An interesting and intriguing historical murder mystery....
Having not read the first in the Hardcastle and Chaytor murder mysteries by A. J. Mackenzie, I was a little worried that I would struggle with continuity of the characters being a historical crime thriller set in the late eighteenth century. "The Body in the Ice" works well as a standalone but like with any series, reading the first would help with understanding how some of the characters appear time wise in the story. Although not an era I have a lot of interest in politically, I did find myself transported to 1796, Romney Marsh, Kent and thought the author (or authors as A J Mackenzie is a writing duo partnership) captured the period just right.
I liked the main characters Reverend Marcus Hardcastle, who was also the local Justice of the Peace and recently widowed Amelia Chaytor. Their camaraderie and understanding of each other was fun to read and brought some humour into at times a very serious story. The reverend's sister Calpurnia was a breath of fresh air and her 'coward' of a dog, Irish Wolfhound 'Rodolpho', really does come into his own at the end.
There has obviously been a considerable amount of research carried out regarding the politics of the time and the people of African origin in Britain in the periods before the twentieth century. This has been excellently conveyed into a story, which combined with intrigue, smugglers and racism has produced an entertaining murder mystery with several twists and turns. The political events with America and France unfortunately didn't particularly interest me partly due to my ignorance of them but they were necessary to the plot and were written with great passion from all sides of the parties involved. The story of a body being found in the ice was in itself very basic but together with the political aspect it made for an intriguing read and ultimately a satisfying and exciting conclusion.
I don't think I'd visit the first in the series "The Body on the Doorstep" though I would read the next instalment "The Body in the Boat" and I'd happily recommend this series to readers of historical murder mysteries but maybe to those who know a bit more about the late 1700s than I do.
3.5 stars
I liked the main characters Reverend Marcus Hardcastle, who was also the local Justice of the Peace and recently widowed Amelia Chaytor. Their camaraderie and understanding of each other was fun to read and brought some humour into at times a very serious story. The reverend's sister Calpurnia was a breath of fresh air and her 'coward' of a dog, Irish Wolfhound 'Rodolpho', really does come into his own at the end.
There has obviously been a considerable amount of research carried out regarding the politics of the time and the people of African origin in Britain in the periods before the twentieth century. This has been excellently conveyed into a story, which combined with intrigue, smugglers and racism has produced an entertaining murder mystery with several twists and turns. The political events with America and France unfortunately didn't particularly interest me partly due to my ignorance of them but they were necessary to the plot and were written with great passion from all sides of the parties involved. The story of a body being found in the ice was in itself very basic but together with the political aspect it made for an intriguing read and ultimately a satisfying and exciting conclusion.
I don't think I'd visit the first in the series "The Body on the Doorstep" though I would read the next instalment "The Body in the Boat" and I'd happily recommend this series to readers of historical murder mysteries but maybe to those who know a bit more about the late 1700s than I do.
3.5 stars