The Body on the Train

September 9, 2019
When Scotland Yard hits a dead end in Brody’s intricate 11th Kate Shackleton mystery (after A Snapshot of Murder), private detective Kate takes over investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an unidentified man discovered on a goods train at London’s King’s Cross Station in 1929. The Yard refuses to share any more information, citing national security. Kate’s initial inquiries reveal another unsolved murder at about the same time, and she must feel her way as she seeks answers while not treading on official toes or alarming a skittish populace. Her investigation leads her to the Midlands, where she speaks with farmers, miners, and others over a broad spectrum of society. Kate is determined to get to the truth before an innocent young man becomes a convenient scapegoat to mask bureaucratic ineptitude. This well-told tale is enriched with vignettes of daily life at a time in England when threats of strikes and fears of communist incursion were rampant. Readers must be on their toes to catch the subtle hints Brody skillfully drops. Agent: Rebecca Winfield, Rebecca Winfield Literary.

September 15, 2019
An assignment from Scotland Yard pits a clever private investigator against both ruthless killers and an establishment hoping to sweep murder under the rug. Cmdr. Woodhead of Scotland Yard asks Kate Shackleton to take on an unusual homicide thought to have been perpetrated on her home turf of Yorkshire. A body has been found at London's King's Cross Station after arriving on the so-called Rhubarb Special, which runs during the peak rhubarb-forcing season. Kate receives a colored sketch of the unidentified man, clad in his underwear, found in a potato sack, and shot in the stomach. Woodhead hints that the killing may have something to do with the 1926 general strike. Although that was three years ago, the murder may well represent a Bolshevik attempt to foment revolution. He also tells her that powerful northern industrialists and the press must be kept out of the loop. Kate can only hope that DC Yeats, her liaison with the Yard, will be more forthcoming. Yeats does give her a list of important people who shouldn't be bothered that had been removed from her original briefing and mentions that two potatoes and two gold coins were found in the sack. Giving her assistant, Mr. Sykes, and her housekeeper, Mrs. Sugden (A Snapshot of Murder, 2019, etc.), specific assignments, Kate wangles an invitation to stay with her old friend Gertrude Brockman and her husband, Benjie, a Lord Lieutenant involved in manufacturing and mining. Because some unusual calluses on the corpse's hands make Kate suspect that he may have been a golfer, she sends Sykes to question people at area courses, all the while wondering what rhubarb, gold, Bolsheviks, golf, and a demolished children's home can possibly have in common. A picture-perfect portrayal of England caught in the burgeoning class struggle between the wars.

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2019
Kate Shackleton's skill as an independent investigator in between-the-wars Britain makes her Scotland Yard's choice to learn the identity of a body found in a sack of rhubarb from the Yorkshire Triangle, the prime growing area for the spring delicacy. Kate knows important details are being kept from her about a case that appears to be the result of labor unrest. Nevertheless, she proceeds, dispatching her loyal staff, Mr. Sykes and Mrs. Sugden, to gather what information they can on the shipping of rhubarb and on another murder that took place the same night just a few miles from where the rhubarb was loaded; that one was pinned on mine-worker Stephen Walmsley. Kate, posing as a photojournalist, begins her own investigation by visiting a childhood friend, wife of the owner of the mine where Walmsley worked. Though it's not her case, Kate races to clear Walmsley before his trial while learning the true identity of the victim in the rhubarb. Another fine entry in a consistently satisfying historical-mystery series that combines a strong lead with crisp plotting and appealing period ambience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)