Jane Jeffry's mother Cecily is in town on a visit and she and Jane sign up for a writing class at the local community center. Cecily has traveled all over the world and thinks the class on writing autobiographies is a good way of preserving her memories. Jane and her friend Shelley Nowack are taking the class to keep Cecily company, but Jane soon discovers she may have a talent for writing. Jane's enjoying the class, although she wishes the obnoxious Agnes Pryce hadn't signed up as well. Jane's not the only one who doesn't like Mrs. Pryce and when she demands that the entire class attend a pot luck dinner at her house, someone takes the opportunity to poison Mrs. Pryce's quiche during that dinner. Even though the police, including Jane's friend Detective Mel Van Dyne, are investigating the murder, Jane does a little snooping of her own, since someone used the quiche that Jane made to poison Mrs. Pryce. When someone starts leaving Jane a series of clues, she realizes who the murderer is and that the truth isn't always easy to handle.

"A Quiche Before Dying" is another delightful entry in Jill Churchill's Jane Jeffry cozy mystery series. In this, the third book in the series, Jane is really developing as a character, as she is leaving the memory of her late husband behind and coming into her own as a person. The little tidbits about the writing class and Jane's discovery that she may have the talent to be a writer are a fascinating glimpse into the world of writing. Two of Jane's children, Mike and Todd, are away for most of the book, but Jane's interactions with her daughter Katie add to the realism in the book. And it was nice to meet Jane's mother Cecily, who added yet another dimension to Jane's character. I also loved the way the romance between Jane and Mel is developing. Jane's writing classmates and teacher are all well written and great suspects: teacher Missy who writes romance novels; the affable Grady Wells; sisters Ruth Rogers and Naomi Smith; the offbeat Desiree Loftus; and ex-military man Bob Neufield. The mystery elements are well written and well plotted and with so many suspects readers will have fun trying to figure out who the killer is. Churchill has a tendency for Agatha Christie like scenes in her books when the murderer is revealed, which can be a bit unbelievable, but in this case it does add some poignancy to the end of this book.

"A Quiche Before Dying" is a nicely done cozy mystery. ( )

They say to write what you know. Based on that and this book, Jill Churchill might be a single mom in the suburbs who takes writing classes.

Whether she is or not I don't know, as there is no author bio in my copy of this book. But for all the bizarrely normal setting, the book ends up very solidly. The writing is top quality without any jarring errors of voice or weird similes, and the characters seem authentic. The clues seem a bit contrived - anonymous clues being sent to the detective is more reminiscent of the Hardy Boys than Agatha Christie - but the puzzle seems to hang together fairly well. Perhaps a few more pages of exposition around the murderer's circumstances might have been in order, or maybe I just missed it. Definitely a lot more readable than I expected. ( )

I love the Jane Jeffry mysteries and I especially loved the focus on writing in A Quiche Before Dying. Jane's mom is visiting and they sign up for a class about writing autobiographies. A wretched old woman dies in class and Jane is once again in the middle of a murder investigation. The mystery was great and while I had a few ideas I wasn't certain until the killer was unveiled. I enjoyed seeing the beginning of Jane's interest in writing and all of the mother/daughter focus between Jane, her mom and her daughter Katie. ( )

http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-mysteries.html ( )