It's the sweltering summer of 1744 and when an epidemic disease threatens the town, coroner Titus Cragg retires with his wife and baby son to a remote village in East Lancashire, where he hopes his family will enjoy the healthy and tranquil air. But Cragg finds the rural atmosphere anything but peaceful when he's called upon to investigate the horrific death of a local woman who has fallen victim to a cruel community punishment.
Assisted by his friend Dr Luke Fidelis, Cragg begins to probe the village's prejudices and simmering hatreds, as he untangles cross-currents of suspicion, rivalry and rural customs which are very different from the ways he knows in the town. Then another local woman disappears, and events take a disturbing new twist .
Robin Blake is the author of four previous Cragg & Fidelis Mysteries, as well as acclaimed works on the artists Van Dyke and Stubbs. He has written, produced and presented extensively for radio, and is widely published as a critic. He lives in London.
Title: Rough Music: A Cragg & Fidelis mystery (A Cragg and Fidelis Mystery)
Author: Blake, Robin
ISBN: 9781847519757
Binding:
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Publication Date: 2019-09-30
Number of Pages: 304
Weight: 0.4201 kg
Outstanding . Clever plotting and enjoyable characterizations make this entry a winner * Publishers Weekly Starred Review *
Blake's highly original mystery with a masterly denouement is made all the more absorbing by the skillfully wrought historical background * Kirkus Reviews *
The fifth in this series continues to bring Georgian England to life . A fine historical mystery * Booklist *