How to Solve Murders Like a Lady

Forget how you feel,’ she said. ‘Forget what other people think. Pretend you are an actress on the stage. Speak with confidence, do not care how your words land and they will land well. People are mostly thinking of themselves. Decide who you want to be, who you want to show the world, and be that person. You can be anybody, my Violet. You have the power to present yourself to the world exactly how you wish to be seen.’

‘At some point between childhood and adulthood we all learn to do it, even if we do not realise. We discover we can change our facial expressions to hide our feelings, smile when we are angry, stiffen our backs to hide our hurt, wear sharply polished boots to feel more important. Often you can see that divide, the incongruence, if you look closely enough.

Resolve

Build on resolve, and not upon regret,

The structure of thy future. Do not grope

Among the shadows of old sins, but let

Thine own soul’s light shine on the path of hope

And dissipate the darkness. Moist no tears

Upon the blotted record of lost years

But turn the leaf and smile, oh smile, to see

The fair white pages that remain for thee

house full of hens.

A bird with black feathers and an evil expression clucked ominously near me and I shifted in case it pecked my ankle.

I must ignore the hurt. I had more splendid things to think about.

Oast houses were built to store hops for beer and in the middle of the room, three storeys high, rose the giant furnace that was lit day and night in August and September to dry the hops, before they were taken away for

A bird with black feathers and an evil expression clucked ominously near me and I shifted in case it pecked my ankle.

Among the shadows of old sins, but let

Upon the blotted record of lost years

But turn the leaf and smile, oh smile, to see

Me wife says I should