‘Has a charm, and mystery, all of its own’ THE TIMES

‘Frances Brody has made it to the top rank of crime writers’ DAILY MAIL

The first historical mystery in a new classic crime series from bestselling author Frances Brody. This is the perfect locked room page-turner for fans of Agatha Christie and Jacqueline Winspear.

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1. A job in the Prison Service is not for everyone. The training is hard, the cells are bleak and a thick skin is needed. But for Nell Lewis, helping prisoners is something she cares about deeply, and when she’s promoted into a new post as governor of HMP Brackerley in Yorkshire, she’s tasked with transforming the renowned run-down facility into a modern, open prison for women.

Just as Nell is settling into her new role, events take a dark turn when a man’s body is discovered in the prison grounds. The mystery deepens still when one of their female inmates goes missing, ensuing a search across the country.

Can Nell resolve the sinister happenings at HMP Brackerley, before anyone else is put in danger?

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What readers are saying about Frances Brody:

‘Witty, acerbic and very, very perceptive’ Ann Cleeves

‘A splendid heroine’ Ann Granger

‘An engagingly forthright and indefatigable investigator’ Irish Times

‘Frances Brody matches a heroine of free and independent spirit with a vivid evocation of time and place … a novel to cherish’ Barry Turner, Daily Mail

‘The series is right up there with Miss Marple’ Sunday Sport

‘Delightful’ People’s Friend

‘Kate Shackleton joins Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs in a subgroup of young, female amateur detectives who survived and were matured by their wartime experiences’ Literary Review

‘Brody’s excellent mystery splendidly captures the conflicts and attitudes of the time with well-developed characters’ RT Book Reviews

‘In Yorkshire we are proud to have such a first-rate crime novelist in our county’ Yorkshire Gazette & Herald