A Snapshot Of Murder - by Frances Brody
A Snapshot of Murder
Frances Brody
4 Stars
Publisher's Blurb
Taking the perfect photograph can be murder . . .
Yorkshire, 1928. Indomitable sleuth Kate Shackleton is taking a well-deserved break from her detective work and indulging in her other passion: photography. When her local Photographic Society proposes an outing, Kate jumps at the chance to visit Haworth and Stanbury, in the heart of Brontë country, the setting for Wuthering Heights.
But when an obnoxious member of their party is murdered, the group is thrown into disarray. Is the murderer amongst them, or did the loud-mouthed Tobias have more enemies than they might have imagined?
Armed with her wit and wiles, and of course her trusty camera, it's up to Kate to crack the case, and get that perfect shot too . . .
Review
This is the first Frances Brody novel that I've read and overall it was a good well paced read and has all the hallmarks of a good murder mystery - plenty of suspects with a wide range of motives. However it all seemed a bit contrived in places and there were just too many coincidences forcing the cast of suspects together.
I feel that the identity of the murderer was somewhat telegraphed early on in the novel, even before the crime is committed but this strangely didn't detract from the enjoyability of the narrative.
I found the narration a bit strange when it flipped from Kate to the other characters as the style was from a different view but again it was only a minor annoyance and I soon got used to it.
I imagine that if you read the Kate Shackleton novels in order then there are some common themes and character development that I'm missing by reading this completely out of order.
The historical Bronte details are interesting and give the book a nice background into which the characters are thrown. It has given me an urge to read up on the Bronte family and maybe read one of their books (I know shocking isn't it - I've just never got around to reading one)
I've given this 4 out of 5 stars and with a few minor tweaks it could've been a five star read.
If you love Agatha Christie style murder mysteries then this will definitely appeal
Taking the perfect photograph can be murder . . .
Yorkshire, 1928. Indomitable sleuth Kate Shackleton is taking a well-deserved break from her detective work and indulging in her other passion: photography. When her local Photographic Society proposes an outing, Kate jumps at the chance to visit Haworth and Stanbury, in the heart of Brontë country, the setting for Wuthering Heights.
But when an obnoxious member of their party is murdered, the group is thrown into disarray. Is the murderer amongst them, or did the loud-mouthed Tobias have more enemies than they might have imagined?
Armed with her wit and wiles, and of course her trusty camera, it's up to Kate to crack the case, and get that perfect shot too . . .
Review
This is the first Frances Brody novel that I've read and overall it was a good well paced read and has all the hallmarks of a good murder mystery - plenty of suspects with a wide range of motives. However it all seemed a bit contrived in places and there were just too many coincidences forcing the cast of suspects together.
I feel that the identity of the murderer was somewhat telegraphed early on in the novel, even before the crime is committed but this strangely didn't detract from the enjoyability of the narrative.
I found the narration a bit strange when it flipped from Kate to the other characters as the style was from a different view but again it was only a minor annoyance and I soon got used to it.
I imagine that if you read the Kate Shackleton novels in order then there are some common themes and character development that I'm missing by reading this completely out of order.
The historical Bronte details are interesting and give the book a nice background into which the characters are thrown. It has given me an urge to read up on the Bronte family and maybe read one of their books (I know shocking isn't it - I've just never got around to reading one)
I've given this 4 out of 5 stars and with a few minor tweaks it could've been a five star read.
If you love Agatha Christie style murder mysteries then this will definitely appeal
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