Lindsay Jacob

I was born in East Anglia (UK), where my joy of history began. I have always been fascinated that the remnants of distant past lives can be discovered beneath our feet. Their former owners prodding at our toes as we walk over their bones; catching our attention; smiling as we pick up their long-lost belongings or saddened when we discover evidence of their brutal deaths.

I attended the Cambridge Grammar School for Boys, before travelling and settling in Australia, where I attended Sydney University. I am a frequent visitor to the UK. Early in my career, I became private secretary to a minister in the Australian Government, and I started putting imaginative thinking into the written word in earnest. I continued writing for senior figures and opinion leaders until retiring recently. Speech writing earned me a reputation as a creative thinker and writer, teaching me skills for fiction writing, including putting myself in the shoes of my characters and readers.

I have written three murder mysteries set in the Kingdom of the East Angles in the 830s - 'Murder at Elmstow Minster', 'The Fenland Spell' and 'The Last Days'. 'The Fenland Spell' was awarded the B.R.A.G. (Book Readers Appreciation Group) Medallion. The last-mentioned book was released end-October 2025, and I have ideas for another three stories, at least, in this series. The books feature a young Anglo-Saxon priest, Father Eadred, and his hermit monk companion, Brother Tatwine. Historical murder mysteries are doubly fascinating. A murder is a story written by the killers, which they strive to keep secret. We must attempt to uncover, read and understand that story. When murders take place in the distant past, a modern reader must not only attempt to get into the head of the murderer but also decode the culture, customs, conflicts and beliefs of the period. This makes for an absorbing, entertaining plot. I hope the reader finds that my books are not only gripping murder mysteries but also a journey into the passions, fears and fault lines that shaped the Anglo-Saxon mind.