Murder on a Summer's Day

Once again, I wish that Kate would keep to the 'ordinary' folk of Yorkshire, and stop morphing into an Agatha Christie detective. The mystery of an Indian prince's demise at Bolton Abbey was all very exotic, and I love that the Maharaja's love affair was based on a kernel of history, but I prefer Kate best when she is using her 'chameleon' skills to chat with blunt-spoken Yorkshire women at the kitchen table, not flashing her aristocratic credentials and doing favours for the India Office. I thought the character seemed a bit 'off', anyway, during this mystery - losing her bottle, getting attacked, and then running over a little dog must have thrown Kate off her stride, I think.

For all that, Lydia the farmer's daughter turned Folies show more Bergere dancer and royal companion more than made up for all the Machiavellian villains and missing diamonds best left to Christie. Creating a character who sounds like a cliché but doesn't act like one is no mean feat, yet Lydia totally won me over - I would love for her to make a guest appearance in another novel! show less

Kate Shackleton is asked to join the search for an Indian maharajah who went missing while hunting on a duke’s estate in Yorkshire; it is necessary to be as quiet about this situation as possible, so as not to ruffle the waters of the relationship between the Empire and its crown jewel of India. When she discovers the body in a place already ostensibly searched, Kate realizes that there are far deeper waters here than she expected - not least the fact that the government needs a simple, non-controversial solution…. It may have slipped the minds of modern readers that England held onto India as a part of its empire until after the end of World War II, although by the mid 1920s, when this story is set, the nationalist cause is gaining show more credence. I liked the way that Ms. Brody brings in the intricacies of that political situation without letting it bog the story down; instead, we are given a contrast between the opulence of the Princes of India and the squalor of workers on an English estate. Along, of course, with interesting characters, disappearing jewels and complicated family ties. This is the fifth book in the series, although I think it could be read as a stand-alone. I’m enjoying this series a lot, recommended. show less

An Indian Maharajah visits the Yorkshire estate of the Duke of Devonshire to go hunting. His horse comes back without him in the evening and the next day one of the grooms who had accompanied him in the morning is found drowned in the river. Kate Shackleton is asked to investigate on behalf of the Government.

A good twisty tale. The author has a way of making even minor characters come alive so that the reader wonders what happened to them after the events in the novel.

These Kate Shackleton stories get better and better. The characters are fleshed out and enjoyable. The plotting is clever and full of twists and turns. And there's just enough droll British humour to keep me smiling.

Another splendidly researched and written outing for amateur detective Kare Shackleton. This time she tackles a very sensitive matter regarding the disappearance of an Indian prince. I cannot recommend this series highly enough for all fans of historical crime who don't wish to park their brains beforehand. Gripping, intelligent and fun.

1920: A young Maharajah Prince is visiting a stately country home for grouse season, his soon to be red-headed actress wife (from simple folk) is hidden away in a near by hotel until the astrologer can come up w/ an auspicious date for the nuptials.

After the young Prince goes out & kills the legendary local white doe he disappears and the English politicos send in Kate Shackleton (their secret sleuth) to find him.

While searching for the Prince one of the young men who was his guide is found dead in the river at a point where he would often jump across.... The father of the other guide (a young man of "simple" ways) has a stroke, and Kate finds the Prince in the place where he shot the doe, dead, shot in the chest & covered with show more branches.

The problem is, the area had already been searched and there was no sign of the Prince anywhere.... The local constable ignores the politicos, shuts Kate out of the inquest and commandeers the extra set of photos & negatives she took of the crime scene and makes sure the Prince's death is seen as a self-inflicted hunting accident..... But what no one wants to acknowledge is that on the day of the Prince's disappearance, rumor has, it that there was another Indian seen about town.

Once it is announced that the Prince's body has been found, his entire family descends upon the town and embroils Kate in more attempted & successful murders; the Prince's fiancee is shunned and famous diamond the Prince had locked in the hotel's safe disappeared. show less

Kate is called in by her cousin to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a Maharaja from Bolton Abbey. There's lots of exotic colour to this book - Lydia, the Maharaja's lover is a magnificent creation, but somehow this book didn't quite grab me as it should.