What is the Devon Accent like in The Devonshire Mysteries?

What is the Devon Accent like in The Devonshire Mysteries?

If you’ve ever wondered how Dan’s neighbours in Embervale might speak, this video will give you a pretty good idea.

As in any regional accent, there will be variations depending on a person’s age or background, but this entertaining video will give you a general idea. I must point out that in this video they are grouping several counties together, whereas in real life we find that there are differences between Devon and Gloucestershire and Somerset and Bristol. Cornish is a whole different ball game.

It’s quite a humorous video and made me smile, so you might enjoy it.

Comments are welcome, but I know that we Brits get very hot under the collar about these things, so I’ll just remind you that I didn’t make the video.

 

If you want to hear an archive recording of a true Devon accent from the past, here’s one I found:

 

 

Murder Between the Tides – Sources

Murder Between the Tides – Sources

Thank you very much for reading Murder Between the Tides

I hope you enjoyed the story. This book felt like my homage to the classic golden-age mysteries that I grew up reading. What better setting for a mystery than a seaside hotel? We had the eclectic mixture of guests, a buried secret or two, a sense of rivalry and a quirky method of murder.

But I was keen to keep this in line with the rest of the Devonshire Mysteries (even though it is set in Cornwall), so the friendship between Dan and Alan is at the heart of this story. The pair are shaping up into quite a team.

It’s always great to hear from readers, so if you have questions that aren’t answered here, or if you’d like to say hello, please drop me a line via the contact page.

Spoiler alert

Seeing the sources before you read the book will spoil the story, so please only look if you’ve finished the book. (more…)

A Study in Stone – Sources

A Study in Stone – Sources

The History of the Kenning Family

NB: The Kenning family is entirely fictional.

Timothy Kenning marries Hester Williams 1899
Cyril born 1899
Gordon born 1900
Timothy dies in 1905
Cyril awarded the Croix de Guerre 1918
Cyril dies 1919
Gordon marries Diana Muir 1923
Gerald born 1925
Gerald Marries Helen Barker 1947
David is born 1948
David marries Julia Normanby 1968
Martin is born 1969
Deborah born 1970
Gordon dies 1972
Diana dies 1983
Gerald and Helen die 2005
In 2019:
David Kenning is 71
Martin Kenning is 50
Deborah Kenning is 49

Places

Exeter history and photos

http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/index.php

Royal Albert Memorial Museum

https://www.rammuseum.org.uk/

Bovey Tracey Church

https://www.pptbovey.org.uk/Groups/255824/Our_History.aspx

Ugbrooke House

http://www.ugbrooke.co.uk/

Castle Drogo

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/castle-drogo

Knightshayes

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knightshayes

Bethune Town Cemetery

https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/6000/BETHUNE%20TOWN%20CEMETERY

https://web.archive.org/web/20140717090437/http://www.ww1cemeteries.com/ww1frenchcemeteries/bethunetown.htm

Military Information

The Keep Military Museum

https://www.keepmilitarymuseum.org/

Military Ranks

https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/military-structures-and-ranks

Exeter Roll of Honour

http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/em/_people/ww1roh.php

The Devonshire Regiment

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/devonshire-regiment/

2nd Battalion The Devonshire Regiment

https://www.keepmilitarymuseum.org/history/first+world+war/the+devonshire+regiment/the+second+battalion

3rd Battalion The Devonshire Regiment

https://www.keepmilitarymuseum.org/history/first+world+war/the+devonshire+regiment/the+3rd+special+reserve+battalion

The battle of Bois des Buttes

https://www.keepmilitarymuseum.org/history/first+world+war/the+devonshire+regiment/the+second+battalion/the+battle+of+bois+des+buttes

The Devons at Bois des Buttes

https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2016/06/12/the-devons-at-bois-des-buttes-france-1918/

http://www.devonheritage.org/Nonplace/DevonReg/BoisdesButtes1918.htm

Third Battle of Aisne

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Third_Battle_of_the_Aisne

Devon Regiments

http://www.devonheritage.org/DevonshireRegiment.htm

Codes and Ciphers

The Scytale Cipher decoded

I n · m e m
o r y · o f
· c y r i l
· k e n n i
n g · a · b
e l o v e d
· b r o t h
e r · t a k
e n · t o o
· s o o n ·
b y · t h e
· f o l l y
· o f · a ·
s e n s e l
e s s · w a
r . · · · ·

More on scytale ciphers

https://www.dcode.fr/scytale-cipher

Caesar ciphers

https://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/caesar.html

Cracking Transposition Ciphers

http://pi.math.cornell.edu/~mec/2003-2004/cryptography/transposition/transposition.html

Letter frequencies

https://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/letterfrequencies.html

Saint Sidwell

St. Sidwell

http://www.tellingourstoriesexeter.org.uk/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=3&cntnt01returnid=80

Spanish Flu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#Deadly_second_wave

Military Executions

Shot for Cowardice

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25841494

https://childhoodtraumarecovery.com/tag/world-war-one-shot-for-cowardice/

Shot at Dawn

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4798025.stm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_at_Dawn_Memorial

http://www.webmatters.net/txtpat/?q=auto&s=Search&sort=name&cat=sad

https://web.archive.org/web/20160420124904/http://shotatdawnphotos.weebly.com/index.html

Desertion in WW I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertion#World_War_I

Discussion of British Military Executions

https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/175048-shot-at-dawn-british-ww1-military-executions/

Crimes and Courts Martial

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/military-crimes-1914-1918-british-army/

Quotes

“We will remember them” quote from For the Fallen (Robert Laurence Binyon )

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/laurence-binyon-for-the-fallen.htm

“We are returning by the road we came” quote from To My Brother (Siegfried Sassoon)

https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-my-brother/

Valley of Lies – Sources

Valley of Lies – Sources

These are some of my research sources for the mystery novel, Valley of Lies

Spoiler Alert!

If you haven’t read Valley of Lies, or you haven’t finished it yet, looking at this list may spoil the story.

In a mystery, clues are everything, so please don’t read this page unless you’ve finished the book. Thank you.

mad honey

https://healthywithhoney.com/what-is-mad-honey-is-it-dangerous-where-can-i-find-it/

https://healthywithhoney.com/rhododendron-honey/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayanotoxin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron_luteum

poisons

https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/mar/08/from-spy-novels-to-skripal-the-myth-of-the-untraceable-poison

police procedures

https://www.inbrief.co.uk/police/police-entry-and-search-powers/

https://www.inbrief.co.uk/police/search-warrants/

http://citizensadvice.org.uk/

beer

https://www.powderkegbeer.co.uk/

https://www.dartmoorbrewery.co.uk/

https://teignworthybrewery.com/

surveying and contaminated land

https://www.mapir.camera/products/magpy-surveying-drone

https://www.mapir.camera/pages/survey3-cameras

https://avadaenvironmental.com/2018/09/21/contaminated_land_building/

https://www.gov.uk/contaminated-land

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/public-housing-built-on-arseniccontaminated-land-in-queensland-town-of-eidsvold/news-story/aa3b74811f026943a9280a5149a8fc6b

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3913097/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718348101

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969713013107

https://www.imwa.info/docs/imwa_2007/IMWA2007_Palumbo-Roe.pdf

mining

http://www.combemartinmines.co.uk/

http://www.saps.org.uk/saps-associates/browse-q-and-a/622-lead-in-lead-mining-spoil-heaps

https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2018.00452/full

https://www.groundsure.com/news/abandoned-mines

https://www.mindat.org/loc-1526.html

https://www.mindat.org/loc-33723.html

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Mining_in_Devon

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Haytor_quarries

http://classprojects.kenyon.edu/engl/exeter/Kenyon%20Web%20Site/Anna/mining%20insight%20pg.html

mountain bikes and shoes

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/biking/electric-mountain-bike/specialized-turbo-levo-comp

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/biking/mountain-bike-shoes/giro-empire-vr90

Mystery in May – Sources

Mystery in May – Sources

Thank you very much for reading Mystery in May

I hope you enjoyed the book. It’s probably the most complex Devonshire Mystery to date, and there were certainly some challenging moments during the process of putting it together.

It’s always great to hear from readers, so if you have questions that aren’t answered here, or if you’d like to say hello, please drop me a line via the contact page.

Spoiler alert

Seeing the sources before you read the book will spoil the story, so please only look if you’ve finished the book.

Here’s a link to an online notebook that I used for gathering research material – please note that it contains links to sites that are not for minors, e.g. alcohol, crime, injury, knives:

Visit my Online Notebook

The notebook was made using Notion, but you don’t need an account to view it. Click on an item to see more details, and you can click through to the original sources if you wish.

At the time of writing, all the links were working, but I’m not responsible for these sites. If you have a problem with any of them, please let me know so that I can put it right.