Writers Who Kill: An Interview With Frances Brody

by Grace Topping

I’m a big fan of historical mysteries and books by Frances Brody. Her Kate Shackleton mysteries are set in various locations in Yorkshire, England, where she lives. Her vivid descriptions of the towns there could almost serve as a travel guide to that area of England. After reading her book, Death by the Seaside, I made it a point to travel to Whitby in Yorkshire. In her latest mystery, A Mansion for Murder, Frances again delivers on location being another character in her books.

A Mansion for Murder

When Kate Shackleton disembarks at Saltaire station, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, she has no idea what to expect. A stranger, Ronnie Creswell, has written to say that he has urgent information about the past that will interest her, and he persuades her to make the journey to Milner Field, the grand house that is said to be cursed. But moments after Kate arrives at the lodge, a messenger brings devastating news to Ronnie’s parents: he has been found drowned in the mill reservoir.

Ronnie’s father suspects that this was no accident, and the post-mortem proves him right. Ronnie was murdered. Terrified and distraught, Mrs. Creswell refuses to stay at the Lodge a moment longer. But events take an even more shocking turn when ten-year-old Nancy Creswell, eyes and ears for her blind Uncle Nick, goes missing. An account of the fateful Saturday of Ronnie’s death arouses Kate’s suspicions, and further investigations could prove her right. But truth is never so straightforward at Milner Field. Uncle Nick spins an old story that could hold the key to finding Nancy alive—though the fabled curse may not have claimed its last victim yet. And only a set of old bones buried on the grounds will finally reveal the horrifying truth.

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Welcome to Writers Who Kill, Frances.

You’ve said that Kate Shackleton stepped from your family album like the genie summoned from the lamp. Sounds like there’s an interesting story there. Please tell us about it.

Photographs can be a source of inspiration for an author. They mark stages in a person’s life: babies in their birthday suits; head and shoulders shots taken by the education department’s official school photographer; department store photos of a dodgy-looking Father Christmas and a hopeful but uneasy child; seaside snaps taken in the moment before someone does a wobbly and kicks down the sandcastle.

The practice from the twenties seems to have been that at age twenty-one, a young person, including those of limited means, would don their Sunday best and visit a photographic studio.

We have family albums dating back to the early years of the last century. One such young person jumped out at me. She has the 1920s style of clothing and sleek hair. At about twenty years old, she is younger than Kate Shackleton who, in 1922 when my series begins, is thirty-one years old and a widow. The young woman from the album whose image helped me create Kate was a family friend about whom I knew very little. This felt safer than picking out someone from our family.

The books in your series are set in various locations in Yorkshire, England. Do you have a favorite location, or one you have yet to use but would like to?

Until I finish a book, I do not know where Kate will go next. When I came to the end of the twelfth book, Death and the Brewery Queen, the idea popped into my head that I would go to Saltaire, a town built by wealthy millowner Sir Titus Salt to house his workers and provide them with churches, schools, and hospital. Straightaway, the little voice in my head said, “No! You have already written Dying in the Wool, a book set around a millowner and a mill. Don’t repeat yourself.”

Despite the nay-saying inner voice, I took the train to Saltaire to meet a friend and go for a walk. She said, “Have you ever been to Milner Field?” I hadn’t. Milner Field was the site of Titus Salt Junior’s fabulous but ill-fated mansion. We walked around the ruins. I had come to the right place for a story.

A Mansion for Murder is the thirteenth book in your Kate Shackleton series. How do you manage to keep the books fresh after writing so many?

Thank you for those kind words. I honestly don’t know the answer. I chanced on an early review that I had forgotten about. It read: “Frances Brody has that indefinable talent of the born storyteller.” That pleased me because it is simple, with no flags and banners.

I come from a family of storytellers. I’ve always told stories, always written stories. Some small thing sparks an idea. The story unfolds. I don’t make it up. I find it by a combination of luck and effort. To define it would be risky.

Over the course of the series, how much has Kate changed? Or has she?

This is a hard question for me. I think a reader might answer it better. If I start to analyze Kate, I have a feeling she’ll pack her bags.

Books in the Kate Shackleton series have been translated into German. Do you make appearances in Germany? Any other translations?

I have been to Germany a few times. I’m currently working with German writer friends on a German-UK story anthology. As to other translations, no, not yet.

You’ve had an interesting career, starting with taking a job in Manhattan—quite an adventure for a nineteen-year-old from Yorkshire, England. For our American readers, how was that experience?

Wonderful! I worked as a secretary for five years and made some good friends. It was a great place to be young. I brought my portable typewriter with me to New York and attended an evening class in short story writing at City College.

Early in your career, you wrote plays for the BBC. Can they still be heard on the radio or found online? Did this experience inspire you to write novels?

Occasionally the plays are repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra. There would be copyright issues in having them available online. I had an unpublished novel when I wrote the first radio play. A BBC Drama producer said, “Don’t write novels. It takes too long. Write plays because you’re good at dialogue.” I went on writing plays, and novels.

More recently, you’ve been writing the Brackerley Prison mystery series. You describe it as the story of prison, the prisoners, and their jailers. What inspired you to write this series?

HMP Brackerley is an open prison for women with an emphasis on rehabilitation. Such prisons offer hope. Prisons are sometimes the only viable alternative, but many people shouldn’t be behind bars.

It sounds like Nell Lewis, the newly appointed deputy governor, arrives at the prison with great plans. Besides dealing with a murder, what other challenges does she face? Was she a woman before her time?

She is a woman of her time doing her best in challenging circumstances. I have drawn on the experiences of two women prison governors, one of whom was put in charge of a very tough male prison with a high suicide rate. Both women had worked in closed and open prisons. I found out as much as I could about a particular open prison for women, some of whose residents went on to form a theatre company and decades on still work on behalf of released women for whom prison was not a good option.

A Murder Inside is the first in the Brackerley Prison series. When can we expect the next one?

Six Motives for Murder is the second in the Brackerley Prison series. It will be published in the UK on March 24, 2024.

What’s next for Kate?

Well, I know where she’s heading and, like Kate, I can take the train. Ask me later!

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned since you started writing?

It’s a craft. Try, and try again. Nothing is wasted.

Thank you, Frances. I hope to see you next year at Malice Domestic.

For more information about Frances Brody and her series, visit her at http://frances-brody.com/

Note: Frances Brody's books are published in the UK and US, sometimes with different titles for the same book. For example, Death of the Brewery Queen is the UK title, whereas the US title is Murder is in the Air. Check the book descriptions to make sure you don't buy both books.

Grace Topping is the author of the Laura Bishop Mystery Series.