A Mansion for Murder (Kate Shackleton mysteries, 13)
1930: Kate Shackleton, war widow and private investigator, comes to Saltaire, Yorkshire to meet Ronnie Cresswell, a 22-year-old mill worker who has written that he has something to tell her, a story about the past that he knows will be of interest to her. Before they are able to meet, he is discovered drowned, and it soon emerges that he was murdered. Kate is soon caught up in the affairs of the dead man’s family and friends, while his employer, Mr Whitaker, enlists her help both to prepare the abandoned mansion of Milner Field for auction and to discover who is conspiring against him to undercut his prices and put him out of business.
Kate, her assistant, Jim Sykes, and housekeeper, Mrs Sugden, soon discover that Ronnie’s is not the first mysterious death associated with Milner Field and that the house is locally regarded as cursed. The investigation becomes more complex as they are caught up in a web of deception and deceit. Brody skillfully weaves all the threads, past and present, into an intricate pattern where, ultimately, all secrets are revealed.
The setting of 1930s Saltaire, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, and the insights into the Yorkshire Wool Exchange of the past add to the charm of this novel. Although one of a series, A Mansion for Murder can be read as a stand-alone mystery. Recommended.
