“Reminiscent of Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie with a thoroughly likeable protagonist and a plot that held me to the end.” —Mignon F. Ballard, author of the Miss Dimple Kilpatrick Mystery Series
"[Dying in the Wool] introduces a refreshingly complex heroine and adds a fine feeling for the postwar period." —Kirkus Reviews
Take one quiet Yorkshire village
Bridgestead is a peaceful spot: a babbling brook, rolling hills and a working mill at its heart. Pretty and remote, nothing exceptional happens…
Add a measure of mystery
Until the day that Master of the Mill Joshua Braithwaite goes missing in dramatic circumstances, never to be heard of again.
A sprinkling of scandal
Now Joshua’s daughter is getting married and wants one last attempt at finding her father. Has he run off with his mistress, or was he murdered for his mounting coffers?
And Kate Shackleton—amateur sleuth extraordinaire!
Kate Shackleton has always loved solving puzzles. So who better to get to the bottom of Joshua’s mysterious disappearance in this charming traditional mystery by Frances Brody? But as Kate taps into the lives of the Bridgestead dwellers, she opens cracks that some would kill to keep closed…
From the Publisher
Praise for DYING IN THE WOOL:
“Well-plotted and atmospheric... Kate Shackleton joins Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs.” —Literary Review
“[A] winning tale.” –The Independent (UK)
“Reminiscent of Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie with a thoroughly likeable protagonist and a plot that held me to the end.” —Mignon F. Ballard, author of the Miss Dimple Kilpatrick Mystery Series
“A winning heroine, a fresh and fascinating setting, richly detailed and well-woven into the plot, and a mystery that twists and tightens and twists again...” —Catriona McPherson, author of Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Blood Stains
From the Publisher
Praise for DYING IN THE WOOL:
“Well-plotted and atmospheric... Kate Shackleton joins Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs.” —Literary Review
“[A] winning tale.” –The Independent (UK)
“Reminiscent of Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie with a thoroughly likeable protagonist and a plot that held me to the end.” —Mignon F. Ballard, author of the Miss Dimple Kilpatrick Mystery Series
“A winning heroine, a fresh and fascinating setting, richly detailed and well-woven into the plot, and a mystery that twists and tightens and twists again...” —Catriona McPherson, author of Dandy Gilver and the Proper Treatment of Blood Stains
Publishers Weekly
Amateur sleuth Kate Shackleton, whose usual avocation is searching for servicemen who went missing during the Great War, faces a tight deadline in Brody’s stately second English historical (after 2010’s A Medal for Murder). In 1922, at the behest of Tabitha Braithwaite, an acquaintance of Kate’s from the days they were both with the Voluntary Aid Detachment, Kate must find Bridgestead mill owner Joshua Braithwaite, Tabitha’s father, who disappeared in 1916, before her wedding in five weeks to Hector Gawthorpe. Rumors abounded in the local wool mills at the time that guilt-ridden Joshua, a suspected womanizer, tried to drown himself after his soldier son was killed on the Somme. A further complication was his objection to Tabitha’s marrying the unemployed Hector, who may hold a clue to Joshua’s fate. Brody takes her time drawing together the missing threads of this mostly gentle cozy. Agent: Judith Murdoch, Judith Murdoch Literary Agency. (Feb.)
Kirkus Reviews
A World War I widow takes up sleuthing. Although Kate Shackleton's husband is listed as MIA, she hasn't given up hope. Meanwhile, she's assisted others in locating their family members. But she's reluctant to help her fellow VAD friend Tabitha Braithwaite find her missing father, mill owner Joshua Braithwaite. Tabitha, who's soon to marry a much-younger man, would love to have her father walk her down the aisle, but Joshua went missing soon after he was hospitalized following a supposed suicide attempt. Even though his son had just been killed in action, he vehemently denied trying to kill himself. And why would he have tried? His mill was minting money from war contracts, and he still enjoyed quite a reputation as a ladies' man. Kate's father, a high-ranking policeman, suggests that since time is short and Tabitha is paying her, she should hire former police officer Jim Sykes to help with the legwork. Kate's investigations turn up many secrets past and present that people would prefer to remain hidden. When several people die in staged accidents, it's clear that Kate must find the killer before he strikes again. The first in a planned series introduces a refreshingly complex heroine and adds a fine feeling for the postwar period.
