Come the Fear

Constable Richard Nottingham has a house fire to investigate.  He is shocked when he finds the body of a woman in the cellar and alongside her was the body of a child, which had been cut from her belly.

Later that day a thief taker arrived from London.  He seemed honest and straight forward when he spoke to Nottingham, yet the Constable felt it was worthwhile to keep an eye on him.

Witnesses tell Deputy John Sedgwick that a man had come out of the house earlier in the day, but are unable to provide a good description of him.  A week on and they were unable to discover anything about the dead girl, that is until a woman came to the jail and asked them to find her daughter.  Based on her description of the girl, Nottingham was now sure that he had an identity for the dead girl.

An alderman who had reported a robbery has had his goods returned by the thief taker.  When Nottingham goes to speak to the alderman, he learns that he has withdrawn his report of a robbery.  This does not sit well with Nottingham.  He turns to a local businessman for help.

Nottingham has a missing child to deal with, too.  How will he ever get enough men together to solve the problems?

Author Chris Nickson has troubles aplenty for Nottingham and his men in this historical mystery.  It also has a shocking conclusion.  The reader must prepare for plenty of tension, and a thoroughly good read.