled that readers are loving this story. ‘A gorgeous Christmassy book…’ ‘Wonderfully written and truly entertaining…’ ‘I especially loved the magical significance of the rather special hares who live in the landscape around Ladywell, and who give the story such a special mystical quality which really is quite magical.’
Christmas at Ladywell is available on Amazon.
The Convalescent Corpse
A story of Family, Rationing and Inconvenient Corpses.
Life in 1918 has brought loss and grief and hardship to the three Fyttleton sisters. Helped only by their grandmother (a failed society belle and expert poacher) and hindered by a difficult suffragette mother, as well as an unruly chicken-stealing dog and a house full of paying-guests, they now have to deal with the worrying news that their late – and unlamented – father may not be dead after all. And on top of that, there’s a body in the ha-ha.
The House At Ladywell
When Freya Gibson inherits an old, run-down property she has no idea she is the last in a long line of redoubtable women, including the Tudor nun who built the house. Unknown to Freya, these women, over centuries, fought with whatever weapons came to hand – deception, endurance, even murder – to preserve their home and family.
The Art Of Murder
A weekend art course at an upmarket B&B near Winchester’s historic cathedral is bound to be relaxing and fun… But not when Linzi Bray, Chairman of the local art group, is in charge and the house is full of people who loathe her. Accidents start to happen – in a ruined castle, in a fast-flowing river, in a peaceful garden. There’s a stalker – or is there? And there are far too many dead insects, as well as a vandalised Porsche and a pond full of blood. It’s not the first time former headmistress, Harriet Quigley, and her cousin, the Reverend Sam Hathaway, have been embroiled in a mystery, but this time they’re baffled at the “spiteful game” that seems to be being played.
The Dead Queen's Garden
Surely the festive season, beginning with a christening party, can’t present the same hazard? Oh yes it can…
Boxing Day finds the resourceful Charlotte in a garden dedicated to a long-dead queen, fighting for her life and armed only with what is possibly the least likely weapon ever.
A Crowded Coffin
It’s late summer in Hampshire and former headmistress, Harriet Quigley, is enjoying life. Her cousin Sam is moving next-door and the only cloud on the horizon is village gossip about a man who disappeared months earlier, along with a more recent near-fatal accident. Suddenly it’s all going pear-shaped – and sensible, practical Harriet has only herself to blame. Sam has warned her not to play at being Miss Marple but despite her cousin’s strictures Harriet is suspicious about several newcomers and she’s been asking discreet questions.
Murder Fortissimo
When newly retired headmistress, Harriet Quigley, needs a good rest and somewhere comfortable to recover from a hospital stay, she believes Firstone Grange will be the ideal place. Upmarket and luxurious, (expensive, of course), but perfectly run by a competent and understanding Matron, Firstone Grange seems wonderful but there’s a serpent in this Paradise and Harriet soon realizes that some of the residents are very frightened.
Death Is The Cure
When Charlotte Richmond’s dearest friend decides to visit Bath for medical treatment, Charlotte, a young Victorian widow, is delighted to accompany her. Their fellow guests at elegant Waterloo House seem to be haunted by secrets and Charlotte is soon embroiled in mysteries, mayhem and murder. When one of the inhabitants of Waterloo House is stabbed to death it is Charlotte who trips over the corpse and begins to ask questions. In the course of her unofficial enquiries her own life is put in peril as she uncovers family secrets and stumbles upon a mystery that could even change the course of history.
Murder Most Welcome
Outwardly a grieving young Victorian widow, Charlotte Richmond is concealing some scandalous secrets when she arrives at Finchbourne Manor to start a respectable new life with her husband’s family. The wealthy Richmonds must never discover that her husband Frampton’s recent death in the Indian Mutiny came as a great relief to Charlotte. Nor must they hear about the rumours circulating in the army regarding both his scandalous behaviour and money missing from the officers’mess.
Scuba Dancing
‘It was late summer when the angel first manifested himself to Ursula Buchanan in the village shop, just along the aisle from the bacon slicing machine … ‘Go on,’ he urged, pointing a glowing golden finger at the notice. ‘Join the group, Ursula,
it’ll change your life.’
And so it does.
Ursula’s is not the only life to be altered forever.
