The Secret Life of Button Boxes: Memories, Mysteries, and a Murder Clue

When, as a child, I used to play with my grandma’s button box, I admired each button like a tiny work of art.

Born in 1900, Grandma grew up fastening her button-boots with buttonhooks. As a young woman, she embraced flapper styles. The contents of her tin gave a miniature history of twentieth-century fashion.

My mum (91) still has her own button box from when she used to make clothes for her children. Her 21st birthday present was a hand-cranked Singer sewing machine, on which I later learned to sew.

My mum’s button box

My grandma and my mum used old toffee and biscuit tins as button boxes. But my buttons live in a smart Cath Kidston tin, labelled The Book of Buttons.

My daughter uses a tartan shortbread tin to house hers.

The contents of every button box are unique. Plunging your hand in is like a lucky dip. You never know which tiny treasure you’ll pull out, nor its provenance.

Whose duffle coat did this toggle once fasten?Which child fiddled with this little blue one on their school cardigan during a tedious lesson?What kind of party dress did this diamante disc once adorn?

Last century, every home had a button box. These days, with fewer people making their own clothes, it’s an endangered species. Yet it’s easy to keep the tradition alive. You can buy interesting vintage buttons in any charity shop or thrift store. If you’re lucky, you’ll find something similar to the fancy fastener at the heart of the mystery in my new novel, Death at the Village Christmas Fair.

When Wendy chooses a bear-shaped button from her daughter Alice’s Cotswold Curiosity Shop and sews it onto a hand-knitted scarf, it soon becomes a vital clue in the hunt for a ruthless killer.

If you look at his tail end, you’ll see a hole that allows him to be sewn onto the scarf.

The unusual scene of the crime is a Santa Run, in which hundreds of fun-runners race dressed as Father Christmas. What’s so special about Wendy’s little wooden bear? You’ll have to read my novel to find out!

Do you have a button box in your home? What’s your most unusual button? Which is your favourite, and why?

Death at the Village Christmas Fair is now available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobook. The third in the Cotswold Curiosity Shop cosy mystery series, it may also be read as a standalone novel. 

All three books in the series so far can be read as stand-alone novels, but it’s best to read them in order

(This post first appeared on the blog of Boldwood Books, my publisher.)

In Other NewsThanks to Sarah Chave for the photo. We didn’t let rain stop play!

I’m just recovering after a very wet and windy Hawkesbury Show, where our Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival tent nearly blew away. I’m sure we had the most windswept spot on the showground – the wind seemed to be coming from all directions at once! However, I had great fun with fellow authors Lucienne Boyce, Sarah Siân Chave, Frances Evesham and Jack (Jackie) Chandler. All except Jackie will be speaking at the next Festival event on Saturday 27th September – and the only reason Jackie’s not coming is that she lives in Germany, otherwise she’d be there like a shot! Thanks to Sarah for the attached photo of us on the stand, dressed for the weather!

I’d just about dried out and warmed up in time to give a short talk at the traditional annual Songs of Praise service held in the Show Marquee next morning (thankfully in sunshine by Sunday morning!) At our Songs of Praise service, six local residents are invited to choose their favourite hymns and tell us why they’ve chosen them. It’s always fascinating to learn more about well-known hymns and heartwarming to learn about the personal connections for the speakers. For this service, I spoke about the power of music to unite communities and bring people to faith.

As a Lay Worship Leader, I occasionally give short talks at services. Lay Worship Leaders aren’t licensed to preach – instead we just talk about something timely or relevant for each service. I thinking of saving them up to turn them into a small book, similar to my collected columns for the Tetbury Advertiser and Hawkesbury Parish News.  Let me know if that’s something you’d like to read.

Now that the Show is over, I can concentrate on preparing for the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival on Saturday 27th September, which will take “Strength of Character” as its theme. The programme is going to be fascinating. Find out more and book your tickets here.

And with my other hand, I’m still writing my novelisation of The Importance of Being Murdered, due to launch early 2026.

But somehow, I still find time to curl up with a book….

What I Read Last Week

Hafren: The Wisdom of the River Severn by Sarah Siân Chave

A fascinating personal response to the Hafren, aka the River Severn, with something for everyone.

Following the course of the river from its source just outside Aberystwyth, Sarah Chave’s narrative Includes Welsh mythology and Welsh and English social history, as well as geography and natural history, environmentalism, and family history.

Overall it is a thoughtful, philosophical work, acknowledging and mourning the impact of industrialization and climate change, but also an effective cry for positive action going forward. While nostalgic for what we have lost, it is ultimately constructive, as evidenced by the following quote:

Pastoralism can provoke feelings of nostalgia, a yearning for an unchanging utopian idyll, but it can, instead, be a approached in a different way – as a challenge to care for and protect the wider natural world.

The author cites and embraces Rupert Reed’s argument in favour of “thrutopias” to “encourage us to live our dreams in the present where we can, change things where we cannot, and strive together towards building a more caring world for all”.

Illustrated with a route map of the river to give the reader their bearings, and gentle black and white drawings by Rachel Elinor Collis, the book also boasts an evocative, slightly dream-like cover illustration by Andy Ward. All in all it’s a slick and beautiful package, published by the University of Wales’ imprint, Calon Books, which gives it the stamp of authority.

A great gift for anyone who loves any part of the Hafren/Severn, whether Welsh or English – there’s something in there to satisfy all kinds of readers.

All At Sea by Flora McGowan

I downloaded this short story onto my Kindle after having a fun conversationon my Facebook author page about who we name our characters after. She named her central character Carrie after her grandmother. I’ve never yet named one of mine after my beloved grandmothers, Lily and Peggy, but I’m going to think about doing that now.

All at Sea is a gentle tale of a very English day out at the seaside – an outing that sounds as if it should be simple and fun, but in Flora McGowan’s hands, turns into a thoughtful, poignant, memorable and melancholy tale of love, loss and responsibility. I won’t say more for fear of spoiling the plot.