Murder is in the Air: A Kate Shackleton Mystery (Hardcover)

Frances Brody's twelfth Kate Shackleton mystery will positively intoxicate fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Nicola Upson.

A competition for the crown proves deadly when confidences are betrayed and secrets are spilled.

North Yorkshire, 1930. It's the season for warm and spirited countryside celebrations. Ever since the war, pubs have been in the doldrums, and in an attempt to promote and breathe new life back into the business, brewers select a charismatic employee as local queen--to be the face of their industry. And this year's queen, wages clerk Ruth Parnaby, has invited the ever intrepid Kate Shackleton and her niece Harriet to accompany her on public engagements at a garden party thrown in her honor. But when Ruth leads children to the stables for pony rides, the drayman is missing, later found in the last place imaginable--the fermentation room, deceased.

What looked to be a simple case of asphyxiation in the dangerous fermentation room is quickly clarified by the pathologist as murder--the drayman was already dead before he was taken into the room. Someone was looking to cover it up. The horse dealer who sold the pony to the drayman comes under suspicion, but more and more Ruth's nasty father, Slater Parnaby's strong motive to dissuade his daughter from any festivities lingers in Kate's mind, despite his having an alibi. The case is muddy, at best, and it's going to take Kate at her keenest to decipher the truth.
Frances Brody lives in Leeds where she was born and grew up. After leaving school at 16, she worked and traveled, including a spell in New York. She then won a place at Ruskin College, Oxford, and afterwards studied at York University. Before creating the Kate Shackleton mysteries, Frances wrote historical sagas, winning the HarperCollins Elizabeth Elgin award for most regionally evocative debut saga of the millennium. When not writing or reading, Frances likes to test her less than brilliant map reading skills by walking in the Yorkshire Dales.
Product Details ISBN: 9781643854663
ISBN-10: 1643854666
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: October 6th, 2020
Pages: 336
Language: English
Series: A Kate Shackleton Mystery
Praise for Murder is in the Air:
“An engrossing look at women's place in society."
—Kirkus Reviews

“Smooth prose and nice local color.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A must-read...Charming, humorous, accurate, and engaging.”
Seattle Book Review

“A magnificent job.”
—MyShelf

"[Murder is in the Air has] an atmospheric period backdrop [with] layered interactions [that] give flesh to characters"
—Historical Novel Society

Praise for The Body on the Train:
“This well-told tale is enriched with vignettes of daily life at a time in England...Readers must be on their toes to catch the subtle hints Brody skillfully drops.”
—Publishers Weekly

"The threads are all pulled neatly together by the end."
—Historical Novels Society
 
“Author Frances Brody’s clever and realistic storytelling gives the reader a picturesque look into the dark underground of England in the 1920s.”
—Manhattan Book Review

Praise for A Snapshot of Murder:
“Absolutely captivating! With charm, skill, and spot-on insight, the talented Frances Brody expertly transports us to Yorkshire, 1928—and we are thrilled to be there. You'll adore the wonderfully atmospheric dialogue and put Brody on your bookshelves with Bowen and Winspear.”
—Hank Phillippi Ryan, national bestselling author of Trust Me

“A strong historical-mystery series; perfect for fans of post-WWI detectives, including Maisie Dobbs and Bess Crawford.”
—Booklist

“Well-crafted… Kate is someone readers will want to see a lot more of.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Brody's writing is like her central character Kate Shackleton: witty, acerbic and very, very perceptive.”
—Ann Cleeves, award-winning author of the Vera Stanhope mysteries

 “I lost a day's work because of this novel. I couldn't put it down. Kate Shackleton is a delightful heroine—smart, strong, and independent. Treat yourself to a trip back to 1920s Britain.”
—Elaine Viets, author of Ice Blonde

"Get your copy and settle down for a trip to an earlier, gentler, and simpler time, where intrigue and murder were the name of the game."
—MyShelf