DEATH IN THE STARS (2018)

Death in the Stars , A Kate Shackleton Mystery by Frances Brody

This is the ninth book in the series that features private inquiry agent, Kate Shackleton, a WWI widow and former VAD nurse. The setting of this novel begins with the craze surrounding the eclipse of 1927. Music Hall star, Selina Fellini, has been invited to the Giggleswick School as part of the festivities. She asks Kate to arrange for an airplane to take her, her friend and fellow performer, Billie Moffatt to Yorkshire for the viewing. Selina also requests that Kate go with them on the flight and later attend the eclipse. During the eclipse, Billy disappears and is found by the schoolboys in a coma. What Selina hasn’t told Kate is that there have been two other deaths of members of the company. When Billy dies, Selina asks Kate to investigate the deaths.

Reviewer: Joy Rosynek

In this well researched English cozy, Brody gives plenty of background on the excitement surrounding the eclipse, in which the school actually was a site for the Royal Astronomer’s effort to capture all of the scientific data. Brody also lets the reader in on the changes that are occurring in the theater as movies and radios start to replace the experience of going to the music halls. It also highlights the plight of the performers, who no longer have a place in this new world of technology. Featured in the book are Kate’s two longtime associates, retired policeman, Jim Sykes and her housekeeper, Mrs. Sudgen. Their insight into the working class is helpful in bringing a solution to the mystery of what has happened to Billy and others in the acting company.

 

Hardcover:  390 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (February 13, 2018)  
ISBN: 978-1-250-15479-8