I opened this book with keen anticipation since I have enjoyed many of Judith Cutler’s contemporary detective novels very much. They have all, I think, featured female protagonists so I was interested to see from the blurb that this book is told by a male character. This is the first historical crime fiction volume of hers that I have seen although I can see that it is the second in a series.
In 1812 Tobias Campion, rector of Moreton St Jude welcomes to his parish the widowed Lady Chase who owns Moreton Hall one of the great houses in that neighbourhood. Lady Chase has the sorrow of the fact that her son, Hugo, went missing after a skirmish before the battle of Talavera (1808) in the Peninsular War. Despite strenuous efforts to find him nothing had been discovered. Soon after the arrival of Lady Chase her putative heir, Sir Marcus Bramhall and his family make a prolonged and unwelcome visit to the Hall. Sir Marcus speaks of bringing a court case to declare himself the heir but Lady Chase is reluctant to admit that her son is dead.
The story rolls on as a body is discovered and a woman disappears. Tobias is an endearing character with a genuine religious calling and an empathy for the poor that belies his high class origins. The historical setting is very well done for example the transport issues of the day are smoothly explained as part of the tale. Class differences come clearly into focus - the anomalous situation of a governess is much to the fore. Tobias must move between the different worlds of the rural poor, the urban poor, the aristocracy and those who fit in between the 2 extremes; he does so successfully as a man of the cloth should. He is also a very successful detective and he solves the various mysteries with aplomb.
---------------
Jennifer S. Palmer
Judith Cutler has 4 contemporary series - Sophie Rivers is an academic in Birmingham, Kate Powers a police detective, Fran Harman a Chief Superintendent and Josie Welford runs a pub - she has also written several stand-alones and a number of short stories. The first book about Tobias Campion is The Keeper of Secrets.