Murder in the afternoon, Frances Brody (Piatkus, £8.99) (From York Press)

Murder in the afternoon, Frances Brody (Piatkus, £8.99)

10:20am Wednesday 25th April 2012 in Books By Bill Spence

HARRIET and Austin Armstrong go looking for their father, Ethan, who is working late at the quarry, where he is an expert stone mason.

Harriet finds his body and they run for help. When help arrives, however, the body has gone; has Ethan been merely asleep?

Their mother seeks aid from Kate Shackleton who is an amateur sleuth but an effective one, and because, unknown to Kate, they have strong background ties. As Kate investigates she finds herself thwarted when Special Branch are brought in to ask questions about Ethan, who had strong political views and had become known as an agitator.

The case taken out of her hands but and seeing someone she cares about being arrested, Kate has to take devious methods to uncover the truth.

Frances Brody is a Yorkshire author who does meticulous research for this series of, so far three, novels and so provides us with characters who we really care for and an authentic feel for the West Riding.

There are enough red-herrings to keep us guessing and the plot twists and turns throughout every chapter.

These gentle crime mysteries are simply first-class and if you haven’t read any I urge you to do so.