Jill Churchill (born Janice Young Brooks; January 11, 1943 – July 12, 2023) was an American author, winner of the Agatha and Macavity Awards for her first Jane Jeffry novel and featured in ''Great Women Mystery Writers'' (2007).

Biography

Churchill earned a degree in education from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

in 1965 and then studied at the University of Missouri–Kansas City before teaching in elementary school for some years. Between 1978 and 1992, she was book reviewer for the '' Kansas City Star''. She died in Kansas City in 2023.

Writer

She had published several historical novels under her real name before introducing a new series in 1989. This mystery series follows Jane Jeffry, a widow with three children living in suburban Chicago. With her neighbor and best friend Shelley Nowack, she gets caught up in murder cases. These often involve Mel Van Dyne, a police detective introduced in the first novel. The novel titles are puns on literary works and reflect Jeffry's cozy domestic life which she leads between crime-solving capers. In 1999, Churchill began a new mystery series set during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, which features siblings Robert and Lily Brewster who live in New York. They've inherited a house from their great-uncle, which they run as a guest house to earn money.

Published books

Non-fiction

*''Kings and Queens: The Plantagenets of England'', as Janice Young Brooks (T. Nelson, 1975)– children's non-fiction,

Jane Jeffry series

* ''Grime and Punishment'' (1989) * ''A Farewell to Yarns'' (1991) * ''A Quiche Before Dying'' (1993) * ''The Class Menagerie'' (1994) * ''A Knife to Remember'' (1994) * ''From Here to Paternity'' (1995) * ''Silence of the Hams'' (1996) * ''War and Peas'' (1996) * ''Fear of Frying'' (1997) * ''The Merchant of Menace'' (1998) * ''A Groom With a View'' (1999) * ''Mulch Ado About Nothing'' (2000) * ''The House of Seven Mabels'' (2002) * ''Bell, Book, and Scandal'' (2003) * ''A Midsummer Night's Scream'' (2004) * ''The Accidental Florist'' (2007)

Grace and Favor series

* ''Anything Goes'' (1999) * ''In the Still of the Night'' (2000) * ''Someone to Watch Over Me'' (2001) * ''Love for Sale'' (2003) * ''It Had to Be You'' (2004) * ''Who's Sorry Now?'' (2005) * ''Smoke Gets in Your Eyes'' (2013)

Other fiction

As Janice Young Brooks

* ''In Love's Own Time'' (1977) * ''Forbidden Fires'' (1977) * ''Seventrees'' (1981) * ''Still the Mighty Waters'' (1983) * ''Our Lives, Our Fortunes'' (1984) * ''Glory'' (1985) * ''The Circling Years'' (1986) * ''Season of Desire'' (1986) * ''Crown Sable'' (1986) * ''Cinnamon Wharf'' (1988) * ''Guests of the Emperor'' (1990) * ''The Herron Heritage'' (1992)

As Amanda Singer

*''Ozark Legacy'' (1975)

As Valerie Vayle

*''Lady of Fire'' (1980) *''Seaflame'' (1980) *''Oriana'' (1981)

References

External links

* * (1975–1990) * (1988–2007) : Warning. Sources differ concerning which of the five other names is sometimes or consistently used for the publication of works written or co-written by Brooks. {{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Janice 1943 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists Agatha Award winners American mystery writers American women novelists Macavity Award winners Writers from Kansas City, Missouri University of Kansas alumni University of Missouri–Kansas City alumni Writers from Kansas American women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Missouri