Probably not best to start with the 12th book in an ongoing series, I suppose... I struggled with the very bland main/recurring characters and the lack of proper historical ground to start with -- Murder in the Air is set in the North of England in 1930 but I'd forgotten this by the time the review copy hit my Kindle, and there were almost no context clues for the first few chapters. I shouldn't have to Google to know what time period a story is set in!

However, the plot did hot up eventually and I found the village characters quite compelling, as well as the brewery setting.

This newest Kate Shackleton mystery, taking place in 1920s Great Britain, has Kate, a private inquiry agent, and her partner, Jim Sykes, hired to look in at the Barleycorn Brewery in Yorkshire, owned by William Lofthouse. Lofthouse, newly married to a young wife, and, wishing to turn more of the running of the company over to his nephew James, hopes Kate and Sykes will spot some little problems that he thinks are keeping the company from running at top efficiency. In the meantime, the brewery is drumming up favorable publicity by promoting a local girl, Ruth Parnaby, who's a whiz in the personnel department, as "brewery queen," a twist on a beauty queen—if Ruth's efforts aren't sabotaged by her drunken father, who's already driven his wife away with both Ruth and young George longing to follow her.

Two plots are running here concurrently: the mystery of who might be sabotaging things at the brewery (a recent new beer was fouled with dirt and rubbish) and also a mystery surrounding one of the workers. It's possible they are both linked, but when two different murders happen, Kate and Sykes discover there are no simple answers in this one.

Brody addresses PTSD (Ruth's dad was not a brute before his war service) and spousal and child abuse against the colorful traditional goings-on in the Great Britain of that era of crowning a pretty young girl "queen" of a certain industry (cloth mills, railways, coal mines) to perk up tough times in industrial towns. Brody reverses the usual "the mysteries are connected" plot in this story, so there are several different endings to several different crimes, leading to several different cliffhangers, and once again Kate's niece Harriet and landlady Mrs. Sugden prove themselves equal to being part of the solution. The local characters (Ruth, George, Annie, Parnaby, Joe Finch, Miss Crawford, William and Eleanor Lofthouse, Miss Boland the music teacher) are all interesting characters in their own right, and several of them will have your sympathy before the story is concluded.

Murder is in the Air – Frances Brody
I’m in two minds about this book – the story is well told and I really enjoyed the atmosphere Brody creates and how her female characters are refreshingly feisty, strong and intelligent.
But for anyone like me who is new to this series, it’s frustratingly hard to get to grips with who all the recurring characters are. There’s an assumption made that readers will all be familiar with their backstories and descriptions from previous books and so we are told nothing about them or the period in which the story is set. It’s a strange omission and disappointing as it would be so easy to set each character up with just one line and snippets of information as the story unfolds as happens in most other books that are part of an ongoing series.
This is the 12th book featuring Kate Shackleton, and it seems to be listed elsewhere with an alternative title Death and the Brewery Queen. It’s set in 1930 (and I only know this because of the publisher’s book description) in Masham, North Yorkshire, a lovely place which I have visited several times and which is indeed home to two breweries.
The clever storytelling would make me want to read more of Brody’s books, but perhaps this time I need to go back to the beginning and start with the first book in the series.

"Frances Brody's twelfth Kate Shackleton mystery will positively intoxicate fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Nicola Upson.

A competition for the crown proves deadly when confidences are betrayed and secrets are spilled.

North Yorkshire, 1930. It's the season for warm and spirited countryside celebrations. Ever since the war, pubs have been in the doldrums, and in an attempt to promote and breathe new life back into the business, brewers select a charismatic employee as local queen - to be the face of their industry. And this year's queen, wages clerk Ruth Parnaby, has invited the ever intrepid Kate Shackleton and her niece Harriet to accompany her on public engagements at a garden party thrown in her honor. But when Ruth leads children to the stables for pony rides, the drayman is missing, later found in the last place imaginable - the fermentation room, deceased.

What looked to be a simple case of asphyxiation in the dangerous fermentation room is quickly clarified by the pathologist as murder - the drayman was already dead before he was taken into the room. Someone was looking to cover it up. The horse dealer who sold the pony to the drayman comes under suspicion, but more and more Ruth's nasty father, Slater Parnaby's strong motive to dissuade his daughter from any festivities lingers in Kate's mind, despite his having an alibi. The case is muddy, at best, and it's going to take Kate at her keenest to decipher the truth."

A sign of a good series, you've hit twelve books and they still feel as fresh as the first!

The title "Murder Is In The Air" tugged at my curiosity and imagination...what could "in the air" be?

Set in 1930 post-war England, in a bid to revitalize towns and industries, exceptional female employees from several districts are selected to compete to become "queen". This includes public events, contests and speeches by contestants. But this is interrupted by murder. Kate Shackleton, a private investigator, had been invited to the events prior to this so did some digging along with her colleague, Sykes. Not only was there murder but other mysteries as well.

Interesting characters emerge from the beginning. This book contains family drama and secrets during a historically important era.

My favourite parts about this book are the mystery within a mystery, the fascinating historical tidbits and glimpses of real life and emotions. Unlike some cozies, this is not dumbed down in writing style for the reader. I enjoyed the pacing and the book was difficult to put down.

My recommendation is to read the series from the beginning (I love this author!), though this could be read as a standalone.

On the date of publication I will add reviews to Amazon and ChaptersIndigo.

My sincere thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for sending me an advance digital copy.

This 12th in the Kate Shackleton series. Brody creates unique personalities in the characters that populate this story. I enjoyed this book.

3 1/2 stars. Brody creates unique personalities in the characters that populate this story. She writes some chapters that focus on the characters unique to this particular book that do not necessarily directly move along the mystery but it gives more insight into these characters. So much so in this book, the personalities of the recurring characters seem a bit bland (though I have read others in the series so I do remember them).

Instead of one mystery, there turns out to be three separate matters, at one place, that are investigated by the detective agency Kate owns, instead of one mystery. I think it slows down the pace a bit.

There are interesting historical details of the brewery during this time period and the portrayal of "Queen of an industry" beauty pageant practice. These little details can inspire an entire story and gives a sense of the time.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in return for a fair review.

Murder is in the Air is the first Kate Shackleton mystery I have read and I enjoyed it very much, Kate and Sykes are good detectives but I really enjoyed how a lot of the action did not necessarily focus on them but on the characters involved in the mystery itself. This one takes revolves around a brewery and involves not just one murder, but two! Each has a different killer and motive but weave together beautifully. I shall definitely be reading additional Kate Shackleton mysteries in the future!

This is the 12th book in the series and it was another enjoyable historical procedural-type mystery. The series is definitely best read from the beginning since each book, this one included, tends to jump right into the story without much additional information about the protagonist and other characters. This definite reads like a British historical mystery as opposed to American authors writing British historicals - it’s just a good mystery without a lot of drama.

Full review to come on my blog closer to publication date.

I enjoyed this book, but as my first experience with a novel in this series, I felt that its strength would be as part of the series, rather than as a stand-alone reading experience.

The Publisher's Summary set the story in the 1930's--but nothing in the text gave you a specific time frame other than the manner of country living and period details of a business using horses. That felt like more than an oversight to me to start an historical novel without a time-line. And, the author must have assumed that the reader would be familiar with her protagonists, because personal details were not provided. No sense of the investigating team's appearance or age: as someone who reads for character, not plot, that deprived me of the pleasure of keenly visualizing the characters as I read this story.

I enjoyed Murder is in the Air, but it was a bit "procedural" for my taste.

NetGalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a candid review.

This 12th in the Kate Shackleton series is said to appeal to avid Maisie Dobbs fans like me. But slow-paced MURDER IS IN THE AIR, set in 1930, just wasn’t my cup of tea. Others who love old-fashioned English mysteries may find it a perfect cuppa.

3 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 06 Oct 2020

Thanks to the author, Crooked Lane Books,
and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#MurderisintheAir #NetGalley