Death and the Chevalier

March 1, 2019
Coroner Titus Cragg feels such deep love for his infant son, Hector, that he moves his family temporarily from the Lancashire town of Preston to the village of Accrington to avoid the spread of the paralyzing fever that is crippling and killing children in the summer of 1744. But Accrington is no refuge for Cragg and his friend, Dr. Luke Fidelis, who find one suspicious death after another to investigate. Just before the Craggs arrive, Anne and John Gargrave are tormented by their fellow villagers, accompanied by rough music, or noise, she for being a shrew and he for being henpecked, after which she is found dead. Cragg probes the attitudes and enmities of the rural folk, even calming them on the verge of taking the law into their own hands to hang a presumed murderer, as deaths unaccountably mount in the area. The fifth in this series continues to bring Georgian England to life, with eighteenth-century practices that show sparks of contemporary forensic science. Cragg and Fidelis make a fine team, even as they occasionally exasperate each other. A fine historical mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

April 1, 2020
For readers who enjoy historical cozies, this sixth entry in Blake's Cragg and Fidelis series fits the bill just fine. The year is 1745. Residents of the small English village of Preston, in Lancashire, England, await the arrival of Charles Edward Stuart, known as the Young Pretender, who plans to claim the English throne. During this unsettled time, Titus Cragg, the town's coroner, is called to investigate a headless body found in an icy pond. When Cragg is accused of the crime, his partner, Dr. Luke Fidelis, seeks to clear him by finding the real killer. As the pair's hunt progresses, other developments threaten Cragg's marriage and his young son. This is an action-packed read with fully realized characters and vivid historical detail. Thanks to the thorough and well-integrated backstory, there's no need to have read any of the previous installments before enjoying this one, although many will be eager to do just that after after devouring Blake's fine story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

February 10, 2020
In Blake’s so-so sixth mystery featuring coroner Titus Cragg and physician Luke Fidelis (after 2019’s Rough Music), it’s 1745 and rumors are flying that Charles Stuart has landed in Scotland, leading an army that will support his claim to the English throne. Against that fraught backdrop, Cragg is disturbed by the discovery of a headless male corpse near Cragg’s home in Preston, Lancashire. The body bears no indication of how the man met his end, and the missing head makes identification impossible. The subsequent discovery of a severed head only makes things worse, as Fidelis concludes that a second man must have been murdered. Fidelis deduces that the men were an advance party for Stuart, a theory bolstered by a letter shoved in the severed head’s mouth claiming that the two men were Stuart supporters, killed as “an act of legitimate warfare” by those loyal to King George. Despite that preemptive legal defense, Cragg and Fidelis probe further. The resolution doesn’t live up to the promising premise, and the story line doesn’t maximize the potential of depicting sleuthing in the midst of a war. Blake’s been better.

February 1, 2020
A coroner finds himself in hot water when the forces of Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the throne, invade England in 1745. The populace in the Preston area, where coroner Titus Cragg lives, is split between Jacobite supporters of the Bonnie Prince and Hanoverians who support the German George, but both are fearful of being caught up in a war. A constable calls Cragg and his friend Dr. Luke Fidelis (Rough Music, 2019, etc.) to a rural area where a naked headless body has been discovered. Soon enough, they find a head, but it doesn't go with the body. After discovering a second head and body, Fidelis deduces that the men were Highlanders, perhaps advance scouts. It's a ticklish case in which the law is murky and their only clue a bit of a tartan. The dead men may have been visiting Barrowclough Hall, home to a father and son with violently opposed political views. After the younger Barrowclough and his servant, Abel Grant, deny any knowledge of the incident, the jury reaches a verdict of death by an unknown hand. The discovery by one of Cragg's law clients of a purse filled with gold coins involves Cragg in a dangerous situation when the client is killed and his housekeeper accuses the Scots. Then the arrival of the rebel army forces Cragg to house some of the leaders, including the Marquis d'�guilles, whom Cragg catches trying to rape his wife, Elizabeth. Cragg's problems grow as he's arrested for killing the headless Highlanders, escapes with Fidelis' help, and becomes embroiled with a famous highwayman who claims that the purse full of gold coins is his. It will take all of Cragg's skills and a bit of luck to uncover the links among all these mysteries and save himself and his family from disaster. Blake effortlessly combines a complex puzzle with some fascinating, little-known historical facts.

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