Leeds, 1731 and Richard Nottingham is the Constable. John Sedgewick is his deputy. They have a town of about 7 000 people to keep safe from pickpockets and drunks fighting. But when a whore and her customer are murdered things take a whole new turn for the team. What shocks Nottingham the most is that the whore is a young woman who once worked as a servant for him. How had she come to be in this line of work? She had married well and moved away a few years back.
When another similar set of murders occur, it would appear that one of the local drunks is the prime suspect. But shortly after the drunk is arrested another set of murders occurs, obviously they have the wrong person under arrest.
As Nottingham and Sedgewick go about their investigation, we get an insight into their lives. Nottingham is happily married with two daughters, one of whom is a bit of a concern for her father. Sedgwick's marriage, on the other hand isn't quite so happy. Their stories give some humanity to this murder mystery.
Author Chris Nickson has portrayed 18th Century Leeds very well. If you are a fan of historical murder mysteries, you will enjoy "The Broken Token".
No comments:
Post a Comment