Frances Brody is my (Frances McNeil) crime pseudonym. I hope you’ll enjoy your journey with my character, Kate Shackleton, back to the surprising and suspenseful 1920s. Start with DYING IN THE WOOL, publication date 1 October 2009. Look out for A MEDAL FOR MURDER, October 2010 Visit www.piatkus.co.uk.

I come from a great family of story tellers, though I'm the first in my family to write professionally. On the screen of my imagination, I can conjure aunts and uncles from years gone by, and the word pictures they painted of people from earlier generations.

Before creating the Kate Shackleton mystery series, I wrote four novels as Frances McNeil, and won the Elizabeth Elgin award for SOMEWHERE BEHIND THE MORNING.Visit www.francesmcneil.co.uk

I live in Leeds where I was born and grew up, and then travelled, including a spell in the USA. Time spent in Bradford, heart of the woollen industry, gave me a valuable insight into the background for DYING IN THE WOOL.