Come the Fear

It is 1733 in Leeds, so a bucket brigade is needed when a fire breaks out in anold house.  Fortunately the family that had lived there had moved out sometime earlier.  However, when Richard Nottingham, Constable of Leeds, investigates the fire the next day he discovers a body of a woman, with a foetus torn out of her body.

Hezekiah Walton, a thief taker, arrives at Nottingham's office the following morning.  He tells Richard that he is looking for a family called the Coopers.  Nottingham feels that his story doesn't ring true.

John Sedgwick, Nottingham's deputy, and Rob Lister find during their investigation that there was a man outside the burned building in the wee hours just before the fire.  Later in the day, a woman awaits Nottingham at the jail.  She says that her 16 year old daughter is missing.  She had worked as a servant, and been dismissed.  When Nottingham questions the employer, he finds out that the girl was pregnant when she was dismissed.  Now they have a name for the victim.

Crime doesn't stop for the murder of a young lass, so the Constable and his men had other things to contend with besides.  House break ins seemed to be on the rise.  A young boy is snatched, but found unharmed.  However, there is a threatening letter found in his pocket.  It isn't long after that, that Sedgwick's own son, James disappears.

The team of investigators work hard to find James, the murderer and the child snatcher.  Author Chris Nickson brings the story to an exciting and shocking conclusion.  It has made me want to immediately read the next book in the series.