March 2021 – Jill Churchill

I’ve sadly only read one book by Jill Churchill, Silence of the Hams, one of the Jane Jeffry series books. I truly cannot wait to get my hands on more…I’ve checked online, no luck and my local bookstore doesn’t seem to stock her novels. But I know I haven’t done a thorough search yet so there’s plenty of hope in finding her books still!

Jill Churchill is the pen name of Janice Young Brooks. Churchill was born the 11th January 1943 in Kansas City, Missouri.

She is an author who won the Agatha and Macavity Awards for her first Jane Jeffry novel and featured in Great Women Mystery Writers (Wikipedia)

Both these awards are awarded for mystery and crime writers who write in the cozy mystery subgenre.

Jill Churchill won these awards in 1989 and 1990 respectively, for her novel Grime and Punishment.

Image by Natalia Lavrinenko from Pixabay

Early Life

In 1965 Churchill graduated from the University of Kansas and from there went on to study at the University of Missouri-Kansas City before teaching in elementary school for some year (Wikipedia). She was a book reviewer for the Kansas City Star between the years of 1978 and 1992.

Writing and Published book

Under her real name, Churchill published several historical novels, this occurred before 1989 when she started launching new book series. Jill Churchill is most notably known for the Jane Jeffry and Grace & Favor book series.

The Jane Jeffry series features the widow Jane Jeffery who constantly becomes embroiled in murder cases. The novels follows Jane Jeffery as she balances leading a cozy domestic life and solving crimes. The novel titles are puns on literary works (Wikipedia).

Publication Order of Jane Jeffry Books

Grime and Punishment	-1989
A Farewell to Yarns	-1991
A Quiche Before Dying	-1993
The Class Menagerie	-1994
A Knife to Remember	-1994
From Here to Paternity	-1995
Silence of the Hams	-1996
War and Peas	-1996
* Fear of Frying	-1997	(Wikipedia)
The Merchant of Menace	-1998
A Groom with a View	-1999
Mulch Ado About Nothing	-2000
The House of Seven Mabels	-2002
Bell, Book, and Scandal	-2003
A Midsummer Night’s Scream	-2004
The Accidental Florist	-2007

List of Books from BookSeriesInorder

In 1999, Churchill started a new mystery series which is set during the Great Depression. This series, Order of Grace & Favor, follows siblings Robert and Lily Brewster who live in New York.

Publication Order of Grace & Favor Books

In the Still of the Night	-1999
Anything Goes	-1999
Someone to Watch Over Me	-2001
Love for Sale	-2003
It Had to Be You	-2004
Who’s Sorry Now?	-2005
* Smoke Gets in Your Eyes	-2013	(Wikipedia)

List of Books from BookSeriesInorder

Janice Young Brooks has published about 40 novels under various pen names. These pen names include: Jill Churchill, Amanda Singer and Valerie Vayle. Seems I have so much reading to catch up on!