Death of a Stranger by John PilkingtonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Matthew Cutler is a constable in the parish of Spitalsfields in 1594. Widowed by the Plague, he lives with his two daughters and their aunt Margery.
Called upon to investigate the murder of an Italian perfumer Paulo Brisco, stabbed multiple times by a sword, Matthew is beset by well-meaning do-gooders keen to proclaim various people as the murderer. But Matthew's dogged pursuit of the truth leads him into darker secrets than he thought possible, and puts his own and his family's lives in danger.
I loved the historical details about this book. I work in the City of London, so mentions of place like Bishopsgate and Moorgate etc are places that I see all the time and made it doubly interesting, I even looked up a map of London at around this time to see how small London was and how areas that are now heavily built up were once fields. Loved the reference to Peckham Rye being in Surrey (I had to look that up to confirm that it would have been at that point).
However, historical detail aside, the mystery felt a little flat to me, Matthew's pursuit of potential culprits one after the other seemed to lack direction and although I know who killed Brisco there were so many motives flying around that I confess I don't really recall WHY.
This is only the first book in what looks to be a series, maybe Matthew's character will deepen and develop over time.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment