The night is still. Down in the village of Little Sidebottom on the Marsh, all is quiet. The streets are deserted and the houses in darkness, even though it’s not yet eleven o’clock. The residents of this quaint picture-postcard village, in the heart of the quintessentially English countryside, are of the ‘early to bed’ variety, although not necessarily in their own beds.
Under the village’s bucolic exterior lies a hotbed of vice, murder and worse.
Who will be the next victim? Will they die by pistol, blade or poisoned cup?
Agatha’s fingers hover over the keyboard, poised for action.
Written in response to a prompt from Susan T. Braithwaite
Genre Scribes Friday Fiction Writing Challenge #27
The challenge this week was village.
Author’s note
I’m a great fan of Agatha Christie. I recently came across this article about her writing habits: https://tonyriches.blogspot.com/2014/02/agatha-christies-writing-habits.html
I was interested to discover I have quite a lot in common with her way of working.
luna's on line 
The only way to choose who lives or dies. The fingers decide!
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The writer has such awesome power!
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Ooh the power in those fingertips!
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Wouldn’t it be fun to be a scriptwriter on one of those classic cosy murder series?
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Ooo, intriguing set up! You have a great talent for twists–blue eyes turning a wee bit green 🙂 Great writing!
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What lovely feedback! Thanks Susan 🙂
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[…] we jump into this week’s post, I’d like to say a huge thank you to Chris, Gordon, and Violet for their excellent contributions last week. Great stuff everyone, you […]
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Love it! As I was reading this just before I got to the last line I was thinking, wow this sounds like something that would be in Agatha Christie! I am a huge fan also!
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I’d like to try my hand at a whole murder mystery story one day. Trouble is, it requires an awful lot of planning and Luna would no doubt start snacking on my red herrings!
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😂😂😂
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Sometimes the words just take over… Ooo those are the best times. Enjoyed this.
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Exactly! Thanks Violet 🙂
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Brilliant ending twist! Great immersive worldbuilding with a hilarious payoff 🙂
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Thanks Tom:) Pleased you appreciated it!
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this is great Chris, i love it
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Thanks, Jude 🙂
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I learned to type on a typewriter like that… Soon though we switched to Smith-Corona’s…
I enjoy fun murder mysteries…I can do without the gore. I’m about a third of the way through an old one (c) 1942 by Simenon called ‘Maigret and the Hotel Majestic’…
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Georges Simenon’s Maigret is brilliant! Did you catch the BBC series with Rowan Atkinson? They were wonderful 🙂
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OOOh… I don’t think I’ve seen that. Rowan Atkinson. Just finished the book. It was either sent to me or found at a free library. I get limited channels these days. Not sure I get the BBC – I’ll have to keep my eye out for more of Maigret. But my mountain of books to be read is …well a tad overwhelming. That’s a good thing right? 🙂
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You can’t have too many books 🙂
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Since I’ve found ‘Free Libraries’ I’ve been trading more. But sometimes it’s two for one… I either have to read faster or sometimes just leave some without taking!
There is also the box going to the library for their annual book sale – the one I’ve stopped attending because on the last day they give you a paper bag to fill for a buck! 🙂
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Oh yes, I know all about that 😉
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In my dining/living area there are 7 book shelves… and that’s not all of ’em… 😀
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