Frances McNeil, also writing as Frances Brody, is an English novelist and playwright, and has written extensively for radio.

Early life

McNeil was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, West Yorkshire, where she now lives. She studied at

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

, Oxford and has a degree in English literature and History from University of York.

Writing

As Frances Brody she has written a series of 1920s crime novels featuring Kate Shackleton. The sixth in the series, ''An Avid Reader'', is set in the

Leeds Library The Leeds Library is the oldest surviving subscription library of its type in the UK. It was founded in 1768, following an advertisement placed in the ''Leeds Intelligencer'' earlier that year. The first secretary was Joseph Priestley. In 1779, ...

, the oldest surviving subscription library of its type in the UK. After nine books in the series Brody wrote a short story prequel, ''Kate Shackleton's First Case'', in which the story begins in a Harrogate teashop. The twelfth book in the series (excluding "first case") was ''Death and the Brewery Queen'', published in 2020, and the thirteenth, '' A Mansion for Murder'', in 2022. Each book in the series is set in a specific location in Yorkshire. ''A Woman Unknown'' was shortlisted for the 2016 Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, the criteria for which include: "the protagonist is a nice young woman whose life is suddenly invaded". In 2021 Brody published ''A Murder Inside'', the first in the ''Brackerly Prison Mysteries'' series set in a 1960s women's prison in Yorkshire. She wrote three novels under her own name, which were republished in 2016 under the name Frances Brody. ''Sisters on Bread Street'' is partly based on the story of her mother, who lived on Bread Street in Leeds as a child; it was published in a limited edition just after her mother's hundredth birthday, published in an expanded edition as ''Somewhere Behind the Morning'', and republished in 2016 under its original title. ''Sixpence in her Shoe'' relates to the Leeds Children's Holiday Camp Association based at

Silverdale, Lancashire Silverdale is a village and civil parish within the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. The village stands on Morecambe Bay, near the border with Cumbria, north west of Carnforth and of Lancaster. The parish had a population ...

, about which she has also written a factual history, ''Now I am a Swimmer'' (the title being a quote from a child's letter home). ''Sisters of Fortune'' is the tale of two girls of different financial backgrounds growing up in Leeds, and was republished as ''Halfpenny Dreams''. Her plays include ''Tressell'', about

Robert Tressell Robert Noonan (17 April 1870 – 3 February 1911), born Robert Croker and best known by the pen name Robert Tressell, was an Irish writer best known for his novel ''The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists''. Tressell spent his entire early adult w ...

, author of ''

The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists ''The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists'' (1914) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Irish house painter and sign writer Robert Noonan, who wrote the book in his spare time under the pen name Robert Tressell. Published after Tressell's death fro ...

''. An archive of her literary papers is held by the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

Selected publications

Writing as Frances McNeil

*''Sisters on Bread Street'' (Limited edition, 2003, Pavan Press, ; published as ''Somewhere Behind the Morning'' 2006, Orion Books, ; republished January 2016 as ''Sisters on Bread Street'', a Frances Brody book, Piatkus, ) *''Sixpence in her Shoe'' (2007, Orion Books, ; republished April 2016 as a Frances Brody book, Piatkus, ) *''Sisters of Fortune'' (2007, Severn House, ; republished July 2016 as ''Halfpenny Dreams'', a Frances Brody book, Piatkus, ) *''Now I am a Swimmer'' (2004, Pavan Press, ) (Non-fiction account of the Leeds Children's Holiday Camp Association)

Writing as Frances Brody – the Kate Shackleton books

*''Dying in the Wool'' (2009, Piatkus, ) Set in the fictional village of Bridgestead, based on Cottingley *''A Medal for Murder'' (2010, Piatkus, ) Set in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...

*''Murder in the Afternoon'' (2011, Piatkus, ) Set in the fictional quarry village of Great Applewick in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

*''A Woman Unknown'' (2012, Piatkus, ) Set in

*''Murder on a Summer's Day'' (2013, Piatkus, ) Set at

Bolton Abbey Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from the ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian monastery now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King He ...

*''Death of an Avid Reader'' (2014, Piatkus, ) Set at the

*''A Death in the Dales'' (2015, Piatkus, ) Set in the

around Langcliffe *''Death at the Seaside'' (2016, Piatkus, ) Set in

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

*''Death in the Stars'' (2017, Piatkus, ) Set at

Giggleswick School Giggleswick School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Giggleswick, near Settle, North Yorkshire, England. Early school In 1499, Giggleswick School was founded on half an acre of land leased by the Prior an ...

at the time of the Solar eclipse of June 29, 1927 *''Kate Shackleton's First Case'' (2018, ebook, Little, Brown, ) Set in

*''A Snapshot of Murder'' (2018, Piatkus, ) Includes the short story ''Kate Shackleton's First Case''; set at

Ponden Hall Ponden Hall is a farmhouse near Stanbury in West Yorkshire, England. It is famous for reputedly being the inspiration for Thrushcross Grange, the home of the Linton family, Edgar, Isabella, and Cathy, in Emily Brontë's novel '' Wuthering He ...

*''The Body on the Train'' (2019, Piatkus, ) Set in the

Rhubarb Triangle The Rhubarb Triangle is a area of West Yorkshire, England between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell famous for producing early forced rhubarb. It includes Kirkhamgate, East Ardsley, Stanley, Lofthouse and Carlton. The Rhubarb Triangle was ...

featuring the early-morning train to King's Cross *''Death and the Brewery Queen'' (2020, Piatkus, ), published in United States as ''Murder is in the Air'' (2020, Crooked Lane, ) Set in

Masham Masham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 1,205 at the 2011 census. Etymology In Wensleydale, on the western bank of the River Ure, the name derives from the An ...

, home to

Theakston Brewery T&R Theakston is a brewery in the market town of Masham, North Yorkshire, England. The company is the sixteenth largest brewer in the UK by market share, and the second largest brewer under family ownership after Shepherd Neame. The brewery is ...

and

Black Sheep Brewery The Black Sheep Brewery is a brewery in Masham in the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. History The Black Sheep Brewery was established by Paul Theakston in 1991. Following a successful launch as a Business Expansion Scheme ...

*''A Mansion for Murder'' (2022, Piatkus, ) Set at

Milner Field Milner Field was a large country house near Saltaire in West Yorkshire, England built in 1872 for Titus Salt Junior, youngest son of the Yorkshire wool merchant and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt and demolished in the 1950s. The house was situate ...

(now demolished) near Saltaire

Writing as Frances Brody – the Brackerley Prison Mysteries

*''A Murder Inside'' (29 October 2021, Piatkus, )

References

External links

* ''As Frances McNeil'' * ''As Frances Brody'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Brody, Frances Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English women novelists English crime fiction writers English dramatists and playwrights English women dramatists and playwrights Women crime fiction writers English novelists Alumni of Ruskin College Alumni of the University of York Writers from Leeds