Sussex 1969. Young people are experiencing all the highs and lows of Britain’s swinging sixties – experimental fashion, ground-breaking music, illegal drugs and cheap alcohol.

All setting the scene for a young librarian with a passion for Agatha Christie to try to solve a murder.

Joel is killed in a hit and run accident. Twelve months later his girlfriend, Zara, goes missing. Is Zara in danger?  Is she still alive?  What really happened to Joel and who is to blame?

Time is ticking, as Janie finds out something about Zara’s past that makes the amateur sleuth fear for her friend’s life.

Janie fears her friend Zara may be mixed up with drugs, alcohol, or worse.  As Janie explores the strange circumstances of Zara’s disappearance, she starts to question the truth about Joel’s death.

The police are doing nothing to find Zara, so it falls to librarian, Janie Juke, to untangle the web of lies and uncover the truth. As she looks for clues Janie comes across some unsavoury characters who each have a reason for wanting Joel dead. 

Janie runs the mobile library and has a passion for crime fiction, especially Agatha Christie.  Can Poirot help Janie solve the mystery of Zara’s disappearance?

As she looks for clues Janie comes across some unsavoury characters who each have a reason for wanting Joel dead.  Can she untangle the web of lies and find out the truth?

The Tapestry Bag is the first novel in the Janie Juke series of Sussex Crimes and Mysteries.

Also available in Italian!

And as an audiobook!

Don’t miss Book 2! Lost Property

what readers are saying about ‘the tapestry bag‘

***** ‘I was pulled into this story from the very first page by the author’s easy-to-read and entertaining writing style. Janie is a well-drawn character who becomes a sleuth after her friend Zara disappears following a traumatic event. I was intrigued to find out what had happened to Zara and the story unfolded at a great pace which kept me turning the pages. Everything is set up for the next in the series which I look forward to reading. A great book!’

***** ‘This was a great find. A librarian turns to sleuthing in 1960’s England looking for her missing friend. Janie Juke, an Agatha Christie enthusiast, is a very likeable protagonist. I really enjoyed the relationship she has with her blind ex-policeman father, as well as with her husband, Greg. A real page-turner. I’ve already bought the next book in the series and looking forward to being able to start on it. And hoping there will be many more to come.’