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2000s: Meet Kitt Hartley: librarian, trilby-wearer, taker of no nonsense… detective?
Murder by the Minster
What you need to know before your trail
It’s a perfectly normal day for Kitt Hartley at her job at the University of the Vale of York library, until Detective Inspector Halloran arrives at her desk to tell her that her best friend, Evie Bowes, is under suspicion of murder. Evie’s ex-boyfriend Owen has been found dead – with a fountain pen stabbed through his heart – and all the evidence points to her.
Kitt knows there is no way Evie could murder anyone – let alone Owen, who she adored. Horrified that the police could have got it so wrong, Kitt decides there’s only one thing to do: she’s going to investigate Owen’s murder herself. She’s read hundreds of mystery novels – how hard can it be?
With the help of her assistant Grace, and the occasional hindrance of the library’s eccentric regulars, Kitt summons up all her investigative powers (absorbed over years of reading everything from Agatha Christie to Ian Rankin) and gets to work.
She soon discovers that down the quaint streets and snickelways of York lie darker doings than she’d ever dreamed, but she needs to watch her step: the murderer is watching her. And they haven’t finished killing yet…
Locations
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Wander around York with Kitt and Murder at the Mystery
Kitt loves her books so much, she uses them to describe the city she’s in.
“Looking out at the nearest window, Kitt began fiddling with a pendant she worse everyday , etched with a quote from Jane Eyre. She sighed at the autumnal scene beyond. For al lshe had read, no verse or paragraph had ever romanticised death in the quite the way an autumn day in the city of York could. The view was like a line from Keats might have dreamed up but never got around to committing to the page. The roseships and rowan berries blazed with a primal fire in the hedgerows. The river path was a trail of fallen conkers, pine cones and ivy leaves, and the dawn redwood trees glowed like embers against the sky. As if all this decaying beauty weren’t enough, the university campus was close to the city centre and the Minster bells carried clear and true across the Ouse.”
Streetview Maps
A) England - York -University Library
C) England - York - The Minster
Booktrailer Review
@thebooktrailer
This is a fun quirky read. Cosy murder mystery set in York? Gothic city with cobbled streets and added chill and charm? Yes please!
Read TheBookTrail’s bookreview of Murder by the Minster on the blog!
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Murder by the Minster
Destination: York Author/Guide: Helen Cox Departure Time: 2000s
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