The Detections of John Constable: The Girl from Giffords Hall

John Constable. Is he England’s greatest landscape painter or England’s greatest detective?

You are about to step into the world of Georgian England. It is 1798. The French Revolution has been raging for 8 years and the Napoleonic Wars are soon to break out King George is on the throne but there have been reports of concerning behaviours. A young woman called Jane Austen is busy working on her first novel and William Wordsworth is walking among daffodils.

In the county of Suffolk on the east coast of England, north of London, rural villages with pink thatched cottages cluster between green fields. And painting them all is John Constable.

Here’s what the history books say about him. John was born in 1776 in Suffolk. His father was a wealthy business man, owning Flatford Mill. John had to work as a miller which he hated, until one day, his younger brother Abram was old enough to take over, and John was finally allowed to attend the Royal Academy to study art. Later he would go on to paint the Haywain, which now hangs in the National Gallery in London and is cited as the most famous landscape painting in the world.

But here’s what the history books don’t tell you.

Here’s what’s been ignored.

Fifty years before the Sherlock Holmes was even invented, John Constable was the first detective in all of England. With the help of family and friends, it was John Constable who solved mysteries and murders. Along with changing the face of landscape painting forever, it was John Constable who invented the art of being a detective.

This is the almost true story of a man the history books have grievously underestimated.

The Girl from Giffords Hall Returning from his first term at the Royal Academy, John and his friend Dunthorne investigate a theft and meet Miss Catherine Heatherington. A year later while sketching Giffords Hall, John stumbles upon Miss Heatherington again. This time he knows the young woman is up to no good and with the attempted murder of his friend George Frost and a disappearing stagecoach on his hands, John discerns the girl from Giffords Hall holds the key to unlocking the mystery. Can he solve it before his own life is put in danger?

Quotes from readers: Sherlock Holmes meets Jane Austen. Absolutely brilliant. Who knew that while painting the Haywain, Constable was also solving mysteries? If you've been looking for a new detective series and love historical fiction, immerse yourself in Georgian England and the comings and goings of the Constable family. This is cozy crime at it's best.