Frances Brody

Another intriguing mystery for Frances Brody's lady detective, this time involving a shocking family connection. I must admit, the only detail really keeping me loyal to Kate is the West Yorkshire setting, but I do love the wry humour ('It doesn't amount to enough currants to throw at a bun from t'other end of kitchen'), period atmosphere, and the way Kate grows with each novel. There's the eccentric mother, dependable assistant, handsome lover, and even a drawerful of kittens, but something show more about Frances Brody's writing saves Kate from the usual cosy detective formula.

As to the mystery, I picked up on the biggest clue, but failed to attribute the means to the right person or guess the motive. I was content to just sit back and motor around 1920s Leeds with Kate in her Jowett motor car! The characters are all very well drawn, however, from canny young Harriet to the plain-spoken Mrs Whittaker, who I hope will return in the next novel (if there is one!) And the epilogue was beautifully written, hopeful and haunting in equal measure. show less

Kate Shackleton is called in by New Scotland Yard to try to help them identify the body of a man found on a train carrying rhubarb from the north to London; the body is naked and there are no clues as to his identity or background, but because Scotland Yard has heard good things about her detective work, it’s thought that she might make inroads where the professionals have not. At the same time, a female shopkeeper has been found brutally murdered in her store; the orphan whom she took in show more is found with blood on his hands and it is convenient to believe he murdered her, although nobody who knows the individuals involved believe it. Since this murder occurred on land owned by some friends of Kate’s, landed gentry with interests in mining and the railroad, among other businesses, she thinks it will be most helpful if she stays with them while trying to suss out the land; she little knows just how much her friends might be involved…. In this, the 11th in this intriguing series set in 1920s England, we learn all about “forced rhubarb” farming and how integral mining and farming are to rural communities. There are, in addition, a number of orphans feature in this story and the descriptions of their circumstances are utterly heartbreaking; one hopes things have improved in the 100 years since then! Recommended. show less

The pawnbroker Mr. Moony is not happy; someone pretending to pawn a pocket watch had, when Mr. Moony’s back was turned, abruptly robbed the jeweller of the contents of his safe. These included items that people had left with him with the full intention of redeeming them as soon as possible, and it is therefore an embarrassment that their trust in Mr. Moony has been so abused. He asks Kate Shackleton and Jim Sykes to approach the owners of those items and explain the situation to them. show more Luckily for Kate, one of the female customers lives in Harrowgate, where she herself is planning to attend an amateur play at the invitation of a new acquaintance who is directing the play. Once at Harrowgate, however, she finds herself almost literally stumbling over a murder victim - a man associated with the play and heartily disliked by pretty much the whole town. Kate’s allegiances are torn: whether to ignore the murder and continue her charge for the pawnbroker, or to put her detective skills to work on the more serious case…. This is the second Kate Shackleton novel, and our intrepid detectives have become more comfortable with each other (Mr. Sykes is even starting to drive a car!), while Kate herself is feeling more confident after having successfully solved her first paying case. In this novel, we learn a lot about stage jargon in 1920s England, as well as occurrences during the not-too-distant Boer War of 1900 and its aftermath. I enjoyed this, although I’m beginning to think that this series doesn’t quite fit the “cozy” label; yes, it has all the trappings (young woman detective, attractive settings, complicated characters and plot), but I think it might be a bit more serious than that label tends to suggest. Again, recommended! show less

First Line: My name's Kate Shackleton.

Normally a peaceful Yorkshire mill town, the only exceptional thing to have happened in Bridgestead is when mill owner Joshua Braithwaite went missing and was never heard from again. Now Braithwaite's daughter Tabitha is getting married, and she wants to try one last time to find her father.

She turns to Kate Shackleton, a friend since their Voluntary Aid Detachment days during World War I. Kate's husband was listed as missing in action/ presumed dead show more during the war, and since the Armistice, she has been having a bit of success finding missing husbands for local women. But once Kate turns her skill to the puzzle of the missing mill owner, she discovers that someone is willing to kill to keep the secret.

This first book in the Kate Shackleton series takes place during the 1920s in the Bradford and Leeds area of Yorkshire. This area was the heart of the cloth trade in England, and I loved the fact that each chapter began with a textile term. I had no idea that so many words and phrases from the manufacture of cloth had made their way into everyday speech.

Kate Shackleton is young and independent, thinks nothing of driving herself anywhere she wants to go, and asking questions wherever she thinks they should be asked. Being advised that she needs help with some of her investigative work, Kate hires former policeman Jim Sykes, and it's fun to watch the two of them get used to working with each other; Kate not being used to having an employee, and Jim not used to such a Modern Woman. The person suggesting that Kate get help was wise because this case developed into a very complicated one that kept me guessing at every twist and turn.

I really liked the time period, the setting, and the plot of Dying in the Wool, but the characters didn't quite come to life as I'd hoped they would. Kate, Jim and Tabitha seemed to have extra measures of British reserve that kept me at a distance the entire time I was reading. Even so, this is a good, solid mystery, and I will be visiting Kate Shackleton again to see if she's warmed up to visitors. show less