Author(s): Jennifer Barraclough

Crime Fiction

Fatal Feverfew is set in an isolated healing retreat in the west of England. Lucia, accompanied by her husband and cat, arrives there to recuperate from a recent illness only to find that she is being suspected of poisoning their hostess. Lucia reluctantly takes on the role of detective and, with the help of the local doctor, succeeds in uncovering the true course of events and winning her husband's respect. Following in the tradition of the country house murder mystery, Fatal Feverfew is one of three medically themed novels written by Jennifer Barraclough in the 1980s but not published until thirty years later. Like the other books in the trio, it draws on her experience in psychiatry and general practice, and takes a gently satirical approach to the serious themes of medical disorders, marital disharmony and unnatural death.