JANE MCPARKES
Author of the Olivia Wells Mystery Series
Welcome to creekside Penbartha, the Cornish home of sleuthing, suspense and sustainability…
“A cracking debut…”
“Page-turning debut…”
BOOKS
Meet Olivia Wells: eco-architect, runner and reluctant sleuth
Deadly Treasures - Book 2
Not all treasures remain buried…
When eco-architect Olivia Wells unveils her latest project – a cliffside manor reborn as a luxury eco-hotel cliffside manor reborn as a luxury eco-hotel – she expects acclaim, not chaos. And the return of her partner Jago Trevithick KC, a brilliant but broken barrister, who is seeking peace by the sea.
But peace is short-lived. A waitress is found dead in the hotel pool.
Who wanted her gone – and why?
Has the dark side of Jago’s work followed him to Cornwall?
Or is someone close to Olivia hiding deadly secrets?
As whispers spread through the sun-bleached village, Olivia and Jago must uncover the truth before the tide turns red again.
Sleuthing, suspense and sustainability abound in this cosy mystery set on the beautiful Cornish coast.
“Evocative and engrossing, it had me from the first page”
“This is a series I look forward to enjoying more instalments of in the future!”
A Deadly Inheritance - Book 1
When eco-architect Olivia Wells returns to the small Cornish creekside village of Penbartha, she hopes to honour her godfather’s legacy – transforming his disused beloved railway station into a sustainable hub for local entrepreneurs.
But paradise hides its cracks and not everyone is as committed as she thought.
After a heated and unexpected argument with someone she considers a friend and ally, Olivia discovers their murdered body.
Can she trust anyone in Penbartha?
The tight-knit community closes ranks to protect her – but the evidence tells a different story.
Who would want to frame her? And how far will they go to keep things buried?
As secrets rise like the tide, Olivia must uncover the truth before it pulls her under for good. - bo
“A well-written, engaging murder mystery with a real sense of community and care for the environment in a beautiful Cornish setting ”
“I very much enjoyed this story with its twisty and very topical plot featuring lots of surprises along the way”
“it’s a cosy mystery that feels like it’s almost hugging you as you read”
“Great characters and plot - really kept me guessing right til the end.”
A Deadly Abode - Book 3
It's autumn and with crisp frosty weather and the leaves as colourful as they've ever been, Olivia and Jago are nestling into their life in Penbartha. Until local resentment about incomers and second-home ownership is ignited by what seems to be an increasingly militant action group.
Maybe Penbartha isn't the happy place Olivia thought it was? Is the discontent really about second homes or is someone pursuing a much more personal agenda?
When a neighbouring house is set on fire and a body found in one of the outbuildings, Olivia and Jago need to find the source of the trouble before it gets even closer to home...
ABOUT
JANE MCPARKES
Stories have been central to Jane’s life since childhood. Her first commercial success came when she was 8 years old with the publication of a story in the Bunty comic about her grandfather digging up a small handgun and two gold hoop earrings in his garden and suggesting they were connected with an unsolved murder. She knew from that moment she wanted to become a writer.
After university, Jane followed a more conventional path into a career in tax with an international accounting firm, although she was always more interested in the people she met and their stories than in their finances. At twenty-seven, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and advised by her employers that she would likely be using a wheelchair by the age of thirty, forcing her to leave her career behind.
Determined not to be defined by her diagnosis, Jane embraced family life, raising two children before returning to her lifelong dream of writing. Encouraged by her family, she enrolled on a Faber writing course and began writing seriously. A subsequent diagnosis of a rare but treatable cancer tested her resilience once again, but writing became both a creative outlet and a way of looking forward rather than back.
Jane’s debut novel was published shortly before her publisher unexpectedly ceased trading, prompting her to self-publish in order to build on its early success. Undeterred, she self-published the novel in order to build on its early success. It was subsequently shortlisted for a Wishing Shelf Award. Her second novel was shortlisted for the RNA Romantic Thriller Award, leading to representation by an agent and a four-book publishing deal.
Living with Multiple Sclerosis and having faced several cancer diagnoses has reinforced Jane’s conviction that challenges can be transformed into opportunities and that we can all choose to move forward and create change on our own terms. She describes her novels as cosy crime with a distinctive green twist, set in the fictional Cornish creekside village of Penbartha. Each novel centres on a compelling mystery set in a fictional Cornish creekside community where people care about each other and the place they love. Sustainability isn’t the focus of the mystery, nor is it a lesson for the reader, it’s simply woven into everyday life.
The Olivia Wells Mysteries are set in the fictional Cornish creekside village of Penbartha, a place largely inspired by all the time Jane has spent in similar locations with her husband, two (now adult) children and her two dogs, Margot and Geoffrey.
“A good, non-gory mystery in a gorgeous setting”
INTERVIEWS AND MEDIA
CONTACT ME
If you wish to contact Jane about anything else, she would be delighted to hear from you
Email at janemcparkes@gmail.com