NICOLA SLADE RIP

Chandlers Ford author, Nicola Slade, aged 77 has sadly died from cancer. She was an award-winning, bestselling author of historical and contemporary mysteries and romantic fiction, all set in and around Winchester, Romsey and even Chandlers Ford. The House at Ladywell. a contemporary romantic novel with historical echoes, won the Chatelaine Grand Prize for Romantic Fiction at the CIBA awards in April 2019 in Washington State, USA.

She was brought up in Poole and lived in various places with her family, including Cairo, Egypt. In 1981 the family moved to Chandlers Ford and all three children went to Thornden School.

She wrote The Charlotte Richmond Mysteries, set in 1858 and located in a fictional version of Otterbourne, as well as the contemporary Harriet Quigley Mysteries (Winchester). Her first published novel – in 2005 – was the romantic comedy Scuba Dancing (Ramalley), a fictional version of Romsey, as was The House at Ladywell and its sequel, Christmas at Ladywell. In 2019 she wrote The Convalescent Corpse (Ramally again), the first in a new historical mystery series set in 1918.

Her health deteriorated in May this year yet, despite difficulty in breathing, she was determined to write The Merry Month of Murder, the sequel to the Convalescent Corpse. It was published on 10 September only a few weeks before she died on 7 October.  There was talk of a short story based in December 1918 but unfortunately this was never finished and Nicola had planned to write more for Spring, Summer and Autumn at Ladywell.  Amongst Nicola’s paperwork, are notes detailing ‘what happens next ….’ for each of her novels. The family have kindly donated a few copies of Scuba Dancing for three interested Discover readers.  Email editoiral@discovermagazines.co.uk with your name, address and phone number to receive one. 

Online tribute www.nicolaslade.muchloved.com

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