Monday 11 April 2016

Murder Most Foul! - I is for Intent - Cozy Mystery #AtoZChallenge 2016


Welcome to my contribution to the A to Z Challenge. My theme this year is Murder Most Foul, which, for you, my blog visitors, means that you will be sharing in The Case of the Cursed House, or rather the bare bones of it. 

Everyday, I will be revealing more about my developing Cozy Mystery: descriptions of scenes; character details; locations; clues to the mystery. And, at the end of each post, you will have the chance to vote on whodunnit. So, without further ado, on with the case...

Previous parts:


Story Notes Additional Details
In the morning, Aisha meets Barnwell and Williams at the car park as agreed. They swap notes:

  • this is now a murder inquiry
  • poisoning has been happening over time, so whoever is doing it had to have regular access to Bill and his e-cigarette, so:
    • must find the source of the arsenic, it's difficult to get now, but it used to be used on rat poison, fly papers, weedkiller, so check to see if anyone has anything like that hanging around.
    • must check where Bill got his refills
    • Must consider who had access to those refills and where
  • who kills a dying man?
    • someone who needs him dead more quickly?
    • someone who didn't know he was dying?
    • find out who knew Bill had cancer and who didn't
  • there were rumours about Debbie Fincher and Bill Whethers having an affair
    • did Dave Fincher know?
    • was it just a rumour?
  • DCI: who hasn't been spoken to who could be linked to Bill Whethers?
    • Aisha: Bethany Mortby, witch by village assumption and confirmed by Jon as Bill's ex-partner
    • Williams: Dr Elves had been getting cosy with Whethers over the affordable housing.
    • Fred Walker resented Bill for blocking the affordable housing.
    • What about Vic Walker? He was definitely in Scotland, Williams checked last night.
    • Aisha adds Andrew Parthing, the farmer who owns Court Farm - it is common knowledge that he is not happy about all the delays to his sale of the land.

They see Rev Sally Tawks heading into the church as they are talking, and DCI points out she was visiting Bill regularly, so she heads off after the vicar, telling Williams and Aisha to head to the shop first and check to see if Bill got his refills there.

However, as they are about to head in, Aisha gets a call: it's Jon Lee. He tells her he has Bethany Mortby at his cottage. Williams tells Aisha to go and see her while he deals with the shop.

Aisha Kakkar
Age: 23
Gender: female
Ethnicity Code: M3
Job: Police Constable - Weald & Marsh Liaison Officer - an officer working with local communities, especially villages, in the Weald of Kent and Romney Marsh areas. Her mum and step mum knew Lady Emma when she was an art student.

DCI Mags Barnwell
Age: 44
Gender: female
Ethnicity Code: W1
Job: Detective Chief Inspector Kent Constabulary Serious Crime Office

DS Kevin Williams
Age: 27
Gender: male
Ethnicity Code: W1
Job: Detective Sergeant Kent Constabulary Serious Crime Office
Other info: DCI Barnwell's bag man.

William (Bill) Whethers
Age: 36
Gender: male
Ethnicity Code: W1
Job: horror author
Other info: he opposes a new housing development providing affordable housing to local people. he's a drunk. Suspected of taking part in black masses by Alice Rigden and half the village.
Death: broken neck from falling down stairs, but was being poisoned by his e-cigarette with arsenic, and it was convulsions that caused him to fall down the stairs. He was dying of lung cancer.

Debbie Fincher
Age: 41
Gender: female
Ethnicity Code: W1
Job: publican of the Ewe and Lamb
Other info: married to Dave Fincher; did she have an affair with Bill Whethers?

Dave Fincher
Age: 43
Gender: male
Ethnicity Code: W1
Job: publican of the Ewe and Lamb
Other info: married to Debbie Fincher; did he know about his wife and Bill Whethers?

Bethany Mortby
Age: 30
Gender: female
Ethnicity Code: W2
Job: witch
Other info: she was Bill Whether's partner for nearly 3 years.

Dr Elves
Age: 29
Gender: male
Ethnicity Code: W1
Job: Environment Scientist
Other info: he is performing the analysis of the Court Farm yard to see if it is appropriate for development; the village thinks he is 'in' with those who oppose the affordable housing development.

Andrew Parthing
Age: 43
Gender: male
Ethnicity Code: W1
Job: farmer
Other info: owns Court Farm and is unhappy about the delay of the sale of his land for building the affordable housing.

Rev Sally Tawks
Age: 36
Gender: female
Ethnicity Code: W1
Job: vicar of Wittrenham
Other info: has been visiting Bill a lot recently.

Court Farm
Proposed location for the development of the affordable housing. The yard backs onto Court House, Bill Whether's property.


And now it's time to vote again - just take a punt - who do you think killed Bill Whethers (and yes, every character is listed - you never know ;P)?


Who dunnit?

Aisha Kakkar
Debbie Fincher
Dave Fincher
Jonathan Lee
Janice Walker
Lorri Walker
Hal Walker
Fred Walker
Alice Rigden
DS Kevin Williams
DCI Mags Barnwell
Lord Michael, Earl of Oxen
Lady Emma, Countess of Oxen
Dr Elves
Rev Sally Tawks
Bethany Mortby
Lady Elizabeth Ryeman
Vic Walker
None of the above, we haven't met them yet
Don't be silly, I don't know enough yet!
Do Quizzes

For information about Sophie's books, sign up for The Wittegen Press Newsletter:

We'll send you details of book releases, competitions and other news from our authors, BUT we WON'T spam you, or pass your details on to anyone else.
Wittegen Press

We will also give you 2 FREE ebooks just for signing up.

* indicates required

6 comments:

  1. You're story notes today don't feel like they're narrowing anything down. =P LOL

    ~Ninja Minion Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
    Story Dam
    Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had to do a stand back and review moment for my own sanity ;P

      Delete
  2. Good recap of the inquiry. I still don't have a clue ;-)

    @JazzFeathers
    The Old Shelter - Jazz Age Jazz

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ooh love the Story Notes and great interjection to the story... it's hotting up! Love the pacing, see you tomorrow :)

    Mars xx
    @TrollbeadBlog from
    Curling Stones for Lego People

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's interesting to think about who might have poisoned him and why - either because they didn't know he had cancer or because they wanted him dead sooner. Hmm....

    Cheers - Ellen | http://thecynicalsailor.blogspot.com/2016/04/i-is-for-island-nancy-drew-investigates.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hmm... all good points, so who is the culprit? Love this!

    Happy Monday!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by - I'd love to hear from you. :)