Jill Churchill Books

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Author Jill Churchill was born on January 11, 1943 in Kansas City, Missouri, with the name of Janice Young Brooks. She got a degree in education in the year 1965 from the University of Kansas. Later, she studied at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. After this, she taught elementary school for some time. From 1978 until the year 1992, she reviewed books for the Kansas City Star. In the year 1975, her first novel was published, and it was called “Ozark Legacy”; it was published under the pen name of Amanda Singer. This is the only novel that she published under this name. In the year 2007, she was featured in a publication called Great Women Mystery Writers. She has two kids and is a grandmother; and likes playing gin, gardening, and needlepoint.

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Churchill has written the “Jane Jeffry” series (about a suburban housewife that solves murders in the city of Chicago) and the “Grace and Favor” series (this series is set during the Great Depression). UNder this name, she has also written a non fiction book. The novels in the “Jane Jeffry” series all parody classic novels. All the books published under the Jill Churchill name are from the cozy mystery genre. She has also written some things under her real name (these novels are historical fiction) and some other pen names. When the novel “Grime and Punishment” was published in the year 1989, it began both the “Jane Jeffry” series and her career as a cozy mystery author.

JILL CHURCHILL AWARDS

For the novel “Grime and Punishment”, she won both a Macavity Award and an Agatha Award.

BEST JILL CHURCHILL BOOKS

For those readers looking to get into novels by Jill Churchill, this section will help with that. It will go over the novels “Grime and Punishment”, “A Farewell to Yarns”, and “A Quiche Before Dying”.

Grime and Punishment: This is the first novel in the “Jane Jeffry” series and was released in the year 1989. Jane Jeffry has three kids that she has to raise on her own, and sometimes it is good to have some help with the housework. Many of the neighbors (who like to complain) would like to point out that the lady she got to clean for her would be unable to identify a dust ball, even if she was choking on it. The lady is from a place called Happy Helper.

The woman is found after being strangled with the cord of a vacuum cleaner. Jane figures it is time to dig up the actual dirt, that is if she can make time between all the motherly things she has to do. Jane is determined to solve the case even with all the PTA meetings and car-pooling things she has to do. That may mean provoking a killer that may live next door.

A Farewell to Yarns: This is the second novel in the “Jane Jeffry” series and was released in the year 1991. It is Christmas time, making Jane Jeffry’s life (which is pretty hectic anyway) even more crazy. She has to finish the afghan from hell, get through all the politics of church bazaar.

The last thing she needs is for an old acquaintance named Phyllis Wagner and her teenage son (ill mannered brat that he is) to show up unannounced. The Wagner picture is complicated further by a dead body is thrown into the works. Solving murders is more interesting than knitting is anyway, so Jane decides to try to figure out what happened.

There are many suspects, and another dead body, this case quickly gets complex. Jane has to avoid getting strangled her own self just by the twisted threads that she is trying to unravel.

A Quiche Before Dying: This is the third novel in the “Jane Jeffry” series and was released in the year 1993. The kids are just about to leave for their summer camps, and Jane believes that it is time to pursue other areas of interest. She enrolls in a writing course at a community college.

An aged and obnoxious classmate of hers dies after sampling a delicious treat; while at the pot luck student buffet. Jane figures there is a killer chef among the local aspiring writers.

Poison is mightier than both the sword and the pen. Before the cranky old woman’s death can be forgotten, Jane is going to find out what happened. Then she will cook the killer’s goose in their own creative juices.

When Does The Next Jill Churchill book come out?

Jill Churchill doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is The Accidental Florist and was released on February, 27th 2007. It is the newest book in the Jane Jeffry Series.

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