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I usually like to say a little about the various authors that I read, but I have been able to discover remarkably little about Frances McNeil, who writes under the pseudonym Frances Brody. I know that Frances was born in Leeds but not when - but she grew up in Leeds, and still lives there. I know nothing of her early schooling, but she worked in New York at the age of 19 before returning to study at Ruskin College, Oxford, and then reading English Literature and History at York University.
Frances McNeil is an English novelist and playwright, and has written extensively for BBC radio. As Frances Brody she writes a series of 1920s crime novels featuring her heroine Kate Shackleton. They are Yorkshire based. Kate is aided and assisted by Jim Sykes, an ex CID policeman, and Mrs Sugden, her housekeeper.
I got the first book in the series by chance in The Works bookshop in Bury St Edmunds. I had intended to read another book but I left home without it, and saw that Dying in the Wool was on offer for only £1, and so just bought it, knowing nothing about the author, nor the Kate Shackleton character.
I read this book in July, 2019.
It is always interesting to begin reading a new series, especially one chosen by chance. I was struck by a very familiar opening sequence "My name's Kate Shackleton. I am thirty one years old, and hanging on the freedom by the skin of my teeth. Because I'm a widow ........." That was exactly how Sue Grafton opened the Kinsey Millhone "Alphabet" books. Kinsey aged very slowly as the series progressed. I wonder what Kate Shackleton will do ?
This is book one, it's about 1922, and we are introduced to Kate Shackleton. Kate is a widow as are so many in the post war years. Kate's husband was an army surgeon. Captain Gerald Shackleton was posted officially missing and was last seen in 1918 in France just before a series of heavy barages. Although she had been told "missing in action" was a gentle way of saying "blown to smithereens," Kate still half hopes / hoped he would turn up one day - perhaps suffering from amnesia. However she was persuaded to have him declared dead, and Kate inherited sufficient to live reasonably. Kate's father is a superintendent in Yorkshire police, Superintendent Hood, and her mother is Mrs Hood in Yorkshire, but, on trips to London, reverts to her maiden name of Lady Virginia (she is the daughter of the late Lord and Lady Rodpen). Kate was adopted, and then seven years later her mum and dad had twin boys. They loved Kate all the more - she had brought them luck ! As something to do, Kate has been helping war "widows" or mothers find missing loved ones, and has been remarkably successful. Because of this she is approached by an old war time chum - Tabatha Braithwaite. Tabatha is about to get married, but her father Joshua Braithwaite went missing some 6 years ago. Is he still alive or dead ? If alive, could he attend his daughter's wedding. Tabatha asks Kate to help, and says she will pay. This is Kate's first commission for money, and she can now describe herself as a private investigator. Kate's dad suggests Jim Sykes as a possible assistant - Jim is out of work and the £2 a week will be a godsend for his family. Jim was a good detective, but upset his superiors when he refused to overlook a police injustice. Kate lives in Bridgestead in the Yorkshire countryside, and is looked after by her housekeeper Mrs Sugden.
Kate and Mr Sykes get to work, and the story of the mising Joshua Braithwaite unfolds. Joshua was not faithful to his wife Evelyn, nor she to him. He was a millionaire mill owner and we get a good evocation of mill work in the 1920s - dirty, dangerous, noisy, smelly, etc. We meet the mill workers, and as Kate digs deeper and deeper we get two more suspicious deaths - the Kellets. Did Joshua run off with a mistress, or did some enemy kill him ? I thought it was all well written, and I kept turning the page to see if Joshua might be alive, and to see how the Kate and Mr Sykes partnership would develop, remembering of course that Jim Sykes is married. Kate is bound by the conventions of the time, but is an independent soul - what we would now call a feminist. Jim Sykes is very uncomfortable to be seen as a passenger in Kate's car. As the man, he should be driving, but (a) it's Kate's car, and (b) Jim can't drive ! I liked the bit when Kate was at her Aunt Berta' party in London, and met Sir Arthur and Lady Jean Conon-Doyle. New to the private investigator business, Kate asked for advice - was she trying to consult the great Sherlock Holmes ?
It all build to a series of climaxes, and even when it all seems settled there is a final surprise - but I have no intention of spoiling things. All in all, a very interesting, well written story. Not a classic, but good, interesting historically too and very readable.
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I read this book in January, 2021.
Although this is book two in Frances Brody's 1920s set Kate Shackleton series, I had read five other books in the series before I managed to get a copy. In my book three write up I complained about missing so much that apparently happened in book two. In this book we do have Kate and DI Marcus Charles not only falling for each other, but sleeping together on their first date - in England in 1922! Apart from private investigator Kate Shackleton, we also meet Jim Sykes, her ex policeman assistant, Mrs Sugden, her housekeeper, and Sookie, the rescue cat. Kate's mother Lady Virginia appears, but her father D. Superintendent Hood is only mentioned, as is Kate's missing / presumed dead huband Gerald. The story is set in Harrogate in August, 1922, but there are flashbacks to events in the South African Boer War (1899 to 1902).
There are four main and eventually related plots - a theft of pawned items, a "kidnapping" of Lucy Wolfendale, a murder of Lawrence Milner, and a flashback South Africa story linking captain Wolfendale, his orderly Sgn Lampton, and Corp Milner.
Mr Mooney is a Harrogate pawnbroker from whom pawned items have been stolen. The police are getting nowhere, and Mooney asks Kate to help. He wants her to try to recover the stolen items if possible, but first, to break the news to the people whose perhaps precious pawned items were stolen. Jim and Kate swing into action, but first Kate has a theatre date with a recent friend, Muriel Jamieson, the director of the play. Kate is staying with Muriel in the room she has rented in a large house owned by retired captain Wolfendale. Lucy Wolfendale is the star of Meriel's play. She is apparently the captain's grandaughter. Years ago he told her she would come into an inheritance on her 21st birthday, but now that has arrived and there is no sign of any money. Lucy is ambitous, anxious to escape her grandfather, and has been offered an audition at RADA. She stages her kidnapping but when the captain gets a ransom note he asks for Kate's help - and events do not go as per Lucy's plan.
Four young friends had major parts in Meriel's play - they were Alison Hart and Rodney Milner, a car salesman, Lucy Wolfendale and Dylan Ashton, an assistant estate agent. Alison and Rodney are in love, and pregnant Alison has turned to Mrs Geerts for an abortion, but is saved by Kate. Dylan dotes on self centred Lucy, and is hiding Lucy in a lonely property with an old tower. Lucy loses the key and Dylan is hospitalised following a hit and run accident - leaving Lucy trapped and with no food and water. Eventually Lucy is rescued by another inhabitant of captain Wolvendale's house - Dan Root, a watch repairer of apparent South African origin - but Kate is not far behind. The fourth inhabitant at Wolvendale's is a Miss Fell who has been with the captain for years. It turns out Miss Fell is the Mrs De Vries whose pawned ring was stolen from Mooney's, but Kate notices she seems to be wearing a "similar" ring !
As Kate and Meriel leave the theatre, late after the play's final performance, they stumble on a dead body in a near by doorway. The body has a knife in the chest, and is that of Lawrence Milner, Rodney's disagreeable and universally disliked father. DI Marcus Charles of Scotland Yard, whom Kate met in book one, is still in Yorkshire, and is given the Milner case. Kate gets more than involved in the case, and with Marcus. There are so many suspects - captain Wolvendale, Lucy Wolvendale, Dan Root, Meriel Jamieson, Rodney Milner, etc, etc - that it is difficult to keep track. All seemed linked, and Kate only finds the real murderer at the very, very end of the book. Kate had identified the pawned items thief, but decided not to tell the police. Keeping quiet really distressed ex policeman Jim Sykes - would he leave Kate over this ? Worse, but unknown to Mr Sykes, Kate was also going to keep quiet about the identity of the murderer. I'm not sure if I agree with Kate.
Finally, let's mention the flashback Boer War story. It's was a dirty war, some civilians who had been helping Brother Boer had their houses destroyed, and some were killed - leaving relatives seeking revenge. Captain Wolvendale, a womaniser, was involved in all this. He was seriously injured, but had his life saved by his orderly Sgnt Lampton. Corporal Milner was a witness. Wolvendale claimed credit for Lampton's heroics, got the VC, and Lampton kept quiet out of loyalty to his captain. Wolvendale met a schoolteacher, Miss Marshall and got her pregnant. Her child was born secretly, and shipped off to England for adoption. Miss Marshall married a cleric, and adopted another child, a boy. Later, in 1903 Wolvendale and the still loyal Lampton were in London, proposing to buy and run a tobacconist's shop, when Wolvendale inherited some property in Harrogate, and planned to ditch Lampton, the man who had saved his life. Read the book to find out what happened next.
All in all, the book is a really complicated linking of numerous related sub plots. It's also an update on Kate Shackleton's private life ( we learn that Kate herself had an early miscarriage, but didn't tell Gerald). It's all well handled by Frances Brody - not a must read, but it's a good enough story that kept me guessing.
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I read this book in October, 2019.
I started with book one in the Kate Shackleton series, liked it, but since I don't have book two yet, I have had to jump to book three. Unfortunately I seem to have missed quite a bit in Kate's personal life story. Apparently, in book two, she met, fell for, and was let down by a practising psychiatrist, but happily, she also met a more genuine man in DI Marcus Charles of Scotland Yard. Things must have moved fast, because she has spent the night with him - remember this is the 1920s. In this book, Marcus is still around, but he is now a DCI, and he seems about to propose marriage to Kate. I don't think she will say yes - at least not yet. Marcus is a bit old fashioned in his views about a woman's place in society There is only one female detective in the whole of Scotland Yard. Kate is thoroughly modern in her ways. She won't allow herself to play second fiddle. As an aside, in the Railway Detective books from a little further back still, Robert Colbeck has to use his wife Maddy as a female detective - there being no female detectives at all in Scotland Yard.
Ex policeman Jim Sykes is still Kate's detective assistant, and her housekeeper Mrs Sugden also wants to help.
The story opens with a bang - or several bangs. In the middle of the night, a woman is hammering on Kate's door, and introduces herself as Mary Jane Armstrong. Her husband Ethan has gone missing. Worse, her daughter Harriet took her dad - a stonemason working alone on a Saturday afternoon in a local quarry - his teatime meal, and found his body lying cold on the floor of a shed. Harriet was a country girl, and recognised death. She held her brother Austin back outside the shed, so he did not see his dead father, but they both ran to the nearest farm for help. Bob Conroy, their "uncle" rushed to the quarry, but the body had vanished. Ethan was never seen again. Mary Jane believed her daughter - the police did not - and ran to consult Kate Shackleton. But there was something familiar about Mary Jane - where had Kate met her before ? Kate rushes to help, but then stops and refuses to go on until Mary Jane says how they have met before. "Kate" says Mary Jane, "I am your birth sister. I was there when your new dad called at our mum's house and took you away. She had to give you up, and you were adopted." Kate knew she was adopted , but nothing else of her origins. Now she learns she has a sister, and a niece and nephew, and her birth mother is still alive.
The actual murder of Ethan Armstrong is a good, solid story . The police think Mary Jane did it. Mary Jane could indeed be the killer - what does Kate think ? The police - her dad Superintendent Hood, and her lover DCI Marcus of Scotland Yard - both tell her to leave well alone, as Ethan was a communist revolutionery known to the authorities. To Mary Jane he was just a husband and dad for Harriet and Austin.
Eventually Kate believes Mary Jane, and gets to know Harriet and Austin. She also meets Mrs Whitaker, her birth mother.
There was quite a bit more to the story - it held my interest and I kept page turning. At the climax, it is obvious that the police have just been humouring Kate, but it is she who solves it all.
It's an interesting series and it's lovely to read another take on 1920s England. Historical fiction is getting to be quite a crowded field.
I read this book in April, 2020.
This is a little gem of a book, which ticks lots of boxes for me. It's historical fiction done well set in the 1920's in Leeds, London, etc, it's a good murder mystery with the murderer only revealed towards the end of the book, and it has a strong personal lives back story. So it's another outing for Kate Shackleton, Mr Sykes her ex police assistant, Mrs Sugden her housekeeper and much more, and Sookie the cat. We also meet DCI Marcus Charles of Scotland Yard once again. He had asked Kate to marry him, but quite correctly she said no. Marcus uses Kate to help in his investigation once again, but it's clear he doesn't fully trust Kate, and certainly under values and under estimates her abilities. Kate is a "modern woman", and no man's inferior. A marriage would have been a disaster, but Kate and Marcus can still be friends. Kate still hasn't fully accepted that Gerald, her doctor husband missing presumed dead in the last war, really is dead, and won't return. But she gets news of Gerald's definite death from a most unlikely source at the very end of the book - now she can move on.
It's a good and very interesting crime story with lots of strong characters. It starts with two separate investigations, but as is often the case, they are connected, and become one story. Diedre Fitspatrick is known to Mr Sykes. Working part time in department store security, he caught Diedre shoplifting, but persuaded the store management that hers was an honest mistake. And so Sykes persuades Kate to take on a case when Mr Cyril Fitspatrick wants someone to solve a mystery for him. His wife Diedre is going off by herself a lot, allegedly to visit her sick mother, but is she really? Cyril wants Diedre followed. Normally Kate never touches matrimonials, but agrees this once. Diedre is visiting her mother but not all the time. Diedre is trying to get some money to pay for better care for her mum, but doing so in a most unusual way. It's now possible for married people to get a divorce if there is evidence of unfaithfulness. Diedre sleeps with some husband seeking a divorce (no sex, with a pillow down the middle of the bed) in some hotel - the hotel Metropole here - the chambermaid discovers them in the morning, and so grounds for divorce are established. It's sleazy, but it pays well.
The other story is about Everett Runcie, an impoverished member of British aristrocy. He has married a rich American Philippa but blatently and publicly continues to see his mistress Catherine Windham. Philippa has paid out to maintain the Runcie country seat, but is being treated shabily, and has had enough. She wants a divorce, is returning to America, and Everett is to provide her with grounds. Yes, the person he meets is none other that Diedre Fitspatrick - but Diedre wakes in the morning to find a dead Everett lying beside her. She flees the scene. Everett had been murdered, and Marcus Charles of Scotland Yard is given the case. He asks Kate to interview the distraught chamber maid. Marcus is in town following an American gangster Anthony Hartigan who is bulk buying Scotch to later sell on the blackmarket in prohibition locked America. A harassed Marcus gets ex policeman Mr Sykes sworn in a special constable to follow Hartigan.
The story now takes off. A lot of the characters are known to Mrs Shackleton - eg Philippa is a friend. Kate Shackleton's mum is of course part of the same aristrocy. Hartigan turns out to be Diedre's brother, Philippa has a trusted and devoted manservant Gideon King, Rupert Cromer is a gifted sculptor, and Diamond is a society and news photographer whose trick camera allows him to take candid photos. Kate's reputation means her services are are highly sought after. Philippa asks Kate to find out who killed Everett - and so Kate and Marcus are working on the same case, but mostly separately. At the very end it's Kate who identifies the murderer and earns a generous cheque - sufficient to buy a new Jowett motor car, and give the old Jowett to Mr Sykes who also gets a pay rise.
I really like it that the story continues after the murderer is caught. Mary Anne is Kate's blood sister and she is to be a house guest of Kate's. Mary Anne is getting married again, only 5 months after her first husband's death. Kate is devoted to little Harriet, Mary Anne's daughter. Mary Anne has moved on, and it's time for Kate to move on too. It's a bit like the ending of a Maisie Dobbs story in that Kate revisits all the main characters, helping where she can. Thus she suggests that Caroline Windham starts afresh in Paris, and even suggests a business partner for her.
All in all, a lovely little story full of period detail.
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I read this book in July, 2022.
This is book 5 in Frances Brody's Kate Shackleton series. It is set in 1924 in Yorkshire, and Kate is helped by her ex policeman assistant Jim Sykes, and her housekeeper Mrs Sugden. This tale is quite different from the rest of the series, and I was reminded of John Buchan's Richard Hannay yarns of Empire, intrigue, and daring deeds.
The book opens with Kate in Yorkshire getting a phone call from her cousin James, son of Aunt Bertha. James works for the Government in the India Office and his boss is Sir Richard, an old boyfriend of Aunt Bertha. James tells Kate an Indian Maharajah has gone missing while hunting on the Duke of Devonshire's estate near the Yorkshire village of Bolton Abbey - Prince Narayan of Guttiawan ( an Indian state). James wants Kate to find him. The Prince was travelling with a money grabbing young girlfriend, Lydia Metcalfe, a 19 year old chorus girl whom he'd met on a visit to the Follies Bergere in Paris. The Maharajah is already married to his Indian wife Indira, and they have a young son Rajinda, but Narayan has fallen head over heels for Lydia, showered her with jewels, and wants to marry her - his religion allows him 4 wives, apparently. Lydia is from a local farming family, but is staying at the Devonshire Arms Hotel, in Bolton Abbey. She would not be welcome at the Duke of Devonshire's house - Bolton Hall - because of the scandal.
Kate accepts the job, and books into the Devonshire Arms. The manager there, Mr Sergeant, served in India under Kate's grandfather Lord Rodpen - he will do all he can to help Kate. The estate manager in Frederick Upton. The Maharajah had not been travelling with his usual extensive entourage, but was only accompanied by his valet Ijahar. Narayan was a top class polo player and horseman. When hunting that morning, he had shot a white doe - arousing much local resentment. Such animals are revered, and not hunted. He rode out again in the afternoon, but his horse eventually returned without him. Upton arranged extensive searches, but with no luck. Kate takes over. Soon a body is found, and Kate and Upton ride out to investigate - but it's the body of Osbert Hannon, an estate worker and groom, who had accompanied the Maharajah on the morning shoot. Osbert leaves a young pregnant wife Jenny. Another worker, Isaacs had also accompanied the Maharajah. Isaacs and Kate visit the site where the white doe was killed, and surprisingly there they find the body of the missing Maharajah, laid out and lightly covered with leaves. Kate is suspicious as the Maharajah's clothes are still dry. He obviously was killed elsewhere, and dumped here later. Kate contacts James, who says he is on his way to Bolton Abbey with the Maharajah's family.
It soon becomes obvious that the India Office wants the whole affair hushed up, and call it an accidental death. Kate wants justice to be done, and sends for help in the shape of Jim Sykes. He books into the Devonshire Arms under cover - as someone on a fishing holiday. Later Kate also send for Mrs Sugden.
And so the story unfolds. I will only mention a few highlighs. No one is interested in what Kate says. The local policeman - PC Brooksup - dismisses her. She had taken pictures of the of the dead body in situ, and developed them at the home of the local doctor, Lucian Simonson. He knew Kate's husband Gerald. Kate gives the photos to Brooksup, but doubts that he will even show them to the coroner. Kate gets on well with Simonson - he later asks her out to dinner. She also gets on well with Indira, the Maharajah's wife - so well in fact that in the climax Indira sends for Kate , and gets her to hide and protect her young son Rajinda. Indira is convinced that if Rajinda stays at Bolton Hall he will not not survive the night.
The Maharajah had been travelling with a priceless large diamond, and when it goes missing James and Sir Richard ask Kate to help. Although she hated herself for doing it, when Kate had spoken at the Coroner's Inquest, she had not voiced her suspicions. She chickened out - and I was so disappointed as we expect more of our detective heros. Initially, Kate doesn't want to help the India Office to apply more whitewash, but Indira wants the diamond restored for her son's sake.
I haven't mentioned Thurston Presthope, a friend of the dead Maharajah. He is stealing £10k the Maharajah gave him to give to Tobias Metcalfe, Lydia's father, as a sort of dowry (rejected, of course). Kate thwarts Thurston, who then comes after Kate, and tries to molest her in the barn where the dead doe is hanging. She only just escapes, and later notices Jim Sykes has bruised knuckles from "teaching Thurston a lesson." Kate also befriends Joel, the simple son of the groom Isaacs. Sadly Isaacs has a stroke. I should also mention that Narayan has a brother Jaya, for whom horoscopes had predicted great things and much glory. What would he do to achieve this ?
Lydia is the chief suspect as diamond thief. She makes a run for it, but her movements are being tracked, including with help from Kate's father, a chief Superintendent in the Yorkshire police. James is a pleasant, likeable fellow, but not really up to the job, and pretty clueless. He appeals to Kate for advice. James follows Lydia to Paris, and then to India, and then appears to want to stay in India, much to his mother, Aunt Bertha's horror.
The author paints a picture of India in the days of Empire, split into 560 competing states, only some pro British, and of the extreme, almost obscene wealth of the Maharajah rulers in contrast to the abject poverty of their subjects. Lydia makes a similar comparison. She loves the family farm in Bolton Abbey - but hates that it, and everything around, is owned by one man, the Duke of Devonshire.
There are other deaths, and such a lot of action. Eventually, Kate, Sykes, and Mrs Sugden identify the murderer, but there can never be a criminal trial. It's politics, India Office business, and British rule in India is at stake. Kate even discovers where the missing diamond has been hidden - but she can do nothing to recover it.
All in all, a good yarn, and a good read, but a bit far fetched (elephants lead the Maharajah funeral procession conveniently borrowed in Yorkshire from a travelling circus, etc.) Don't judge the series from this book.
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I read this book in January, 2020.
These are the on going adventures of Kate Shackleton, a highly connected lady private detective, set in 1925 Leeds, in this case. Kate has a team of one - Jim Sykes - and a faithful housekeeper Mrs Sugden. The previous book that I read "Chronicles of the Dead" was a bit too clever by half, and I wanted a simple crime story. More of less, this is what this book is.
The book started ever so well - I thought it might turn out to be special - but sadly it sort of faltered half way through. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story.
The book opens with Lady Coulton summonsing Kate to get her to trace a secret love child she had when she was young - a girl given up for adoption. It later turns out that Lady Coulton is dying - hence her desire to find her long lost daughter. The missing girl is very, very difficult to find, and Kate thinks this may be her first failure. But Lady Coulton tells Kate she has only days left to live, and Kate decides she must do all she can to find the girl.
There is another story running through the book. Kate is a patron of Leeds public library, and her friend there tells her a strange story about the place being haunted. A catholic priest has agreed to exorcise the ghost, and reluctantly Kate is persuaded to be one of two lay persons assisting the priest. Of course there is no ghost, but other explanations for the strange noises from the basement. The priest, Kate, and Mr Lennox find the murdered body of Dr Potter in the basement. The local police are called, and Inspector Wallis is in charge. Kate doesn't think much of Wallis - and when a vagrant is found in the same basement , Wallis immediately charges the vagrant with murder. The vagrant is dseperately ill, and very weak. It's obvious to Kate that Wallis has acted too quickly, and she decides she will have to solve the murder and a save the vagrant - remember hanging had not yet been abolished.
There is also a well behaved monkey called Percy in this book - (the vagrant was an Italian organ grinder) - that Mrs Sugden has to care for.
Of course it all works out in the end. Perhaps Kate has even misjudged Inspector Wallis.
It's a competent story that doesn't live up to it's initial promise, but still it's an OK read. I prefer the Maisie Dobbs series also set in the 1920s, and later.
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I read this book in February, 2020.
One of the delights of reading a series is that we meet again not just the main characters - 1920s lady PI Kate Shackleton, her ex policeman assistant Jim Sykes, and housekeeper Mrs Sugden - but also people we have met earlier in the series. The book opens with Kate's young niece Harriet - Kate had not known she had a sister, nor a niece - in a quarantine hospital with diphtheria, and her mum and aunt are standing in a muddy flower bed peering through through a closed window.
Next Kate takes Harriet away with her for a holiday in the Yorkshire Dales to recuperate. I have jumped several books in reading this series, and didn't know that Kate and Dr Lucian Simonson were "romantically involved." How did it happen, and when ? Lucian's aunt Freda had brought him up in Langcliffe, but has now died, and left him her house. So Kate and Harriet are giving the house a trial run. There is currently no doctor in Langcliffe. Kate is to live there on holiday to see how she likes the place, and advise Lucian if he could open a surgery there. Would she and Lucian settle there ? Lucian is a nice person - and so one of the questions of the book is will he and Kate get married, settle down, and Kate no longer be a PI.
Freda had witnessed the murder of Mr Holroyd, a local publican. After he threw a drunk Irishman out of his pub, a dark stranger appeared out of the shadows and stabbed Holroyd. The Irishman rushed to help, pulled the knife out of the body, and so was found holding the blood stained murder weapon. It didn't help that there was anti Irish feeling in 1926 (Easter Riots, etc). The poor Irishman was tried and hanged. Freda was a witness for the defence, but was not beleived. She always remembered the innocent Irishman, and vowed somehow to clear his name. Then she learned that Lucian was seeing the now famous Kate Shackleton. Freda thought she could get Kate to help her, but Freda died before they could meet. However her case papers were presented to Kate by Freda's friend "Wiggy", and so Freda speaks to Kate from the grave.
Although supposedly on holiday, Kate has to help, but Lucian doesn't approve. Kate sends for Jim Sykes. There is another murder there, to solve first, but Kate eventually solves both.
Harriet has made two chums in the village, Beth Young, a 15 year old mill worker, and Susannah Trevelyan, daughter of the local squire, but rather a lonely girl. Beth's mother had died recently. Beth and her younger brother Martin had been sent to Langcliffe, where Martin had been sent out to labour as a farmers boy on a local farm, but unfortunately for a farmer who was a beast. Now Martin is missing. Can Harriet help Beth find Martin ? Harriet wants to be a PI like her aunt. Susannah says she will join the hunt.
There are all sorts of extra threads to the story. Mrs Trevelyan is being blackmailed, and seeks Kate's help. A local farm worker Gabriel keeps appearing on the scene and proves to be a great help. Later, one question posed is just who is Susannah Trevelyan's actual father.
There is a national strike, and petrol is in short supply. It's historical fiction at it's best . I still prefer the Maisie Dobbs series, but this is of similar quality and interest. It's well written, and the stories flow beautifully to make this an easy book to read. And what's wrong with that ?
I'll need to go back in the series to see how Lucian and Kate met, and who was the Indian princess who gave Kate a Rolls Royce car, (not much good when there is a petrol shortage).
The book concludes with two weddings, and no loose ends. Read the book to see if Kate married Lucian.
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I read this book in June, 2020.
This book opens with Kate Shackleton and crew off on holiday. Kate is visiting Whitby and her old school friend Alma Turner, her assistant Jim Sykes with his wife Rosie, and family are on holiday not far away up the coast at Robin Hood's Bay, and housekeeper Mrs Sugden is not much further away in Scarborough. Kate was matron of honour when Alma married Walter Turner, and Kate is looking forward to seeing her goddaughter and their daughter Felicity. Sadly Walter was a bit of a rogue (and a bigamist) and he took off allegedly for warmer climes, but kept in touch with Felicity with a series of postcards, usually accompanied by a white fiver. Walter didn't pay maintenance for Felicity, but bought a house in Whitby for them to stay in. When the house slid into the sea Walter bought Alma half a share in an old Tudor Mansion (Blagdale Hall). The other half of the house is owned by a business partner of sorts of Walters - Mr Percival Cricklethorpe (Crickly). Alma has one floor, Crickly, an artist, panto dame, and whisky smuggler has another, and they share the kitchen etc on the ground floor. Again sadly the house is almost uninhabitable as there is no money for upkeep, nor even cleaning. Knock on doors before entering and wait for the vermin to scamper away. Luckily, Kate is staying at the Royal Hotel.
Alma is a fortune teller with a little kiosk on the pier, but seems to go through life in a trance not noticing people nor being aware of things. Kate knows Whitby well, and she chances upon Philips, the same jewellers where she and her husband bought their engagement ring (Gerand went missing in the war). There is a nice jade bracelet in the window and Kate decides to get it for Felicity. The shop is deserted, no one comes to serve her, and, calling out, she enters the back room to find Jack Philips murdered on the floor. She goes for help to phone for the police at the newsagents next door. The shop is owned by Dora Margaret Dowzell, but it is her pompous brother Timothy who is less than helpful. Kate goes to the police station and meets Sgnt Rodney Garvin who takes her statement and follows her to the jewellers. Garvin is a nice enough chap, but out of his depth in a murder enquiry. He twice suspects Kate of being a criminal - firstly of being in league with smugglers, and secondly of murdering Jack Philips. Kate even spends a night in the cells !
The mystery is who killed Jack Philips, and why. And so the cast widens as we meet possible suspects. We meet the Webb family, mother, son Brendan, and daughter Hilda. The father was a sea captain who lost his ship, took to drink, and died. Brendan gets on well with Jack Philips, and is mending his boat the "Doram". Brendan is also Felicity's boyfriend. Hilda works as chambermaid at the Royal where Kate is staying. Now to a sub plot. Felicity has gone missing - and it turns out she and Brendan have "borrowed" the Doram, and are off to Elgin, in northern Scotland, looking for Felicity's dad. They hit stormy seas - will they survive, and will Felicity meet her dad (who has not got long to live)? In another subplot, Alma and Jack Philips were good friends - but was it just Alma's wishful thinking ? Jack always had a way with the ladies.
Scotland Yard are called in ,and Chief Inspector Marcus Charles is in charge. Marcus and Kate are old friends - but Kate turned down his marriage proposal. Jim Sykes does not like DCI Charles, and the feeling is mutual. However in a surprise at the end of the book Kate and Marcus seem to be rekindling their friendship. Let's hope not.
The suspects are Kate herself, Alma, a spurned lover, Crickly (protecting Alma), and Miss Dowzell, the next door newsagent and a lot more to Jack. Kate calls in Jim Sykes, and Rosie comes along too, and Mrs Sugden who happened to be visiting Jim and Rosie.
It is a well written story, and I kept page turning to see who had killed Jack Philips. There are surprises galore - e.g. who were Brendan's real parents ? I didn't work out who did it before being told.
There is not much history in this historical fiction book, but we are reminded of the poverty of the time, and the social taboos - e.g. Brendan and Felicy running off together.
It's a good series, and this is a worthy member.
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I read this book in December, 2021.
This is book nine in the Kate Shackleton Mystery series set in the 1920s and featuring Mrs Kate Shackleton, her ex policeman assistant Jim Sykes, and Mrs Sugden, her housekeeper who helps out on the detective side too. Sookie is the cat. It's a nice little series that I enjoy reading. This book opens with a letter to Kate from a theatrical acquaintance saying he has recommended her as a good, discreet detective to a fellow songstress. The letter sets the date as 1927. A week later, a large Bentley pulls up outside Kate's Batswing Wood Lodge cottage and Selina Fellini, the famous Silver Songstress, gets out. Selina is accompanied by her manager Trotter Brockett, but he stays in the car. Selina says she and her husband Jarrod Compton have been invited to view the 29th June total eclipse at Giggleswick School, where the Astronomer Royal and his colleagues will be setting up an observatory. The site has been chosen as most likely to be cloud free. Jarrod does not want to come, but Selina's fellow music hall performer, the comedian Billy Moffat will accompany her. However Selina and Billy must be back in Leeds for that evening's performance at the Varietes Theatre. She wants Kate to arrange a flight, and accompany them, as Billy will be no good if anything goes wrong. What do you expect to go wrong, thinks Kate, but she agrees, and sets up the flight with her friends pilot Charlie and engineer Joe.
Now of course Kate is not a travel agent, and there is a lot more to it, but it takes ages before Selina says why she really needs help. Selina does not need the work, but she is appearing with a small company to provide work for some fellow music hall variety artists. The public is tiring of the old music hall acts, with radio, and the cinema taking over - with even the prospect of talking cinema. Selina is a local lass, the daughter of the ice cream Fellini family. Jarrod went to war with his best friends, Marco Fellini and Billy Moffat, but came back terribly facially disfigured. He bore this well for years, but of late he has been flying into terrible mood swings, wild rages throwing things, being dangerous - and hiding himself away in shame. Selina confides that she may have jinxed the variety company as two of the artists have died recently - Dougie Doig (a dog act) and Floyd LLoyd ( a ventriloquist). She fears that Jarrod may be responsible - with his balance of mind disturbed. Most of all she wants reassurance that it's not Jarrod.
Sadly there is a third death. Comedian Billy Moffat goes missing at the eclipse party, and is found collapsed in the grounds of Giggleswick School. Barely alive he is moved to the school sanatorium, and an ambulance sent for. Selina wants to stay with Billy, but Kate reminds her of her evening performance, and offers to stay instead. Billy has a mark of a needle injection on his neck. A remarkable school head boy - Alex McGregor - shows Kate where Billy was found, and there she picks up a discarded cigar. Alex is a dab hand at chemistry, and he and Kate break into a school laboratory and, alerted by it's smell of almonds, Alex does a cyanide test on the cigar, which proves positive. Kate sends a note to Mrs Sugden, back with Selina. She wants Mrs S. to contact Jim Sykes, and get him and his wife Rosie to attend that evening's variety show in Leeds - to get to know the company pending a possible new murder investigation. Billy dies, and Selina gives Kate a £200 advance payment for her to start work. Jim Sykes is impressed by Sandy Sechrest, the memory woman. She knows all the answers if you ask the right questions. Kate doesn't want to get Alex into trouble, and so she takes the cigar for another analysis to Brownlaw, a chemist she uses.
There are lots of possible suspects, and Kate, Jim Sykes, and Mrs Sugden split up, and set off to interview them all. Looking for Jarrod, Kate goes to his mum's house, and she and Mrs Compton rush to Leeds to search for Jarrod, possibly hiding in secret passages below the variety theatre. They do find him, and persuade him to return home to type up some songs he has composed for Selina. Emerging into the Variety Theatre, Kate smells gas, and they find and rescue Selina's dresser Beryl, barely alive. Is this another victim. DI Wallis and Sergeant Ashwood attend - not because of the gassing, but to quiz Kate about the cigar she had tested for cyanide.
The story now really takes off, and I'll leave you to read it for yourselves. However let's mention Floyd LLoyd's gifted granddaughter Lorna, on whose knee Floyd's dummy "Manny Picolo" seems to come alive again to proclaim "Murder, Bloody Murder !" Lorna is later enlisted at the climax to help unmask the true killer (but no spoiler here). Beryl had been first knocked unconscious by a poisoned cup of tea spotted as later missing by Kate. Who gave Beryl the tea, but more importantly who made the tea ? Also who gave Billy the poisoned cigar, and where did it come from originally ? Lots of "red herrings", and plot twists, and then a realistic enough final explanation.
Some concluding potscripts. Kate's young niece Harriet had turned up at Batswing cottage, having left home and now wanting to stay with Kate and work as a detective. Kate will need to contact Harriet's mum, Mary Anne - Kate's sister. Alex McGregor, head boy, has not been expelled and will be off to Edinburgh next year to study medicine. He too turns up at Kate's door, anxious to help get justice for Billy. Finally it's all sorted, there are lot's of happy endings, and Alex, Harriet, Kate and Mrs Sugdeen go off to the cinema to see Buster Keaton in "The General." In an epilogue, Frances Brody explains that there really was an eclipse that year, observed by the Astronomer Royal at Giggleswick, and the Leeds City Variety Theatre still exists, which I knew, having seen it on TV.
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I read this book in June, 2020.
This is an interesting story set in 1928. Yes, it is crime fiction, in that there is a murder - one that we are warned about - but mostly it's a tragic story within a story about Kate's friend Carine Murchison who has had misfortune befall her many times, and the point of the story is that she has never really recovered. It is of course, another outing for Kate, her assistant Jim Sykes, her housekeeper Mrs Sugden, and let's also name check Sookie, the cat, now very old. Kate's young niece Harriet Armstrong has been living with Kate for several months. We are reminded that Kate is adopted, but discovered she had a real sister Mary Anne several books ago when Harriet's dad Ethan was murdered. Harriet has a brother Austin. Kate was adopted by Mr and Mrs Hood, and has twin brothers Simon and Mathew, seven years younger than her, and now in Canada. Mrs Hood is aristrocracy, Mr Hood is Police Superintendent Hood of a Yorkshire Police Division. He is now 66 and his wife wants him to retire, but he tells Kate he cannot. The war has robbed the Force of a whole generation of officers, and there is no one with sufficient experience to replace him. Mr and Mrs Hood's dog Constable died some while ago. It was an ex police dog, and they want another. The replacement appears in the shape of Sergeant Dog, a failed police bloodhound. The dog takes a liking to Kate and Harriet, and it's not clear at the end of the book where the dog will end up.
We have always known of Kate's interest in photography, and it is through the Headingley (suburb of Leeds) Photographic Society that we meet Kate's dear friend, the beautiful Carine. Graduately Carine's story unfolds as the plot progresses. Carine was left devastated at the age of five, when her mother "ran off" - away from Kate's terrible father. Carine never stopped looking for her mother to return. Carine's dad took her out of school when she was eleven, and set her to work in the family photographic shop / studio - the little girl did all the work for a lazy dad. Eventually Carine met Edmund Chester (who wrote fine poetry) - they were the love of each other's lives. Edward marched off to war with his best friend Tobias Murchison. Only Tobias returned telling Carine that Edward was dead. Resonance with Kate whose husband Gerald also marched off to war, and never returned. Gerald did die. Edward survived, but was so badly disfigured that he felt he could not inflict himself on Carine. She would marry him only out of duty ! How wrong he was. Tobias wooed Carine, was a clone of Carine's terrible dad, and married Carine to "look after her" and manage the business affairs of the studio. Why did Carine go along with all of this - the puppet of two abusing men ? Carine did have her admirers in an eccentric mystic Rita who confessed to Kate that she really, really loved Carine. A young man Derek Blondell who worked in a newspaper's library also worshiped Carine, and it seems Carine more than encouraged his infatuation.
Matters come to a head when Edward turns up again, and everyone goes off on a Photographic Society outing to Haworth - home to an about to be opened Bronte Centre / Museum. Harriet goes along too - she knows Derek Blondell who usually walks her home late at night when she finishes her shift as a cinema usherette. Mr and Mrs Hood are in Haworth too, Kate's mum is house hunting for the hoped for retirement. Kate and the others are staying at Pondon Hall which is run by Mrs Varey and her daughter Elisa who does all the work. To say that Pondon Hall has fallen on bad times is to be charitable. You can see the stars through holes in Kate's bedroom - and of course it rains when Kate is there. As an aside Elisa Varey is the real person whose charitable donation got a character named after her.
Meanwhile, as the saying goes, Mrs Sugden is asked to look after the shop when Tobias and Carine go off on the outing, and Tobias offers Mrs S a bonus if she will tidy up the old junk laden cellar. Jim Sykes agrees to help Mrs S. How fortuitous that we now have an ex police bloodhound on the scene to help Jim solve the mystery of Carine's runaway mother.
I will let you read the story to see who is murdered. Who did it is not too much of a surprise. It is hinted at lots of times, although there are lots of possible suspects. Of course when Scotland Yard are called in who else would it be than DCI Marcus Charles, on / mostly off love interest for Kate.
It's a good enough story really, but most of the time I felt I had been tricked into reading a woman's "feel good ending" magazine romance, rather than predominately a crime mystery. I still prefer Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series also set in the 1920s, and later.
As a surprise, the copy of this book that I bought also contained a 73 page short story extra : "Kate Shackleton's First Case" - see below.
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I read this book in June, 2020.
Although this is only a 71 page short story, it is a gem of the art of short story writing. It has a beginning, a middle and a great climax at the end - and there is even room for plenty back private lives tales. I got this story "free" at the end of my copy of "A Snapshot of Murder" - see immediately above.
It is March, 1921 and Kate is 30, wondering what to do with her life. She had been volunteering as a war time nurse, but to continue in nursing she would need to study for formal qualifications at the same Leeds hospital where her missing, presumed dead ( but not by Kate) husband Gerald was a consultant. She could not bear to see his ghost walking the corridors. She is with a good chum Doris Butler, a 23 year old, very attractive aspiring actress and RADA student. They are celebrating Doris's birthday at the famous Betty's tearooms in Harrogate. A pianist is playing in the corner. Presently he plays "Happy Birthday" to Doris. How did he know asks Doris ? Doris is horrified to learn Kate did not do the requesting. Doris has a stalker who has followed her to Harrogate. He is Adam Kitchen, a fellow RADA student. Doris was scatty in having a string of marriage engagements, all broken off - only this time Kitchen did not take no for an answer, and said if he could not have Doris, no one else would. He would kill Doris ! There is no sign of Kitchen, but when an upset Doris goes to the toilet, Kate notices she is followed, and rushes in pursuit, just in time to save Doris's life. They scream, help arrives, and Adam Kitchen is arrested and charged with attempted murder, but Adam has the services of a clever defence lawyer who proposes to discredit Doris and Kate. Kitchen may get off and come after Doris again. Kate must help her friend - and so the story unfolds.
Kate is living by herself in the house she and Gerald bought. She wants to stay there, independent, but her mum and dad want her to live with them. Kate has two younger twin brothers, Mathew and Simon. Mathew is doing his best to help his sister. "You looked after us when we were younger, it's our turn to look after you". Mathew suggests Kate has a self contained annexe built, and that Kate employ a housekeeper to live there. As Kate would no longer be living alone, she would not be pressed to return home. This is agreed, and at the very end of the short story we even hear of a Mrs Sugden, whom we know did turn out to be Kate's excellent housekeeper.
Kate's mum's "Sunday" name is Lady Virginia Rodpen when not Mrs Hood. Simon is a solicitor. Kate's brothers are keen to help Kate when they can - before their proposed emigration to new lives in Canada.
Kate does help her friend, and as news of her success spreads, is approached by someone else's mum who wants Kate to find her missing "conscious objector" son. Kate agrees, and so takes on her first case.
It's quite a big story fitted into only 71 pages, and there is plenty of 1921 atmosphere - historical fiction at it's best. I liked the bit about Doris visiting her mum, finding her dead dad's matchstick model of York Minster smashed by neighbour Phil (an accident), but noticing how at home Phil seemed in her mum's house. With a small holding to run, and no husband, what choice did Doris's mum have ? I guess that was the position for lot of war widows. Where else does the climax take place than York Minster, but only Doris sees the ghost of her father, or does she ?
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I read this book in October, 2022.
This is book 11 in the Kate Shackleton mysteries, and it's another winner. The story unfolds at a gentle pace over the first 3/4 of the book, and introduces all sorts of human interest side stories. In the last quarter of the book, the pace really steps up when all these stories have to be tied up. Happily, there are good endings for most, but not all.
Let's start by re-introducung our main characters. Mrs Kate Shackleton runs her private investigator business from Leeds in Yorkshire. Ex policeman Jim Sykes is her main assistant, but Mrs Sugden, Kate's housekeeper also turns her hand to PI work when required. Jim is married to Rosie, and is a true, no nonsense Yorkshireman. When Kate asks him to go undercover at a Golf Club, he snorts "Golf is a game for men who don't understand the rules of cricket." Kate's niece Harriet is till lodging with Kate. There is a dog called Sergeant Dog, and a cat Sookie. Kate's dad is Chief Superintendent Hood of Wakefield Police HQ., Kate's cousin Jamies still works at the Home Office - and he has a wife, Prudence.
It's 1929, 3 years after the General Strike, where the miners and railwaymen held out longest. A dead body has been discovered in London on the Rhubarb Special - a train to rush the forced Yorkshire rhubarb crop down to the London market. There is no identification on the body, stripped to underwear, but the police think it's a Yorkshire crime, perhaps committed at Ardsley Junction there. Commander Woodhead of Scotland Yard has called in Kate Shackleton to help as the police have got nowhere - they are not welcome following the bitter strike. Woodhead's assistant is DC Yeats. Kate notices how old Woodhead is, and how young Yeats - a middle generation is missing following the war. Woodhead gets Kate to sign the Official Secret's Act, and wants her enquiries to be done undercover. Also, he is obviously not telling her everything she needs to know - does he want her to succeed or fail ?
Yeats gives Kate a carbon copy of the missing final page of Woodhead's briefing. It's a list of VIPs who have been interviewed in the case, and should not be bothereed again Cousin James is on the list, as is Benjamin Brockman - the Deputy Lieutenant of Yorkshire. Kate knows Bengie's wife Gertrude very well from childhood. She writes to Gertrude to get an invitation to come and stay at their Country House, Thorpefield Manor, but when she gets there, she finds that the place needs urgent maintenace, but money is tight. The Brockman money comes from mines, mills, and the land / farming, but there was no mine income during the strike, some mines never opened again, the mills are on half time working, and farm rents are inadequate - they were set about 100 years ago.
Initially, Kate feels welcome at Thorpefield, but soon Bengie and his odious busines partner Eliot Dell take to baiting her, with remarks about sneaky undercover work not repaying hospitality. Kate thinks she should not be there, but also feels the answers she seeks lie there. And so we have the main plot - who is the dead body, who killed him, and why.
We now need to widen the story. Kate had heard of another murder in the area - that of Mrs Helen Farrar, keeper of a corner shop near Thorpefield. Kate wonders if the two murders might be connected. Police have initially arrested Stephen Walmsley for killing his landlady Mrs Farrar. He found her battered body, contacted the police, and in trying to generally tidy up (Mrs Farrar was always so houseproud), got his clothes covered in blood. He was arrested. Kate visits Stephen in Wakefield Prison, and becomes convinced of his innocence. He obviously needs a better solicitor, and so Kate hires and pays for the best, a Mr Cohen. Kate befriends Stephen's sweetheart young Milly, a maid at Thorpefield Manor. Milly was there when Stephen discovered the dead body, but gallant Stephen said it was no sight for a young lady, and sent her away. Kate gets Milly to give a statement to the police, but she is too late - they think she is just lying to save her boyfriend. And so we have plot 2 - can Kate save Stephen.
We now come to the sudden closure of the local children's home - Blue Bell House. A noise in the night was reported to the owners, the Brockmans. It was diagnosed as subsidence (old mine workings), and the place was closed instantly. Suspiciously quickly, a demolition team moved in, and knocked down the condemned building. It was unsafe, said Gertrude. Kate later talked to the site engineer - there was no subsidence, but those old buildings cost too much to maintain. The orphans' toys are lying discarded in a pile on the ground. What has happened to the orphans ? Gertrude Brockman says they have gone to Stoneville, a better home in Wakefield, but when Kate sends Mrs Sugden to investigate, she discovers it's the workhouse, and 8 orphans, 4 to 8 years old, are being emigrated to Canada. And so we have plot 3 - can Kate save the orphans ?
Kate's undercover story was that she was researching a story for Amateur Photographer. She presents various participants in our story with framed portraits of themselves. Raynor is Bengie's faithful butler (who seems to be spying on Kate.) When Kate presents him with his portrait, he is struck dumb with admiration and pride. He declares "You have captured my better half. You have captured my soul." Kate has reason not to to trust Raynor, but later he is there not to harm Kate, but to rescue her.
Kate is also being helped by a local lad she has known for years - reliable, but simple minded Philip Goodchild. He is the best mechanic in Yorkshire, but works from an amateur set up. To provide for his future, his mother wants him to take over a local garage, Battersbys, but PH, as he is known, is avoiding the subject and spending time helping Kate. A groom at Thorpefield Manor, Alec, also works as a trainee mechanic at Battersbys. Alec looks remarkably like Bengie for good reason, and for the same reason Gertrude hates him, and won't let him in Thorpefield Manor. He sleeps in the stable. Alec and PH meet helping Kate, and are to take over Battersby's - This is our first happy ending.
Jim Sykes finds a name for the dead man - Harry Aspinall, who enjoyed a wealthy life in France, but was an ex local lad. He was a trustee of the Children's Home, as was Mrs Farrar. Because Aspinall was a resident of France, the French Ambassador becomes involved , escalates the case, and praises work done by the Kate Shackleton Investigating Agency.
The story now unfolds. Kate is locked in a darkroom cellar, almost dies when her sabbotaged car crashes, and again almost dies when she challenges the murderers, is tied, and pushed down a long flight of stone stairs. We are never quite sure if Bengie is genuinely suffering from dementia, or is using this as an alibi for non involvement in the wicked deeds unfolding. The police (Scotland Yard) had thought a Russian spy was in the area with gold to forment unrest with the workers. All the nonsense about Russian spies was believed because the sack containing Harry Aspinall's dead body, also contained two gold sovereigns.
The author handles the underlying class warfare aspects fairly. Gertrude is indifferent to the future of the local orphans, but times are indeed hard. Gertrude confides in Kate : "We can no longer be everywhere for everyone; when we were wealthy we did all this and more. Now we are no longer financially able to do this. But everyone still wants jobs to be provided, and families to be fed".
As I said earlier, it's a packed final quarter of the book, and it's happy endings for most. Lets also give credit to DCI Emsley of Wakefield CID, Josh Whitwell, a fellow photographer (and rhubarb grower), Maurice Lewis at "Picture This" photographers, and giant Irishman Kevin O'Donnel, another recipient of a portrait. "You have captured my soul, before I got involved in this sad business." "I would say your soul is still intact", replies Kate. Roll on the next book.
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I read this book in December, 2022.
This is book 13 in the Kate Shackleton series set in Yorkshire in the 1920s/30s. Kate lives in Batswing Cottage with her niece Harriet, Mrs Sugden, her housekeeper and part time detective assistant, Sergeant Dog, her ex police bloodhound (failed, too good natured), and Sookie the cat. Kate's assistant is ex policeman Jim Sykes, and he is married to Rosie. Most of the story takes place in Masham, where the fictional Barleycorn Brewery is located. Masham is now home to Theakstons, Black Sheep, and Tetleys - but only Tetleys was there in the 1920s. The Barleycorn Brewery is owned by Willian Lofthouse, and he is married to Kate's friend Eleanor, the gifted artist Eleanor Hart. Richard is nearing retirement, and running down his involvement in the Brewery, leaving it to his nephew James to take over. James is ambitious and hopes to inherit the business, but Eleanor is pregnant and so now William will have an heir - this is the clue to some of the skulduggery taking place at the Brewery.
There are three main plots running concurrently, but I didn't appreciate this at the beginning. Accordingly, I was surprised when the main plot - who is attacking the Barleycorn and killed Miss Crawford - is solved, but half the book remains. The other plots are who killed Joe Finch, the Barleycorn drayman, and the ongoing Parnaby family drama.
Before we deal with the plots, we need to introduce the Parnaby family. Slater Parnaby is the head cooper at the Barleycorn, a foul mouthed, greedy, bad tempered, gambling drunkard. He married Annie, and they had two children Georges and Ruth. Although he never touched the children, Slater battered Annie, and fearing for her life, Annie fled in the night. There were rumours that Slater had killed her but Annie was helped by Joe Finch, drayman at the Barleycorn. He found her a place to live and work at Bedales Bakery some 7 miles away, but the baker would not take the children. Annie had told the children of her escape plans, and got Georges to write to his gran, Slater's mum, to come and look after them. Now, years later, George is an apprentice cooper at the Barleycorn, and Ruth works as a very able wages clerk. Ruth is an attractive young lady with a bright personality who has won the local North Yorkshire Brewery Queen contest, and hopes to compete in later rounds - i.e. the All Yorkshire Brewery Queen, and perhaps the National Brewery Queen.
Let's come to the plots. Nephew James is apparently away touring breweries in Germany, but there are a whole series of problems at the Brewery causing stress to William - e.g. lost orders, someone has sabotaged the new ale, etc. Eleanor persuades him to get help. He has heard good reports about Jim Sykes, contacts Kate and so gets Mr Sykes to come to work as his assistant and trouble shooter. Jim is shown round by Joe Finch, the drayman, and helped by Miss Crawford, William's very efficient secretary. Surprisingly Jim Sykes has somehow acquired forensic accountant skills. He discovers very poor brewery security, some pilfering and some fiddles. There is even a homeless family staying secretely every night at the Brewery, helped by Joe Finch. They are Elizabeth and John Barns, and their children Monica and Michael. The books seem OK but although the Barleycorn is sponsoring Beauty Queen Ruth - paying for grooming and even a voice and breathing coach, Miss Boland - there are no costs appearing in the accounts. Eleanor has been given carte blanche, and is overspending. Miss Crawford has been trying to tell Mr Lofthouse something, but he has never set time aside for this. He will never know what she wanted to say, as Miss Crawford, riding on her bicycle, is killed by a hit and run driver. Jim discovers there seems to be a plot to ruin the Barleycorn, and he and Eleanor persuade William to call in Kate Shackleton to investigate. She is given Oak Cottage as her Masham base, which is owned by Miss Boland who lives in the neighbouring Elm Cottage. Soon Harriet, Mrs Sugden, and Sergeant dog are called in too. Kate goes to the scene of the hit and run, and speaks to the woman who lives in the nearby cottage. Amazingly, there is a talented young child there who loves to draw pictures and his sketch of the hit and run car clearly shows a Lanchester. Not many people own such a car in the area - a vital clue for the local police, i.e. Sergeant Moon.
Shares in the Brewery are split William 40%, Eleanor, 5%, James Lofthouse 10%, Mrs Tebbit 20% and Rory Tebbit 25%, and so all the others combined can outvote William and Eleanor. The plan seems to be to weaken the Brewery and take it over, but would someone kill to achieve this ? As I said before, this plot is solved half way through the book.
Plot two concerns the death of Joe Finch, found lying dead on the floor of the Fermentation Room an apparent poisoning from carbon dioxide given off by the fermentation process. Of course, it's not an accident, but is it murder ? Kate befriends Joe's wife Yvonne Finch, and gives her a lift to follow Joe's ambulance. Joe and Yvonne had had a falling out. Joe wanted to move away to a new job, but Yvonne said she would not go. As well as having all her friends here, Yvonne also had a money spinning sideline - she wrote the music, Miss Boland added the lyrics, and together they successfully got their work published. On the investigation trail, Kate wondered if the homeless family might have seen something whilst at the Brewery. John and Elizbeth Barns saw nothing, but their children told a wild story about seeing a witch with white hair and a black cloak. Kate knows such a person !
Finally I will touch on the Parnaby family story. After a barbaric cooper initiation ceremony - it's tradition - George got £1 from William Lofthose. His father demands it. George says no, they fight, and George leaves home. Slater now turns his attentions on Ruth, coveting her Beauty Queen prize money. She escapes and finds refuge with Kate and Harriet in Oak Cottage. Ruth and Harriet become good friends. Ruth is now All Yorkshire Brewery Beauty Queeen, and the National finals approach. Walking back to Oak Cottage alone, Ruth is siezed by her dad, chloroformed, and comes to in the dark and cold cellar of a demolished house. Slater plans to blackmail William Lofthouse, demanding £100 ransom for her release.
Of course, there are quite a lot of other things in this story that I have not mentioned. e.g. the hermit's cave, and Druid's Corner. Who killed Miss Crawford, who killed Joe Finch, what happens next to Annie Parnaby, and to Slater Parnaby, and to the homeless Barns family. How does Ruth get on in the National finals ? It's all solved and sorted by Kate and her crew. Read the book to find out.
I thought it was a cleverly presented, well written tale and a good read.
P.S. Jim Sykes becomes an executive director of the Barleycorn Brewery and will be required there one day a month. Kate is quite happy to agree to this.
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I read this book in October, 2023.
This is book 14 in Frances Brody's series about Kate Shackleton, private investigator. It's set in Yorkshire, in 1930. There are good mysteries to investigate and solve, lot's of interesting period background, and strong personal lives stories for us to follow. In brief, it's a good series. I'll start by introducing the main characters, then say a little about the private lives stories, and then conclude with the main plots.
The main characters : Kate Shackleton lives in Batswing Cottage with her housekeeper Mrs Sugden, who also now helps out with investigations. Mrs Sugden is learning to drive. Kate's main helper is Jim Sykes, an ex policeman. Jim is married to Rosie, and they have a family of three, daughter Irene, and two boys. The action takes place in Saltaire, which is dominated by Salts Mill, and Milner Field Mansion, both owned by the wealthy Whitaker family. Pamela Whitaker is their daughter. The Cresswell family live in Milner Field Lodge - Mrs Cresswell and her husband Ronald, Ronnie their 22 year old son, Stephen (19), and Mark (15). There is also young Nancy Cresswell. Ronnie and Pamela Whitaker are in love, and want to get married, but both families are against it. Mrs Whitaker's wants Pamela to marry her godson, Kevin Foxcroft. David Fairburn is the maintenance manager at Salt's Mill, Ronnie Cresswell his assistant. Aldous Garner is the Milner Field estate manager. Finally let's mention Uncle Nick to everyone -old Nick Reeves.
Personal Lives :There are several interlinked stories here. The first is partly told in flashback and concerns old Uncle Nick, his teacher Miss Mason and an old shepherdess story. There is also Rosie's Sykes story, and a little bit about Kate. The shepherdess story starts hundreds of years ago - the king, out hunting in the forest, came across a shepherdess, ravished her, and threw the body down an old well. Legend is that the shepherdess bones cry out for christian burial, and curse the land and what is built on it. About 60 years ago, Nick lived with his grandmother in a shed in Milner Field. He brought up an old bone and showed it to her, but was told to bury it. There had been an old mansion there built in 1550, but demolished and a grand new one was being built - Milner Field Mansion. Workmen had been digging near the old mansion gates, and as the ground was still soft, Nick buried his bone there. Nick's grandmother died, and was buried in a grave whose headstone showed many names - it was a pauper's grave. Nick visited every Sunday, with flowers and also threw lots of flowers down the well for the shepherdess. Nick stayed on and attended school for half a day each day. Nick liked his kind teacher Miss Mason. A new boy Billy turned up, and Miss Mason seated him beside Nick, explaining the boys were cousins. They looked alike, but Nick was kind, and Billy was not, a liar, and untrustworthy.
One day, walking down by the canal, Nick heard an agonised cry, and found Miss Mason in some bushes, giving birth to a stillborn baby. She asks Nick for help, he goes back to her cottage, fetches a towel, and a large overcoat, and helps her get home. She asks Nick to keep this a secret. Unfortunately Billy has seen it too, and threatens to tell unless Nick makes it worth his while. Nick shows Billy how to to get into the Mansion and playing together there beside the deep shaft of an old dumb waiter, Billy slips. Nick grabs him, but then lets go, and Billy falls to his death. Nick knew Billy would never have kept the secret. Nick goes home and claims to know nothing about Billy's death. Later Miss Mason says she is being watched by her neighbours, and asks if Nick knows anywhere she might bury a small bundle. Nick digs a hole beside where he buried the shepherdess bone, telling the bone it will have a baby for company. Now, 60 years later, in 1930, Billy and Miss Mason are still alive, and at her 90th birthday party, Miss Mason tells Nick to show an old pupil of hers, now an undertaker, where the bundle was buried. When Miss Mason dies, she wants her baby to be dug up in secret, and buried with her. There is a lovely conclusion to this story when Jim Sykes, late at night, finds Uncle Nick and the undertaker digging by the old gates. He insists on helping, finds an old rotting leather bag, opens it, and hears the full story. We are in your hands, sir, says the undertaker. Jim says he will take the bag, and return it's contents in a more fitting manner. He is up most of the night constructing a small coffin, varnishing it, and lining it with padding and velvet. In a nice bit of symmetry, the burial of this small baby will be matched by the birth of another. A lovely touch by the author.
Rosie's story starts with Rosie feeling unwell - stomach pains. The doctor wants a second opinion, and has her admitted to St James' Hospital. She is given a patient number - these numbers and the patients condition are posted outside the hospital daily, and also in the local paper. Visiting is by pass only, and permitted once a week on Sunday. Jim is worried sick, but hears little other than "comfortable". Later, with no explanation, Jim is asked to visit the hospital. He rushes there fearing the worst. The author keeps us in suspense. Eventually we discover that when Jim visited he was surprised to be lead past wards where he heard babies cry, and even more surprised to find Rosie holding someone's baby. Rosie has given birth to a baby girl. She had had three children, but had no idea she was pregnant. Much later, Kate visits,and is asked to be the baby's godmother. Also the baby will be named Catherine, after Kate.
Finally, I mentioned Kate's story. Ronnie Cresswell had sent for Kate, but was murdered before he could meet her. Kate tried to find out what Ronnie wanted to tell her, and several suggestions are made, but she only finds the real reason when Ronald Cresswell, Ronnie's father, takes her aside. Very unusually for him, he talks of the war, and says his medical officer was Captain Gerald Shackleton, from Leeds. He was greatly respected by all the men, and loved to get Kate's letters. He had just read one on the day of the big explosion that killed him. Ronnie said he should tell Kate, and that's why Ronnie wrote to her. Kate is deeply touched.The main plots : It's 1930, and 22 year old Ronnie Cresswell writes to Kate, asking her to visit at 6 pm next Saturday. He lives in Milner Field Lodge in Saltaire. He has a story about the past that Kate will want to hear. Kate visits, calls at the Lodge, but Ronnie is not there, and his mum invites Kate in to wait. David Fairburn is the maintenance manager at Salts Mill, and had trained Ronnie Cresswell. There is something wrong at the Mill reservoir, and David finds Ronnie's body floating there. He rushes round to the Lodge to tell, Mrs Cresswell - Ronnie is dead, drowned, an accident. It's the curse of Milner Field, says Mrs Cresswell, we are leaving the Lodge, and will go to stay with Uncle Nick. As Kate is leaving, little Nancy Cresswell takes her aside. Pamela Whitaker, Ronnie's girlfriend ( they were going to get married) is waiting to meet him in the Orangery. Kate goes with Nancy to break the news to Pamela, and then gives Pamela a lift home. Neither family approved of the Pamela / Ronnie romance. Pamela's mother Mrs Josephine Whitaker wanted her to marry her godson, Mr Kevin Foxcroft. There had recently been a big May Ball, where Pamela and Kevin's engagement was to be announced. Pamela refused. The day was also spoiled when family silver was stolen, and one of the Mansion temporary waitresses, cleaner Gyneth Kidd left suddenly. Telling her parents "neither of you liked Ronnie", Pamela leaves home, and goes to stay with her grandmother.
Mr Whitaker calls to ask for Kate's help. He has lots of problems, and with Mrs Cresswell leaving he now has to find a new housekeeper. He needs the Milner Field Mansion spruce and tidy as the place is being auctioned soon. Also his daughter has left home. The main problem is that Salts Mill could be in trouble. He has heard that his biggest customer, Montague Burtons, may not renew their huge Mill contract for fine cloth, and Mr Whitaker suspects industrial espionage. Kate agrees to help. Jim Sykes will tackle the industrial espionage, and Mrs Sugden will start work as the new housekeeper (and undercover). Kate is curious to know why Ronnie sent for her - is there a connection with Ronnie's death? She will come to support Jim and Mrs Sugden, and all three will stay at Milner Field Mansion. She wants to find out more about the place, and is told to speak to old Uncle Nick, or the schoolteacher Miss Lee. Jim starts work, but security at the Mill seems sound with no obvious weaknesses. Jim however has a wool trade contact. Josephine Whitaker tells Kate perhaps Ronnie wanted you to investigate his cousin Billy's death, all these years ago. Kate drives Mrs Sugden to Milner Field Mansion where she will organise and oversee the staff and cleaners. There is a mix up over accommodation for Kate and Mrs Sugden. Aldous Garner, the estate manager, thinking they were cleaners, didn't want them staying there. He realises his mistake when he meets Kate, dressed in the latest Paris fashion. Aldous will not be kept on. He had been raiding the wine cellar and entertaining his friends at estate expense and had been in charge when the silver was stolen. After the auction he will take up a new position managing a racecourse. He tells Kate he has a share in a race horse with Kevin Foxcroft.
Mrs Sugden had heard that Gyneth Kidd had been the best worker at Milner Field Mansion, and goes to look for her. Gyneth's landlady tells Mrs Sugden she got a new boyfriend and left, but sent a postcard from Doncaster. Kate knows that Doncaster has a racecourse, and thinks of Aldous Garner. Eventually Kate and Mrs Sugden do find Gyneth - lying dead but still warm in a disused room at Milner Field Mansion. So now we have lots of mysteries for Kate and crew to solve - did someone kill Ronnie, who killed Gyneth Kidd, and who is the industrial spy? Clues include Kevin Foxcroft visiting the Mill with Mrs Whitaker one Saturday, and someone big, who walked with a distinctive gait, and possibly used Brylcreen, visiting the Mill reservoir when Ronnie died. Kate persuades Pamela to return and help the family business and eventually everything is solved after a series of climaxes that include little Nancy going missing, the shepherdess bones, old Nick's flowers and Mrs Sugden and Kate wrestling with a murderer. I will say no more, but leave you to read the story for yourself. At the very end, there is nice conclusion to the shepherdess story too.
All in all, a well written story, and everything makes sense in the end.
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