Janet Laurence

• Born: December 3, 1937
• Place of Birth: England

TYPES OF PLOT: Amateur sleuth; historical; cozy

PRINCIPAL SERIES: Darina Lisle, 1989-; Canaletto, 1997-

Contribution

Janet Laurence has created both a culinary mystery series and a historical mystery series. The Darina Lisle series features an independent cookbook writer, which allows Laurence to showcase her expertise as a food writer. Her Canaletto series brings a somewhat lesser-known painter and his contribution to English history to the attention of the reading public. Her novels have received critical praise from major publications such as Library Journal and Booklist.

Biography

Janet Laurence was born Janet Duffell in England in 1937. Although she always wanted to be a writer, she began her professional career in advertising and public relations. In 1978, she and her husband moved to Somerset, England, where she started Mrs. Laurence’s Cookery Courses. The beginning courses were targeted toward teenage girls and dealt with basic cooking techniques. She later added a number of more advanced courses for experienced cooks. She also began writing about food for Country Life and for the Daily Telegraph. She eventually became solely responsible for the weekly food column Bon Viveur.

By the late 1980s, Laurence was writing cookbooks and also began to write her first mystery novel showcasing Darina Lisle, cookbook writer and amateur sleuth. In 1989, she published the thirty-recipe cookbook A Little French Cookbook and A Deepe Coffyn, the first book in her Darina Lisle series. She followed with A Little Scandinavian Cookbook and A Tasty Way to Die in 1990 and continued to add volumes to the series

In 1993, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery presented an exhibition on the painter Canaletto. Laurence became more and more enthralled with Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, and his involvement with England. She began to do research on the painter, his paintings, and the role he played in English history, and she decided to write a series featuring him. In 1997, she published her first historical mystery, Canaletto and the Case of Westminster Bridge. In 1999, she published Canaletto and the Case of the Privy Garden and Canaletto and the Case of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 2002.

Laurence’s nonseries novels include To Kill the Past (1994), a darker murder mystery that abandons the culinary motif and dwells on motivation and the psychological dimensions of the characters and their actions. Among her other stand-alone works are Deadly Inheritance (2012), A Fatal Freedom (2015), and the nonfiction work Writing Crime Fiction – Making Crime Pay (2007).

Laurence has also written contemporary women’s fiction under the name Janet Lisle. She served as a chairperson of the Crime Writers’ Association from 1998 to 1999, and in the early twenty-first century, she was part of the CWA International Dagger judging panel.

Analysis

Janet Laurence writes mystery novels peopled with entertaining, often eccentric, characters who add touches of wit, irony, and humor to the serious matter of murder. In the Darina Lisle series, the plots mix culinary activities with murder investigation. Darina is a well-respected cookbook writer with a special flair for uncovering clues and solving mysteries. Her romantic interest, William Pigram, is a professional detective with the CID. Laurence does not spare her heroine when it comes to presenting her with professional, personal, and crime-related problems. William, try as he will, constantly has difficulty accepting Darina’s spirit of independence and lack of time for him. Darina has a propensity for becoming involved with male culinary experts whose interest goes beyond food preparation, consequently complicating her professional life. Cooking shows, competitions, and demonstrations lead to murder.

Laurence creates authentic settings, often filled with local color, for her novels. Her characters, drawn from various social classes, are realistic and individualized so that the reader not only relates to them but also remembers them. Although solving the novel’s murder mystery remains the operating force behind the work, the daily life of Laurence’s characters, their culinary exploits, and their interpersonal relationships tend to push murder away from center stage. The reader wants to solve the mystery but finds many distractions along the way.

Laurence’s Canaletto series is set in the eighteenth century in England. The three novels in this series contrast sharply with the Darina Lisle series. Murder is gruesome and violent, and life is very dangerous. Laurence re-creates life in eighteenth-century England among the pickpockets, sex workers, and thieves, as well as among the aristocracy. Much of the authenticity of her narrative can be attributed to her sensitive use of dialect and language appropriate to her characters. Detailed descriptions, carefully delineated characters, and a complex plot take the reader on a fast-paced search to solve the crime.

Laurence’s nonseries novel To Kill the Past reveals yet another aspect of her writing. The cozy community atmosphere that often appears in the Darina Lisle series is replaced by an atmosphere of isolation, betrayal, and spine-chilling danger. Violence, dishonesty, amoralism, greed, and revenge are the standards of the world portrayed in the novel. Laurence explores the motivation behind crime and the psychological aspects of the characters.

Recipe for Death

In Recipe for Death (1992), Darina Lisle, culinary expert and amateur sleuth, becomes involved in the lives of the locals in Somerset, England, where she is living with William Pigram in his cottage. The cleverly constructed novel begins with an official cooking competition. Later, a cooking competition among friends provides the opportunity for murder. Foreshadowing is a device Laurence uses fairly often in her novels. At times, her use of it is very subtle, and the reader only becomes aware of it at the end of the mystery.

This novel is structured with multiple plots in which two characters, Constance Fry and Nathalie Duke, are murdered. The Fry family is trying to keep its organic farm solvent. Pru Fry is renewing her relationship with her estranged husband, Simon Chapman, who is trying to keep his restaurant out of bankruptcy. Verity Fry is launching a culinary career and is about to marry a wealthy businessman. Daniel Duke and Erica Strangeways are trying to establish a profitable business in the fresh-food industry, and Darina and William are trying to save their romantic relationship. These multiple plots are further complicated by assumed identities and disguises.

Death at the Table

In Death at the Table (1994), when Darina accepts a position as a regular on the television show Table for Four, she becomes enmeshed in a triple murder and finds her own life in danger. First, Bruce Bennett, an Australian wine expert, mysteriously drops dead as the show’s stars share a Christmas toast. Bennett’s sister Kate suspects foul play in Bruce’s death, so she flies to England. Shortly after her arrival, she falls from the window of her hotel room. The third victim is David Bartholomew, the production manager for Table for Four, who was starting his own company. As Darina searches for clues to the killer’s identity, she uncovers facts about the various members of the cast and crew that make more than one of them suspects. Laurence creates suspense in the novel as Darina, alone in her house, realizes someone is in her garden. Then, in the final pages of the novel, Laurence brings Darina into immediate danger as the killer is waiting for her in her home.

Although the novel is primarily a well-written murder mystery filled with suspense and three hard-to-solve murders, Laurence has added another dimension to the novel. She has interwoven several women’s issues into the plot of the novel. William is investigating a number of assaults on older women that lead to a conversation between him and Darina about the importance of a woman having some knowledge of self-defense. This discussion also foreshadows the battle for her life that Darina faces at the end of the novel.

Male-female relationships and the role of women are important themes in this mystery. Laurence uses staff members Jan, home economics specialist Lynn, Bruce’s sister Shelley, Darina, and the mothers of Darina and William to present various ideas and attitudes regarding women. Darina and William are engaged and planning their wedding. Darina’s mother feels that her daughter should concentrate all her energies and attention on the wedding and not worry about her career at the moment. William’s mother insists that Darina stop working and focus on William and his career. Darina insists on continuing with her professional activities; however, she also realizes that having time to spend with William is essential for a successful relationship with him. The outcome of the novel affirms Darina’s position.

Laurence addresses the problem of the abusive man and the battered woman. Bruce’s mother was forced to leave her husband as a result of his brutality. His sister Shelley reveals that Bruce was like his father. Lynn, one of the staff for Table for Four, corroborates Bruce’s penchant for brutality both by her appearance and by her account of her short-lived affair with him.

Jan, who turns out to be the murderer, is a complex character. Motivated by a strong ambition not only to succeed but also to prove herself more capable than her male colleagues, she is embittered and aggressive. Hungering after affection, she is attempting to establish a lesbian relationship with Shelley. She believes Bruce’s death would make Shelley the owner of the lucrative Yarramarra winery and make her relationship with Shelley possible. Jan has taken advantage of Bruce’s allergy to nuts to kill him. His sister Kate, who knows about her brother’s allergy, presents a threat to Jan, and so Jan kills her. However, when Shelley arrives, she becomes romantically involved with David Bartholomew, thwarting Jan’s plans, so she decides to kill him. As Darina is getting close to identifying the murderer, Jan waits for her in her home. The desperate fight that ensues between Jan and Darina has been foreshadowed by the case William is investigating and the discussion of the importance of self-defense for women.

Laurence ends the novel on a positive note as Darina and William are discussing their careers and finding solutions to the problem of lack of time for each other.

To Kill the Past

To Kill the Past is a dark, suspenseful novel filled with violence and tension. The heroine, Felicity Frear, has been badly burned in a car accident and is suffering from amnesia. Felicity is isolated by her amnesia and by a perplexing hostility in the individuals who have been part of her life. As her closest relative died in the car crash that injured Felicity, she has inherited the family’s country estate, Kingsleigh. After moving into the house, she receives a menacing phone call. The vaguely familiar male voice on the phone demands what is his. The sinister, oppressive atmosphere of the mystery continues to mount as Felicity becomes more and more frightened and suspicious of everyone around her.

Laurence adds even more tension to the novel as she misleads her heroine and the reader in regard to Sam McLean and Malcolm Biddulph. False clues cause Felicity and the reader to believe that Sam is the man making the phone calls. He is actually a police detective and the one person who can protect Felicity. Malcolm, the lawyer whom she trusts, is part of the ring of drug smugglers who are stalking her.

Canaletto and the Case of Westminster Bridge

In Canaletto and the Case of Westminster Bridge, Laurence portrays characters from all levels of eighteenth-century English society. Her portrayal of the sex workers, thieves, and other criminals whom aspiring artist Fanny Rooker encounters in the jail is authentic in tone and characterization through her use of dialect and descriptions of physical appearance. Her aristocrats are equally believable. Her portrayal of Madame Anne Montesqui definitely makes her a descendant of the clever, conniving female characters of the eighteenth-century novels.

Laurence addresses the practice of arranged marriage, which was popular during this century. For financial and social reasons, Charlotte More, the daughter of wealthy and influential merchant Balthasar More, is to be married to the viscount of Purbeck, a man of questionable character. Jame Bennett, tutor to the viscount during his grand tour and now secretary to the viscount’s father, the Marquess of Brescon, is determined to prevent the marriage as he and Charlotte have fallen in love.

The mystery deals with efforts to sabotage the completion of the Westminster Bridge, which Canaletto has arrived to paint. From the moment he sets sail for England, Canaletto is pursued and attacked by ruffians hired to keep the crime-solving painter from ever reaching the bridge. Canaletto is saved from death at the hands of Jack Scallion, a dangerous hired assassin, by Fanny, who adds some lightness and levity to the mystery. Fanny is slightly too much a superwoman to be totally believable, yet Laurence manages to get the reader to accept her as a character who belongs in the story.

Principal Series Characters:

• Darina Lisle is a cookbook writer and culinary expert. She is romantically involved with William Pigram, chief inspector for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Her ability in crime detection leads her away from her recipes and into amateur sleuthing, at times with William and at times on her own.
• Canaletto is an eighteenth-century Italian painter with a gift for solving crimes. He has moved to England, where he continues to exercise both his talent as a painter and his aptitude for solving mysteries.

Bibliography

"Books by Janet Laurence and Complete Book Reviews." Publishers Weekly, www.publishersweekly.com/pw/authorpage/janet-laurence.html. Accessed 25 Aug. 2024.

Brainard, Dulcy. Review of Canaletto and the Case of Westminster Bridge, by Janet Laurence. Publishers Weekly, vol. 245, no. 19, 11 May 1998, p. 53.

---. Review of Death at the Table, by Janet Laurence. Publishers Weekly, vol. 244, no. 7, 17 Feb. 1991, p. 213.

Laurence, Janet, and Graham Lawler. Writing Crime Fiction: Making Crime Pay. Studymates, 2007.

Links, J. G. Canaletto: A Venetian Artist Abroad, 1746-1765. Yale UP, 2007.

Menzie, Karol V. “These Culinary Mysteries Will Eat at You.” Sun Sentinel, 9 June 1994, p. 1.