Jennifer Wace was Jonathan Wace’s first wife.  She died on a Bank Holiday afternoon in May 1988 after having a grand mal seizure whilst swimming in the sea at Cromer. Jonathan and Jennifer had one daughter, Abigail (Prologue).

Kevin Pirbright, ex-member of the Universal Humanitarian Church, wrote a blog post entitled “The Drowned Prophet” dated 23rd February 2013 which included speculation about the death of Jennifer Wace, saying that it was a strange coincidence that Jennifer Wace had died on the same beach as Jonathan and Mazu’s first born child, Daiyu Wace. Wace’s lawyers wrote to Kevin telling him to remove this speculation, saying that Jonathan Wace was distraught at his first wife’s untimely death, and asserted that the tragedy had deepened his burgeoning religious faith to which he turned for solace (Prologue).

Strike has a picture of Jennifer Wace on the office wall.  She is described as an attractive woman with permed hair (Chapter 55).