Janet Laurence's extensive knowledge of Scandinavian cuisine began as a child through her strong family connections with Norway, Sweden and Denmark. In 1982, Janet set up and ran a variety of residential training courses for both adults and children, as well as regularly running cookery demonstrations. In the mid-1980s, she wrote a regular cookery column for The Daily Telegraph. As well as several cookery books, she has written a series of mystery novels featuring a cordon bleu cook, Darina Lisle, as the protagonist. This is her third cookery book.