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Kate Shackleton #0.5
Kate Shackleton's First Case
Yorkshire, 1921. Kate Shackleton, thirty years old, is taking tea with her friend, Doris who is on a visit from London. In the genteel environs of Harrogate's premier tea room, violence is the furthest thing from anyone's mind. But when Doris is set upon by a mystery assailant, it's up to Kate to find out why - and in doing so, she soon develops a taste for detective-work.A heroine ahead of her time, this is the story of how Kate Shackleton became Yorkshire's most tireless private investigator.
73 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 20, 2018
33 people are currently reading
692 people want to read
About the author
Frances Brody
44 books668 followersFrances Brody's highly-praised 1920s mysteries feature clever and elegant Kate Shackleton, First World War widow turned sleuth. Missing person? Foul play suspected? Kate's your woman. For good measure, she may bring along ex-policeman, Jim Sykes.
Before turning to crime, Frances wrote for radio, television and theatre, and was nominated for a Time Out Award. She published four sagas, winning the HarperCollins Elizabeth Elgin Award in 2006.
www.frances-brody.com
Before turning to crime, Frances wrote for radio, television and theatre, and was nominated for a Time Out Award. She published four sagas, winning the HarperCollins Elizabeth Elgin Award in 2006.
www.frances-brody.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 15, 2019
I actually read the printed version at the end of the UK edition of A Snapshot of Murder. This story introduces Kate a few years after the end of WWI when she is still struggling to find her place in the world after losing her husband. The story was fast paced and engaging as she helps a friend, who is threatened by a former fiance. What I most enjoyed was Kate's relationship with her twin brothers, who do not appear in the novels.
September 5, 2023
The description is misleading. This is not so much a mystery as Kate lending her support to her friend, Doris, who is stalked and attacked by her ex-fiancé. When Doris is attacked and tries to press charges, she's afraid her evil ex will get off. Kate helps Doris gather information to paint a true picture of this man's character. What they find is very chilling and leads to an actual mystery, one that is never solved.
I liked getting to know Kate better when she was a little more emotional. She was still mourning her husband, believing he would return home some day. She lives alone and is lonely. Her mother would have Kate return home to be her companion/unpaid housekeeper and Kate doesn't really want that but she's lost and doesn't know what to do. Her brother has the perfect solution and it gives an origin story to the detecting team we know and care about. It was fun to meet Kate's brothers. From the way their mother talks about them I assumed they were just out of school, young adults, but now they're adults and have been through the war already. One is practical and handy with his hands while the other is more cerebral, a lawyer but his heart isn't in it. It's sweet how they look after each other and their sister.
Doris is a fun character. She's a little scatterbrained and weak at times but she's dedicated to becoming an actress and has stuck with it. Doris was a Daddy's girl and she's sentimental and attached to his memory and the matchstick cathedral he made. Doris isn't happy about how comfortable a neighboring farmer has made himself in her mother's home but her mother needs help on the farm so I can see why he's taken advantage of the situation. I don't think he's cruel, just thoughtless and dismissive of the concerns of women.
Trigger Warning:
Spoilers ahead
While I liked this story, it needs to come with a trigger warning. It may not be accessible for everyone, particularly women like Doris.
I liked getting to know Kate better when she was a little more emotional. She was still mourning her husband, believing he would return home some day. She lives alone and is lonely. Her mother would have Kate return home to be her companion/unpaid housekeeper and Kate doesn't really want that but she's lost and doesn't know what to do. Her brother has the perfect solution and it gives an origin story to the detecting team we know and care about. It was fun to meet Kate's brothers. From the way their mother talks about them I assumed they were just out of school, young adults, but now they're adults and have been through the war already. One is practical and handy with his hands while the other is more cerebral, a lawyer but his heart isn't in it. It's sweet how they look after each other and their sister.
Doris is a fun character. She's a little scatterbrained and weak at times but she's dedicated to becoming an actress and has stuck with it. Doris was a Daddy's girl and she's sentimental and attached to his memory and the matchstick cathedral he made. Doris isn't happy about how comfortable a neighboring farmer has made himself in her mother's home but her mother needs help on the farm so I can see why he's taken advantage of the situation. I don't think he's cruel, just thoughtless and dismissive of the concerns of women.
Trigger Warning:
Spoilers ahead
While I liked this story, it needs to come with a trigger warning. It may not be accessible for everyone, particularly women like Doris.
March 13, 2022
A short story which gives Kate's back story and written after several of the books had already been published. I guess with the success of the series, readers wanted to know more about Kate and Frances Brody obliged. Easy, quick read which I enjoyed. Recommended, especially if you are enjoying the series.
August 31, 2018
Great introduction to Kate Shackleton - recommend all of the series!
September 9, 2018
A novella that introduces the rest of the series - written later. This fills in a few missing gaps but has put me on until the next one in the series which is out in October!
September 27, 2022
Well . . .
If you have read all of the Kate Shackleton novels, eagerly look forward to the next one and are an all around Kate fan, you will probably want to read this because that is what we of that ilk do. . .
Anyone else? Don't bother. Read the novels instead. Then, if you are so inclined, you can read this.
The first thing I ask of a mystery novel or novella is that it be well plotted around a well constructed mystery. Did this meet that threshold criterion? Well, it isn't exactly badly plotted. It is more like it isn't plotted at all. And the mystery isn't badly constructed. It isn't constructed at all. There is no mystery.
There is a narrative of things that happened, of course, but there is no dramatic tension, no mystery, no suspense, no excitement, no anything, really, that turns a narrative of events into a plot. It's more like a vignette than a novella. "Here is a slice of our heroine's career which kind of explains how she got into the detective trade in the first place."
One can imagine Ms. Brody's editor and agent getting together over a drink and one of them saying "Frances's Shackleton novels have sold real well and she has a solid fan base but she went on vacation and it's going to be a while till she has another novel ready. What can we do to keep the readers hooked."
The other responds "I know-- let's have her put together a little piece showing how Kate found her calling. She is a good enough writer she can do that in a weekend!" And thus this little whatever it is was born.
All that being said, it is not an unpleasant or boring read. It just isn't a mystery or a novella or very satisfying to a fan who was expecting something in the same nature as the novels, but shorter. And it is, after all, plainly being marketed as a mystery.
If you have read all of the Kate Shackleton novels, eagerly look forward to the next one and are an all around Kate fan, you will probably want to read this because that is what we of that ilk do. . .
Anyone else? Don't bother. Read the novels instead. Then, if you are so inclined, you can read this.
The first thing I ask of a mystery novel or novella is that it be well plotted around a well constructed mystery. Did this meet that threshold criterion? Well, it isn't exactly badly plotted. It is more like it isn't plotted at all. And the mystery isn't badly constructed. It isn't constructed at all. There is no mystery.
There is a narrative of things that happened, of course, but there is no dramatic tension, no mystery, no suspense, no excitement, no anything, really, that turns a narrative of events into a plot. It's more like a vignette than a novella. "Here is a slice of our heroine's career which kind of explains how she got into the detective trade in the first place."
One can imagine Ms. Brody's editor and agent getting together over a drink and one of them saying "Frances's Shackleton novels have sold real well and she has a solid fan base but she went on vacation and it's going to be a while till she has another novel ready. What can we do to keep the readers hooked."
The other responds "I know-- let's have her put together a little piece showing how Kate found her calling. She is a good enough writer she can do that in a weekend!" And thus this little whatever it is was born.
All that being said, it is not an unpleasant or boring read. It just isn't a mystery or a novella or very satisfying to a fan who was expecting something in the same nature as the novels, but shorter. And it is, after all, plainly being marketed as a mystery.
July 25, 2023
I stumbled on this novella while cruising through choices on my local elibrary. A quick read, it has everything a reader wants in a mystery. Kate is celebrating her friend, Doris' birthday with lunch at a popular eatery. When Doris goes to the powder room a man follows her. Kate, worried for her friend's safety, follows and discovers the man trying to strangle Doris. After the assailant is arrested and taken away Doris explains to Kate that she'd been engaged to the man at one time but broke it off. When they learn, through Kate's solicitor brother that the assailant plans to plead innocent and twist events to blame Doris, Kate feels she must investigate to help her friend. A nice introduction to the character. Looking forward to reading more of the series.
July 10, 2023
After WWI, with her husband missing and presumed dead, Kate has to figure out how to go ahead with her life without getting trapped into going back to live with her parents. When she saves her friend Doris from a murderous attack by an ex-fiancé, it starts Kate on a new path.
While in the past I have liked that the author’s plots didn’t follow a standard structure, the tone here was so dispassionate it didn’t really work. It felt more like a long summary than a story—more telling than showing. Interesting to learn more about Kate’s brothers and how she started her career, but this felt a little phoned in.
While in the past I have liked that the author’s plots didn’t follow a standard structure, the tone here was so dispassionate it didn’t really work. It felt more like a long summary than a story—more telling than showing. Interesting to learn more about Kate’s brothers and how she started her career, but this felt a little phoned in.
September 15, 2024
2024 bk 138. Well - actually more like a short story - but a very well done tale of how Kate Shackleton came to have a housekeeper and how she came to her job as an investigator of missing persons and other problems not quite requiring the police. Very well done look at the time period almost immediately after the war. Along the way it explains why so few of the women who worked as VAD nurses during WWI continued in their nursing careers after the war. I am so glad that Brody wrote this story - and I wish I had stumbled across it earlier in the series.
April 15, 2022
Didn't do my research and so didn't realise this was a short story. Like most short stories it skims the surface. I prefer longer stories where something really happens and there is time for the characters to develop. I liked the main character but her friend was not so clear. OK but I think it would be better to call it something different as I don't think it should be read before you've read some of the series as people and ideas seemed to appear abruptly with no introduction.
December 30, 2022
A quick read. Not really a mystery, but an introduction to the character who appears in this series.
As they are having tea together in Harrogate, a young actress friend of Kay is attacked by a rejected suitor. A great actor, he's pleading innocence, audaciously trying to cast blame the two ladies for his predicament. Doris, the actress, needs Kay's help to see he's properly dealt with by the law.
As they are having tea together in Harrogate, a young actress friend of Kay is attacked by a rejected suitor. A great actor, he's pleading innocence, audaciously trying to cast blame the two ladies for his predicament. Doris, the actress, needs Kay's help to see he's properly dealt with by the law.
February 10, 2023
I should have noticed that the book is a novella. Short....very short. I do not understand the price of the book for what is presented to the reader. It is only available as a Kindle book. What!?!? I see it as a "wannabe" mystery and a weak imitation of the Maisie Dobbs books - similar time, setting, main character, and dilemma. I feel duped by the praise for this book.
March 23, 2023
This is a short novella to accompany the regular series. It is a bit of a back story to how Kate Shackleton became the Kate Shackleton we know. It includes family and friends and some background to her husband's story too.
There is no real mystery as you know what has happened from the get go, nevertheless it was a good read.
There is no real mystery as you know what has happened from the get go, nevertheless it was a good read.
June 28, 2023
Whilst I didn't mind this short story, the formatting on Kindle was terrible, with no scene breaks or anything, so you could suddenly lurch from one scene to another in a completely different timeframe and location between paragraphs.
I should also clarify that it isn't a mystery, it's more an evidence gathering exercise to prove that a bad man is, in fact, a bad man.
I should also clarify that it isn't a mystery, it's more an evidence gathering exercise to prove that a bad man is, in fact, a bad man.
May 19, 2024
Was disappointed that there was really no mystery. Events in the story seemed to end abruptly and then move on to something else. I did enjoy finding out about
Kate’s family, her brothers, in particular. But I found out that they don’t appear in the series as it continues. I doubt that I would read any more of this series. Just not enough action and excitement in her writing.
Kate’s family, her brothers, in particular. But I found out that they don’t appear in the series as it continues. I doubt that I would read any more of this series. Just not enough action and excitement in her writing.
April 1, 2024
A quick and enjoyable read. Nothing revolutionary, nothing too mysterious to solve, but nice characters and setting, and I appreciated that it was a quick read. I think I’ll read others in this series.
January 3, 2025
A rock bun, a jilted fiancé, an attempted murder and a death.
There’s a lot packed into this jaunty, fast paced short story set in 1921 with plucky Kate Shackleton.
I really enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to continuing on with this series.
There’s a lot packed into this jaunty, fast paced short story set in 1921 with plucky Kate Shackleton.
I really enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to continuing on with this series.
April 23, 2020
Short stories. A great for Late fans.
July 30, 2021
Enjoyable read for the first in a series. Hopefully the rest will get stronger plots and characters
August 30, 2021
Disappointed - love the series - was looking for a bit more insight - ended up with a story but no mystery
October 17, 2022
So nice to get a glimpse of Kate's start to her business and the relationship she had with her brothers.
December 18, 2022
I love these mysteries.
March 21, 2023
Kate Shackleton,s first case
A quick read .. indeed
I like these books . Areas based on where I live. Hope the story follows in the next book.
A quick read .. indeed
I like these books . Areas based on where I live. Hope the story follows in the next book.
April 12, 2023
An enjoyable short mystery, the first in the series.
October 24, 2023
Kindle book — short novella. Great plot, interesting characters, fun read.
January 3, 2024
Very short quirky introduction to this detective series. I liked it but will reserve judgement until I’m able to read the first proper book in the series.
February 25, 2024
Refreshing to read a clean mystery.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews