A Snapshot of Murder by Frances Brody

Fans of this series will be glad to hear that the tenth book, A Snapshot of Murder, which takes our protagonist Kate Shackleton to Brontë country, is now available in paperback. Our sleuthing heroine is visiting the area with fellow members of a photographic club, who in addition to rambling the moors with cameras poised, attend the opening of the Haworth parsonage as a museum to celebrate the famous authors.  The Yorkshire Moors in 1928, an atmospheric setting for this entertaining cosy crime book and a perfect place for a murder. 

‘Cosy Crime’ is a subsection of a genre you either love or hate. I happen to greatly enjoy an occasional foray into a type of crime book which pays homage to Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. The post WWI setting offers scope for historical research and interesting detail, and the author Frances Brody kindly obliges. It’s all about psychology, understanding what makes individuals tick, what motivates them. And it’s all about subtlety too – no great car chases or torture scenes. In a world where justice seems like an elusive dream, I can’t decide what’s more reassuring and satisfying, that an annoying git gets murdered or that Kate can solve this challenging puzzle.

Published by Piatkus in paperback, £8.99