A call for help
It's the spring of 1930 and Private Investigator Kate Shackleton responds to a call for help from the owner of Barleycorn Brewery in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The brewery's books don't add up, but when the one employee who may know what's really going on meets with a fatal accident, Kate's investigation intensifies.
A second body
On the day of the brewery garden party, amidst celebrations for the newly crowned Yorkshire Brewery Queen, Kate opens the wrong door and finds herself staring at another body - and in danger of asphyxiation.
A secret to die for
It's clear there are secrets somebody would kill to keep buried. And with the Brewey Queen's growing reputation bringing Barlycorn further into the spotlight, Kate's wit, skill and passion for truth are tested to the limits.
'Brody's writing is like her central character Kate Shackleton: witty, acerbic and very, very perceptive' Ann Cleeves
'Kate Shackleton is a splendid heroine' Ann Granger