The Story of Nellie Rault’s Grave ~ Lives on!!!

Nellie Rault’s grave in Haynes churchyard

Nellie Rault’s unsolved murder back in 1919, one hundred years ago, inspired my murder mystery Murder Now and Then set in two time zones, 1919 and 2019.  As I explained in my talk the other day, Nellie continues to haunt me in various ways with unsolved mysteries today including a strange email from the Luton Paranormal Society!  When I first found her grave in St Mary’s churchyard Haynes, Bedfordshire, her cross was at such a precarious angle, it looked as if she was trying to get out. If you look closely at this photo the horizon is not horizontal ~ the ground is actually flat and not sloping at all ~ I’ve turned the camera off kilter!

 

When a friend of mine went looking for Nellie’s grave a couple of months back, to his dismay the cross has fallen over altogether. After asking me if I’d be interested in helping to raise the money to restore it, which I immediately said yes to, he wrote to the parish council. He had a nice email back saying that, because it is a Commonweath War Grave from WW1, the commission would visit and lay the stone flat on the ground.

Much to my friend’s surprise he received another email a couple of weeks ago saying that Nellie’s grave had been mysteriously restored

Nellie Rault’s grave restored

in the night and that the Parish Council had no idea who the benefactor was. I promise it wasn’t me but nevertheless I’m pleased it is restored so well. Above is a photo of the grave is in all its glory! The ground is flat as you can see.

Murder Now and Then can be ordered from Waterstones or bought from Amazon.

viewbook.at/MurderNowandThen

Nellie Rault was murdered 100 years ago ~ An Inspiration

The unsolved murder of a Jersey lass, Nellie Rault, one hundred years ago, inspired my first murder mystery, Murder Now and Then.

viewbook.at/MurderNowandThen

Here is Nellie Rault’s full story compiled and carefully researched by Liz Walton from the Great War Channel Island Study Group.

The mystery also inspired the Luton Paranormal Society to investigate it! (you may have to scroll down through the paragraphs.)

In honour of Nellie Rault, whom I renamed Lucille Vardon in my purely fictional novel, I have brought  out an updated version of ‘Murder, Now and Then’ this summer. (revised due to the fact that I wrote the original in 2013 and predicted the future to 2019, some of which has and some has not come to pass.)

Here’s the new cover in celebration of the relaunch:

Mind you, there are actually farms where cows are milked by robots as and when they choose to be milked. I’ve seen them!

Also, and just as exciting, in the autumn I will be launching my new novel, another mystery loosely set in Bedfordshire, although the actual location is fictional this time but it visits Scotland too. (couldn’t resist it) Watch this space!

Meanwhile The Healing Paths of Fife was all about relocation and renewal, but it also touched on how I coped with a barren time as far as my creativity and my writing life was concerned. As my personal life found new meaning and stability, my writing life floundered.

viewbook.at/TheHealingPathsofFife

This fantasy memoir ends as I began to find a balance and a greater wholeness as the ink from my pen began to flow once more.

(just noticed a new review on amazon.co.uk ~ very grateful!)

Extracts of ‘Murder Now and Then’ and the dangers of writing in the ‘soon-to-be’ future

Should I update my opening scene? What do you think in the light of Brexit and Inderef.

I began my murder mystery ‘Murder Now and Then’ with a prologue to set the scene:

“The Prologue

May 9^th 2019

‘I wouldn’t kill my husband. How could you think such a thing?’

Joanna sat on the grey plastic bench, her hands in her lap, absentmindedly tearing tiny pieces from a ball of spent tissue and watching them drift down on to the brown tiles; droplets of tears joining the snow-flaked floor.

Even though Joanna was alone, she could feel the glare of DI Norton boring into her, willing her to confess. How easy it would have been to halt his incessant questioning and say ‘Yes, I did it,’ just to silence him? His voice still lingered in her head.

Numb with the enormity of her situation she closed her eyes and sat in a sleepless trance, her hands now motionless and her mind free–falling in a bottomless void.”

So far so good. The novel brought Joanna’s plight immediately to the attention of the reader. Even though it was set in 2019 the passage was fairly timeless.

Next I set the scene of the murder in 1919 ~ notice the change in style for the historical content:

“May 9^th 1919

“Sergeant Major Alfred Donald Keith Regmund appeared before the Bedford Division Bench on Wednesday morning. Crowds waited outside Shire Hall to see the prisoner arrive and depart, which he did in a closed cab. Three or four rows of public gallery were filled, as also was the grand jury gallery.

Mr P D Holmer presided, the other Magistrate being Mr A C Greenachre. Superintendant Patterson went into the witness box and gave evidence as follows.

‘On Tuesday May 13^th I arrested the prisoner at Haynes Park. He was conveyed to Bedford. On arrival I charged him on suspicion of murdering a girl, Lucille Vardon at Wilshamstead on 9^th May. I cautioned him and he said,

‘I understand my unfortunate position, and your justification for arresting me, but I am innocent, and I shall be able to prove my innocence.’

The prisoner was then remanded until 11.15 am on Tuesday next.” ₁

 ₁Bedfordshire Times and Independent May 30^th 1919 (names have been changed)

This was a true unsolved murder. The newspaper cuttings were detailed and explicit. Fascinating!

Then I launch into the novel with the up to date murder, but backtracked to July 2017. Confused? When I wrote this in 2013 it seemed a long time into the future, but I realise now that I fell into a trap of making predictions where history has caught up with me:

“July 2017         Joanna and Bob Thomas at Pear Tree Farm

Joanna, a farmer’s wife of forty two years of age, whose youthful make-up-free complexion was more like that of a woman in her early thirties, looked out of the yellowing UPVC faux Georgian windows of their old farmhouse. She smiled at the sight of the small herd of prize Jersey cattle her husband had purchased when Britain had won back independence from the EU. The cows, she felt, were a symbol of that independence since the little island of Jersey had enjoyed self government for centuries.

Britain and the farmers especially, were enjoying the freedom which some couples experience after the break-up of an unhealthy marriage – that of mutually beneficial friendship, without binding ties. Of course all the countries involved had undergone the pain and bitterness of a difficult and lengthy divorce, with complicated legal proceedings stretching both lawyers and politicians to the limits, but now all of that was behind them. In fact, some said that many nations still in the EU, held a silent respect for the British spirit that was willing to believe that it would be best to go it alone.

Still maintaining brotherly and sisterly links within the former British Isles; England, Scotland, Wales and even Cornwall and the South West now enjoyed their own governing body. For England that had been a great victory and each country had celebrated the occasion in style with street parties, the likes of which had not been witnessed since the dear Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee back in 2012. Ireland too now held three councils, one in the north, one in the south and a further umbrella council. This worked much like the Parliament in London had done in the past; a matriarch overseeing the British Isles as a whole.”

Well there you have it. I now have  dilemma. Mind you, parts of the predictions were almost true. The timing was awry though.

What shall I do about it? What do you think? Should I update my kindle version or not. I’d love to hear your opinion on the matter.