Helpful Score: 1
First Line: I was musing on my future, seated in the room I had been kindly allocated in the east wing of Moreton Priory, when I heard the scream of terror.
Judith Cutler is one of my favorite writers, and I'm a bit puzzled as to why she's not more well known on this side of the pond. Her characterizations are often brilliant, she knows how to plot and to set a fine pace. She's even made me laugh countless times, so she's no stranger to humor.
Her series about young police officer Kate Powers shows how difficult it can be to juggle a personal life with a demanding career. Her series about an older police officer Fran Harman portrays a very caring woman toward the end of her career, and she's also written two laugh-out-loud funny books centering around Josie Welford, a middle-aged pub owner in the West Country. When I discovered that she'd written an historical mystery, I almost clicked my heels together in glee. I couldn't wait to see what Cutler could do in a different time period. She does a very fine job indeed with young Parson Tobias Campion in the spring of 1810.
Born to a life of wealth, Campion accepts a living in the small village of Moreton St. Jude, and his real education begins. His privileged childhood has not prepared him for the poverty in which he's surrounded. Fortunately he's guided by a fine cast of supporting characters: his childhood friend and (now) servant Jem, Edmund Hansard the local doctor, and the housekeeper of Moreton Priory, Mrs. Beckles. He is a sincere and quick learner which is a very good thing because things begin to happen. A poacher dies a suspicious death. A local aristocrat meets an untimely end, and Campion himself is viciously attacked. Just what is going on in Moreton St. Jude? What is the secret for which someone is so eager to kill?
Cutler once again has a marvelous cast with the lovable and naive Campion at the center surrounded by three stout hearts and true. The early nineteenth century comes to life under her pen, and her social commentary is in turns chilling and humorous. The only part of the book that was a letdown for me was the identity of the murderer. I don't consciously set out to figure out whodunit from the very first page. If I do figure it out, all well and good, but one phrase in The Keeper of Secrets leaped out at me, and everything fell into place way too early. I felt as though I'd stepped on the blade of a hoe and got whacked right between the eyes with the stick. Ouch.
That was a bit disappointing, but my championship of Judith Cutler is unchanged. I won't rest until I've read every single one of her books!
Judith Cutler is one of my favorite writers, and I'm a bit puzzled as to why she's not more well known on this side of the pond. Her characterizations are often brilliant, she knows how to plot and to set a fine pace. She's even made me laugh countless times, so she's no stranger to humor.
Her series about young police officer Kate Powers shows how difficult it can be to juggle a personal life with a demanding career. Her series about an older police officer Fran Harman portrays a very caring woman toward the end of her career, and she's also written two laugh-out-loud funny books centering around Josie Welford, a middle-aged pub owner in the West Country. When I discovered that she'd written an historical mystery, I almost clicked my heels together in glee. I couldn't wait to see what Cutler could do in a different time period. She does a very fine job indeed with young Parson Tobias Campion in the spring of 1810.
Born to a life of wealth, Campion accepts a living in the small village of Moreton St. Jude, and his real education begins. His privileged childhood has not prepared him for the poverty in which he's surrounded. Fortunately he's guided by a fine cast of supporting characters: his childhood friend and (now) servant Jem, Edmund Hansard the local doctor, and the housekeeper of Moreton Priory, Mrs. Beckles. He is a sincere and quick learner which is a very good thing because things begin to happen. A poacher dies a suspicious death. A local aristocrat meets an untimely end, and Campion himself is viciously attacked. Just what is going on in Moreton St. Jude? What is the secret for which someone is so eager to kill?
Cutler once again has a marvelous cast with the lovable and naive Campion at the center surrounded by three stout hearts and true. The early nineteenth century comes to life under her pen, and her social commentary is in turns chilling and humorous. The only part of the book that was a letdown for me was the identity of the murderer. I don't consciously set out to figure out whodunit from the very first page. If I do figure it out, all well and good, but one phrase in The Keeper of Secrets leaped out at me, and everything fell into place way too early. I felt as though I'd stepped on the blade of a hoe and got whacked right between the eyes with the stick. Ouch.
That was a bit disappointing, but my championship of Judith Cutler is unchanged. I won't rest until I've read every single one of her books!
