Following
her adventures in the first book Birthright
(also reviewed on this site) Mercia has left New York and
the Royalists and is staying in rural Connecticut with the
governor. Not long after arriving she meets local medicine
woman Clemency Carter and the two instantly become friends.
Mercia is keen to see the town of Meltwater where her new
friend lives, but the seemingly tranquil place is soon the
setting for more than one murder.
I was impressed by the first book in the series and was keen
to read more of Mercia’s exploits. Whereas Birthright
would be filed under general historical novels in a store
or library, the sequel, as it says on the cover, is historical
crime. There are murders and puzzles for Mercia and her friends
to solve and this is the main focus of the book. Meltwater
comes alive as the setting to all this, a place where Puritan
settlers are trying to make a new life for themselves away
from religious intolerance. But they have New York and the
Duke’s men on one side, and rocky relationships with
the local Native Americans on the other. Several men wanted
for their part in Charles I’s execution hide out in
the woods, and some old sins cast long shadows. Ultimately
the message is surely that however beautiful and unspoiled
the place, there is no way to escape from the vicissitudes
of human nature. Mercia doggedly pursues her investigations,
very much a woman in a man’s world and a stranger as
well, and makes for a strong and lively protagonist. This
is a very long book and could certainly stand some editing;
the linear series of murders alone do not fill it and the
slow pace tends to make it all lose momentum. I don’t
think this is the last we will see of Mercia and her friends,
and it will be interesting to see what type of story they
are in next.
Reviews of previous titles in this series
Birthright
#1
Puritan
#2
Traitor
#3
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