A better book than her first. And that’s not faint praise. Well plotted. Interesting diversions that keep interest in the characters and nice plot twists near the end. (More than 1). ( )

The pawnbroker Mr. Moony is not happy; someone pretending to pawn a pocket watch had, when Mr. Moony’s back was turned, abruptly robbed the jeweller of the contents of his safe. These included items that people had left with him with the full intention of redeeming them as soon as possible, and it is therefore an embarrassment that their trust in Mr. Moony has been so abused. He asks Kate Shackleton and Jim Sykes to approach the owners of those items and explain the situation to them. Luckily for Kate, one of the female customers lives in Harrowgate, where she herself is planning to attend an amateur play at the invitation of a new acquaintance who is directing the play. Once at Harrowgate, however, she finds herself almost literally stumbling over a murder victim - a man associated with the play and heartily disliked by pretty much the whole town. Kate’s allegiances are torn: whether to ignore the murder and continue her charge for the pawnbroker, or to put her detective skills to work on the more serious case…. This is the second Kate Shackleton novel, and our intrepid detectives have become more comfortable with each other (Mr. Sykes is even starting to drive a car!), while Kate herself is feeling more confident after having successfully solved her first paying case. In this novel, we learn a lot about stage jargon in 1920s England, as well as occurrences during the not-too-distant Boer War of 1900 and its aftermath. I enjoyed this, although I’m beginning to think that this series doesn’t quite fit the “cozy” label; yes, it has all the trappings (young woman detective, attractive settings, complicated characters and plot), but I think it might be a bit more serious than that label tends to suggest. Again, recommended! ( )

I really enjoyed the first book in the series but this story just appeared to have too much going on. It wasn’t my favorite. ( )

Another excellent murder. ( )

After an amateur production of a dramatisation of Anna of the Five Towns, Kate finds a body in a shop doorway and the lead actress goes into hiding and sends a fake ransom note to force her grandfather to give her her inheritance so she can go to RADA.

Good well-paced story which provides sympathy even for unsympathetic characters and skillfully avoids threatened toe-curling embarrassment for the reader. ( )