This is Chris Nickson's sequel to "The Broken Token", which I had finished earlier. I had enjoyed it so much I decided to read the sequel immediately.
Winter has set in solidly in Leeds in 1732; many people are dying of the cold. On his rounds John Sedgewick finds a body, which really doesn't surprise him because of the cold. However, when he turns the body over he discovers that a large patch of skin has been removed from his back. The body is of a well known Leeds wool merchant.
It isn't long after this that Constable Nottingham receives a book that outlines the murder and the reason for it. The murderer has long standing grievances against the merchant. Nottingham is shocked when he finds out that the book has been bound with the skin of the merchant! The book also states that it is the first of four volumes. Nottingham has suspicions who the murderer is and when he reviews the case in question, he knows whose skin two of the other three volumes will be bound with. Who can the fourth victim be?
He sets his men to watching the potential victims in hopes of catching the murderer. However, Nottingham's mind is not fully on the case because recently his eldest daughter has died. She had been married for a short time before dying. Grief has bothered Nottingham since.
Nickson has done a superb job of gaining the reader's interest and holding it throughout this historical murder mystery. A book I could not put down until I was done reading.
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