An intricate plot in the post-WWI English countryside and Frances Brody's "refreshingly complex heroine" (Kirkus) combine in Murder in the Afternoon, an absorbing mystery.

Dead one minute…

Young Harriet and her brother Austin have always been scared of the quarry where their stone mason father works. So when they find him dead on the cold ground, they rush off quickly to look for some help.

Alive the next?

When help arrives, however, the quarry is deserted and there is no sign of the body. Were the children mistaken? Is their father not dead? Did he simply get up and run away?

A sinister disappearing act

It seems like another unusual case requiring the expertise of Kate Shackleton--and Mary Jane, the children's mother, is adamant that only she can help. But Mary Jane is hiding something--a secret from Kate's past that raises the stakes and puts both Kate and her family at risk.

FRANCES BRODY is the author of Dying in the Wool, A Medal for Murder, and Murder in the Afternoon.  She lives in the North of England, where she was born and grew up. Frances started her writing life in radio, with many plays and short stories broadcast by the BBC. She has also written for television and theatre. Her one woman play Jehad was nominated for a Time Out award. Before turning to crime, she wrote historical sagas under her real name, winning the HarperCollins Elizabeth Elgin award for most regionally evocative debut saga of the millennium.