The Rushford Times - A weekly newsletter from Jodi Taylor
Sent on Wednesdays to paid subscribers and Fridays to free subscribers
This week we have:
Jodi Taylor - A failed cottage pie or a brand-new culinary invention?
Jodi Taylor’s Book Recommendation: Flint in the Bones - The first book in The Norwich Map Runners Series, by Eva St John.
The St Mary’s Incident Report Competition read the first entries
March audio clip competition - guess the book and characters speaking for your chance to win a signed copy of Out of Time
Short Story of the Month: Ships Stings and Wedding Rings - a chance to discover some of the St Mary’s short stories
There’s plenty to read this week and you can see everything on the blog too. CLICK HERE for the blog.
Seriously – how does this happen? How is it even possible? I’m just gobsmacked. More than gobsmacked, actually, but I don’t know the word for more than gobsmacked.
Gobsmacker? You’re gobsmacked but I’m even gobsmacker?
Not important right now.
The facts.
Lunch – I made Cottage Pie and when I took it out of the air-fryer it was soup.
SOUP!
What?
How can that even happen? How could I take mince, chopped carrots and leeks, brown them in the wok because I couldn’t find the frying pan, season well, cover everything in mashed potatoes, dot everything liberally with butter and brown in the air-fryer for 30 minutes and end up with soup?
Well – brown for twenty-six minutes actually, because I was both hungry and impatient.
Was that where I went wrong?
I carefully removed it from the air-fryer using a tea towel because the oven gloves were in the same place as the frying pan.
Was that where I went wrong?
The Cottage Pie looked fabulous, with a lovely golden-brown crust and gravy bubbling around the edges. I grabbed the fish slice fully intending to cut it in half and lay a thick slab of deliciousness on my plate …
Soup!
I had to find a spoon and ladle it out of the dish, discovering, too late, that you can’t serve soup on a plate. In the end, I found a bowl, which, believe it or not, was in the same place as the oven gloves and the frying pan – and literally poured the cottage pie into it.
At this point, I should say it was delicious. Truly scrumptious. I’ve invented a new soup and trust me, it’s streets ahead of my Leek and Potato effort, which, in addition to being grey and inedible, turned the plug rusty. Frankly, it took the shine off me, as well. I’ve more or less avoided soup ever since.
It was so delicious that when I’d finished, I went back for the other half, which was actually intended for tomorrow. Well, that was never going to happen. Not now, anyway.
I drank the second portion as well, and it was as good as the first.
I have absolutely no idea what went wrong. I’ve made this dish hundreds of times before. I’ve burned it. I’ve forgotten it and left it in the oven for a month. I’ve forgotten to put the meat in, but never before has soupocity been an issue. If anyone has any helpful suggestions for:
A) preventing this from ever happening again
B) identifying where it all went wrong, or
C) marketing this exciting new food stuff
Then please give me a shout, and we’ll get rich together.
Jodi x
Flint in the Bones - The first book in The Norwich Map Runners Series, by Eva St John.
I bought this some time ago, and I don’t know why I didn’t get around to reading it sooner, because I really loved it. The plot is very different – a mixture of time travel, police procedure, magic and murder mystery. And it’s great to see urban fantasy set somewhere other in London. I now have an overpowering urge to visit Norwich.
Poor old Norwich has experienced some sort of magical and temporal cataclysm, resulting in different people from different time periods suddenly being dumped in the present which, since there’s no warning, can result in a wild ride for its inhabitants. And a bit of a shock for the actual occupants of an old house who can suddenly find twenty other people all claiming to live there.
The characters are vivid and very well drawn and I loved the dog, Harry.
I never liked to give away too much of the plot but police detective Eliza Barnaby manages to fall foul of a couple of rather unpleasant London magical practitioners and finds herself seconded to Norwich to bring back an escaped and homicidal renegade magician who manages to confuse Eliza by saving her life.
There’s magic, wolves, Puritans – as irritating today as they’ve always been – bad tempered sheriffs, nuns, the Lady Julian, and an engaging Springer spaniel.
Book two – Fire in the Flint – will be out on the 26th of March – so not long to wait – which is just as well because I’m not famed for my patience and I can’t wait to find out what happens next – and there’s even a third book – Blood in the Maps – published on the 26th of November this year, so lots to look forward to. Both these titles are available for pre-order.
The St Mary’s Incident Report Competition - to read entries so far CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE to enter. Closing date is 24th March 2026. Judging will be by a reader poll from 25th March with the winner announced on 31st March
MARCH - GUESS THE BOOK COMPETITION
Guess the book and characters speaking for your chance to win a signed copy of Out of Time
Put your knowledge of Jodi’s books to the test with our audio clip competition. Listen carefully to a short extract and see if you can identify the book and the characters speaking for a chance to win a signed copy of Out of Time.
Audiobooks are hugely popular among Jodi Taylor fans, bringing her stories to life through distinctive voices, character-driven performances, and immersive narration. For many readers, audiobooks offer the perfect way to enjoy a favourite series while commuting, walking, or relaxing. They make stories more accessible, flexible, and engaging than ever.
Tune in, trust your ears, and see if you can name the book and the characters behind the voices.
Ships Stings and Wedding Rings - available in Kindle and Audiobook formats - also included in The Long and Short of It anthology
Buy now from Bookshop.uk - UK USA
A loaded gun has been left behind in ancient Egypt and it’s up to Max, Peterson and Markham to get it back as quickly and as quietly as possible. Before it goes off and kills someone. Leaving them with the more than tricky task of trailing their colleagues but always remaining unobserved. The slightest misstep and they’ll be up to their necks in paradoxes.
There are the usual perils and problems – the heat, the dust, the insects… and then Max inadvertently poisons Mr Markham.
Jodi Taylor says…
‘This is what happened when I was bored and there wasn’t anything on TV and I was reduced to reading the small print on a can of WD40.’
In response:
A) I am about to receive my first air fryer so can't help. Mine will have about 5 different types of racks so maybe you used the wrong one? But thanks for the warning.
B) Being English (in Canada) I usually just blame the rain/air pressure/humidity/Trump!
c) OK, I'll help with Canadian marketing. Just don't ask me to cook it. I'm an accountant, I only cook books. The US economy may need protection from this product so watch out for tarrumps.
Just one Socratic method in return.
D) Is having your flabber gasted worse than being gob smacked?
Forgot the flour (or other thickening agent)? Maybe the shape of the wok contributed to the meat retaining more liquid?