|
Kate Shackleton Murder Mystery Series -
Book III
Frances Brody
Piatkus (little, Brown)
1 March 2012 / ISBN-13: 9780749954871
Mystery / 1923 / Yorkshire, England
Amazon
US
- UK
Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
Twelve-year-old Harriet and her little brother, Austin, have gone
to the quarry where their mason father works to take him his tea.
When they get there, it is to find him seemingly unconscious - or
dead - on the floor. They go to the nearby farm for help, but when
help comes, the body has vanished, or was it ever there? The local
policeman thinks that Harriet is making it all up, but the children's
mother has other ideas and contacts Kate Shackleton for aid in solving
the mystery. She has her own special reason for doing so…
Told alternately in Kate's own words and a third person viewpoint
when Kate is absent, this novel paints a convincing picture of life
in rural Yorkshire during the 1920s. This is a period when the war
is not long past, and life is still fairly feudal. The local lord
of the manor has his rights and the working man and his family do
not, although certain people are trying to change all that. There
is a contrast, too, between Kate's comfortable life and that of
the Armstrong family, and it is the well drawn historical background
that makes this book interesting to read and very much about contrasts.
The plot itself could do with a bit of editing, as, frankly, it
is rather on the slow side and would be all the better for a bit
more momentum. However, in delving more deeply into the lives of
the characters involved, this does become more than just another
historical whodunit, and drawing upon earlier plot strands makes
for a more well-rounded tale.
|
