Death at the Seaside

Death at the Seaside by Frances Brody

Published by Piatkus

6^th October 2016

Paperback Edition

Nothing ever happens in August, and tenacious sleuth Kate Shackleton deserves a break. Heading off for a long-overdue holiday to Whitby, she visits her school friend Alma who works as a fortune teller there.

Kate had been looking forward to a relaxing seaside sojourn, but upon arrival discovers that Alma's daughter Felicity has disappeared, leaving her mother a note and the pawn ticket for their only asset: a watch-guard. What makes this more intriguing is the jeweller who advanced Felicity the thirty shillings is Jack Phillips, Alma's current gentleman friend.

Kate can't help but become involved, and goes to the jeweller's shop to get some answers. When she makes a horrifying discovery in the back room, it soon becomes clear that her services are needed. Met by a wall of silence by town officials, keen to maintain Whitby's idyllic façade, it's up to Kate - ably assisted by Jim Sykes and Mrs Sugden - to discover the truth behind Felicity's disappearance.

And they say nothing happens in August . . .



This is the eighth Kate Shackleton mystery, and is set in Whitby where Kate has ventured for a relaxing holiday to visit her old school friend Alma, and her goddaughter Felicity.  As readers of Frances Brody will know, Kate can’t go anywhere without a mystery following her, and her trip to the seaside town is of no exception.


Trawling the streets of the Whitby, Kate reminices about buying her wedding ring from the local jewellers shop, and ventures inside to buy Felicity a bracelet she has seen in the window.  However, what she doesn’t expect upon entering the shop, is to find the owner Jack Phillips, lying dead on the shop floor.  Things begin to deepen further when it turns out that Alma is in a relationship with Mr Phillips and to make matters worse, Felicity seems to have vanished but no one knows to where she has disappeared!

As a reader we do know where Felicity is going, so are privy to two sides of the story as she undertakes her own adventure; and Kate endeavours to solve the suspicious death of the jewellery shop owner and discover Felicity’s whereabouts.  Set in the 1920s this is a mostly gentle step back in time to the days when crime was no less violent than today but where the pace is so much slower.



Happy Reading



Miss Chapter x