The Custard Corpses: A delicious 1940s mystery (The Erdington Mysteries)
Page 22
“Look at you,” he said, standing back but not letting go of him. “Just look how smart you look.”
“Well, if you avoid the disfiguring burns,” his son tried to joke, although it sounded flat and filled with pain, his voice ragged.
“I’ll never ignore them,” Sam stated softly. “They’re as much a part of you now as my dodgy leg and back are me, but it doesn’t change who we are. You will realise that,” Sam offered firmly.
He caught sight of his wife’s reddened eyes and thought he’d probably said the wrong thing.
“Thank you,” John choked, gripping Sam’s forearm tightly. “I needed to hear that, and I also wanted to thank you. What happened to Robert has tormented me all these years. You’ve found the answers I needed. You’re ensured I don’t have to feel afraid anymore of the same thing happening to me, even though that sounds selfish.”
“I think a lot of people will say the same,” Sam confirmed, still refusing to let go of his son.
“Well, Sam and John Mason, it seems to me that you might both be wanting an ale in the pub, and then perhaps, something warm and inviting for your tea at home. It’s about all the celebrating we can do.”
“And that’s just fine with me,” Sam was quick to respond as he went to his wife’s side, dragging John with him. Sam looped his arm so that she could thread her hand between it and his coat.
“I think we’ve done more than enough police work for the foreseeable.”
“Yes, here’s hoping there are no other twenty-year-old crimes for you to solve,” but Annie laughed as she spoke. “Or rather for me to solve, using those terrible magazines that I read.”
Sam arched an eyebrow at her.
“I have a mind to make you some custard,” she winked at him, and Sam chuckled while John laughed.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever eat the stuff again,” he complained.
“Oh, you will,” she assured him. “No matter what, custard will always be custard.”
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The Automobile Assassination
Erdington, September 1944
As events in Europe begin to turn in favour of the Allies, Chief Inspector Mason of Erdington Police Station is once more prevailed upon to solve a seemingly impossible case.
Called to the local morgue where a man’s body lies, shockingly bent double and lacking any form of identification, Mason and O’Rourke find themselves at Castle Bromwich aerodrome seeking answers that seem out of reach to them. The men and women of the royal air force stationed there are their prime suspects. Or are they? Was the man a spy, killed on the orders of some higher authority, or is the place his body was found irrelevant? And why do none of the men and women at the aerodrome recognise the dead man?
Mason, fearing a repeat of the cold case that dogged his career for two decades and that he’s only just solved, is determined to do all he can to uncover the identity of the dead man, and to find out why he was killed and abandoned in such a bizarre way, even as Smythe demands he spends his time solving the counterfeiting case that is leaving local shopkeepers out of pocket.
Join Mason and O’Rourke as they once more attempt to solve the impossible in 1940s Erdington.
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Historical Notes
A quick look on the internet assured me that there were female police officers in the 1940s, although not many of them. The number increased from 300 to 385 throughout the war years of 1939-1945, even though police work was deemed a ‘man’s job.’ They might have been outnumbered by the 60,000 men but they were definitely represented. (Source http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/history-from-police-archives/PolCit/polww2.html).
The Picture Post magazine was a photojournalist magazine that first appeared in 1938 and was issued weekly until 1957. It has been archived and can be accessed here, https://www.gale.com/intl/c/picture-post-historical-archive, although I note it is only available for institutions. You can also find issues for sale on eBay. It’s stuffed with photographs, and adverts of the day, and so to the Birds Custard adverts that form the basis for the story. (Wikipedia)
Birds Custard was first formulated in 1837, and the company seems to have gone from strength to strength. They were, according to Wikipedia, one of the first companies to invest in bright and colourful advertising, and indeed, it is just that. I have seen a long series of adverts that they ran, not only in the Picture Post, and they all benefit from a firm design brief, bright colours, happy children, lots of custard. They used the phrase ‘every little helps’ in much of their advertising. I wanted to bring the adverts to the attention of people who might never have seen them, and also try my hand at writing something a bit more ‘modern,’ even if the story runs from the 1920s to the 1940s. It is still strange to have characters get into cars and onto buses and trains. I’m just used to writing about horses.
If you would like to see more of these advertising images, then I would recommend googling them and looking on images. They are wonderful to behold. My cover image, brilliantly designed by Flintlock Covers, is a homage to their works of art.
The factory building owned by Birds in Birmingham is still in existence, and has been converted into office space. Again, you can see what it looks like by searching on the internet.
I decided on the main location of this novel, Erdington, because it was where my old granny grew up, and I have vague memories of what it was like, ‘back in the day.’ It was, it transpires, quite a good choice, and I was quite astounded to discover, that in 1066 Erdington was one of Earl Morcar’s possessions (this will amuse fans of my Earls of Mercia series).
Erdington was the first suburb of Birmingham to be bombed during the Blitz. An unhappy coincidence, but one I wove into the story, none the less. I was surprised to discover that Weston had also been bombed, and would thank my Dad for reminding me that the trains from Birmingham travel through Coventry, so I could also mention the destruction that took place there.
It's quite amazing what you find when you look on the internet. I had initially planned for the Inverness murder to take place in May 1919, but when looking for details of local events and the name of the local newspaper, I stumbled on a news report concerning a fight in the town centre between Americans and the police, and felt it was just too good to miss out, and so shifted the murder forward by a month.
I’ve attempted to name roads and institutions as they would have been at the correct time period. Any mistakes are mine, and I apologise. This book was written during Lockdown 2020/21 and so I couldn’t travel anywhere to check and relied on memory, and the experiences of those who had visited places in the past. I am grateful to many websites for hosting old maps which allowed me to look at places as they were in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.
Sotheby’s really did build a bomb shelter during the Second World War, but apparently, people were not keen to leave the auction room in case they missed out on their bargain.
This story is entirely fictional, bringing together a number of historical resources I have to hand – old maps of the UK showing train routes, the Picture Post magazines, as well as a weird imagination. I hope it doesn’t put you off your custard!
Meet the author
I’m an author of fantasy (viking age/dragon themed) and historical fiction (Early English, Vikings and the British Isles as a whole before the Norman Conquest), and now a mystery set in the 1940s, born in the old Mercian kingdom at some point since AD1066. I write A LOT. You’ve been warned!
Find me at mjporterauthor.com, mjporterauthor.blog and @coloursofunison on twitter. I have a newsletter, which can be joined via my website.
Books by M J Porter (in chronological order)
Gods and Kings Series (seventh century Britain)
Pagan Warrior (audio book coming soon)
Pagan King
Warrior King
The Ninth Century
The Last King (audio book now avai
lable)
The Last Warrior (audio book coming soon)
The Last Horse
The Last Enemy
The Last Sword
The Last Shield
The Tenth Century
The Lady of Mercia’s Daughter
A Conspiracy of Kings (the sequel to The Lady of Mercia’s Daughter)
Kingmaker
The King’s Daughter
Chronicles of the English (tenth century Britain)
Brunanburh
Of Kings and Half-Kings
The Second English King
The Mercian Brexit (can be read as a prequel to The First Queen of England)
The First Queen of England (The story of Lady Elfrida) (tenth century England)
The First Queen of England Part 2
The First Queen of England Part 3
The King’s Mother (The continuing story of Lady Elfrida)
The Queen Dowager
Once A Queen
The Earls of Mercia
The Earl of Mercia’s Father
The Danish King’s Enemy
Swein: The Danish King (side story)
Northman Part 1
Northman Part 2
Cnut: The Conqueror (full length side story)
Wulfstan: An Anglo-Saxon Thegn (side story)
The King’s Earl
The Earl of Mercia
The English Earl
The Earl’s King
Viking King
The English King
Lady Estrid (a novel of eleventh century Denmark)
Fantasy
The Dragon of Unison
Hidden Dragon
Dragon Gone
Dragon Alone
Dragon Ally
Dragon Lost
Dragon Bond
Throne of Ash (coming soon)
As JE Porter
The Innkeeper
1940s Mystery
The Custard Corpses (audio book available)
The Automobile Assassination (audio book coming very soon)
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my father for sharing his memories of Erdington with me, and for adding the sort of little details that make a book feel so authentic. And equally, for giving me the inspiration to write this book in the first place – it’s amazing what can happen when presented with some period advertising!
I would also like to thank my team of beta readers, CS, CH, ST, AM and EP. You all help me in so many ways, and I’m grateful for your candour and support.
I would also like to thank my cover artist – Flintlock Covers – for bringing the cover to life in just the way I wanted.
And my readers and followers – thank you for encouraging me and being there on a day to day basis.