| |
A Cragg and
Fidelis Mystery – Book II
Robin Blake
Constable (Constable
and Robinson)
8 January 2015 / ISBN 9781472115911
Mystery
Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
|
| |
Preston 1741 and election
fever is in full swing. The fun has barely started when drunken
publican Anthony Egan is found drowned in the river. As he was
hardly ever sober this is not a big surprise, but did he fall
or was he pushed? Soon the body count is rising and it begins
to look as if politics can be deadly?
I recently reviewed the first in this series A Dark Anatomy
(also reviewed on this site) and continue to be impressed with
the author’s masterly depiction of early 18th century
life. Historical mysteries set in the 1740s are not common,
and I would give higher marks for not setting it in London but
in the more remote Lancashire. Titus Cragg the coroner tells
the story, a practical lawyer with a loving, intelligent wife
and a fellow sleuth who is usefully a doctor. The characters
are all drawn with warmth and wit so it is easy to care about
what happens to them. It is also easy to get sucked in immediately
to this turbulent tale of political machinations and there is
always something going on to interest, amuse or excite the reader.
This is a time when elections were a cause for merriment but
also serious concerns such as Jacobites and the real threat
of ?the king over the water? as well as people’s views
of Britain’s first prime minister. 18th century daily
life comes alive here as Titus gets a book made up at a bookbinder,
organizes inquests and hears Rule Britannia sung for the first
time. Much as I enjoyed the first book and wanted to read more
I felt the plot was rather far-fetched. This book is even more
exciting but more rooted in real life and the concerns of the
times. A series to read slowly and savor; more please.
|
|
