Ms Brody gets better with each book. In this third in the series, Brody skilfully combines her protagonist’s life, past and present, with a well-plotted murder story with just enough red herrings and twists to keep the pages turning. Very entertaining. ( )

Kate Shackleton is awakened at 4 AM by someone banging on her door; it turns out to be a woman who has heard of her ability to find missing people, whose husband has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. While Kate is not thrilled to be approached in such a manner, she agrees to visit the woman’s village and see what she might be able to do; little does she know that she is stepping into very deep waters indeed…. I’m enjoying the Kate Shackleton series, set in 1920s England and featuring a very competent young woman who is still trying to come to terms with the loss of her husband during the Great War. Ms. Brody obviously does her research - this particular book involves quarry workers, unionizing attempts and the art of stonemasonry - and the stories develop slowly, with lots of time for the reader to get to know the characters. I’ve been calling this a “cozy” series, but I’m beginning to think that’s wrong: for one thing, the books are longer than the average cozy (this one is about 400 pages, for example), Kate is not involved in light-hearted endeavors (her investigations are serious) and there is no cutesy romance or romantic possibility included (which is not to say she’s not involved with someone). In any event, however one wishes to categorize these books, I definitely recommend them! ( )

Kate is woken up at four in the morning by a woman asking for her help in tracing her husband, who has disappeared and who may or may not have been seen by her daughter lying dead or unconscious in the quarry where he worked. When the daughter raised the alarm and fetched neighbours, he was nowhere to be seen.

I enjoyed meeting Kate's birth family in this one. I hope they continue to play a part in the series. The solution was gratifying but unexpected. ( )

A young woman, Mary Jane, insists that Kate can find her husband who has gone missing at the stone quarry where he works. His children claim to have seen his body, but it disappeared before they could get help. But Mary Jane is hiding something - a secret from Kate’s past. ( )

Kate is called upon by her sister (who once worked for the Quarry owner & his wife) to find out what has happened to her husband Ethan.

Ethan, a highly skilled mason, was working on a delicate blue slate sundial for the quarry owner's wife, when his children find him laying next to the sundial without a pulse..... when his daughter goes back to the quarry with Kate, Ethan has disappeared and the sun dial is in pieces.

Ethan was the union representative and had just lost the strike vote, with someone being a snitch for management. His best friend had just sold his farm over to the quarry owner, which caused a riff between the two.

Too many people, including the local policeman, would prefer to believe that Ethan up and ran away.....

The town gossip (vicar's sister) is found dead & whispers to Kate about something "bitter", but the local doctor prefers to call her death "heart failure"...

A good story with a satisfying conclusion. ( )