Published by Crème
de la Crime, 2013.ISBN: 978-1-78029-042-3
It is
November 1733 and Richard Nottingham, Constable of Leeds, has returned to work
after months of convalescence, following a serious knife wound. Richard is
pleased with the way his Deputy, John Sedgwick and their assistant, Rob Lister,
have handled keeping the peace in Leeds while
he has been incapacitated. They make a good team and Richard knows that they
will support him until he regains his full strength, if indeed he ever does
fully recover. However he also knows that there will be little help from the
new mayor, William Fenton, a man only interested in keeping the favour of the
wealthy and powerful inhabitants of Leeds.
Richard
hopes that his first few days back at work will not involve any taxing crimes.
There are times when he thinks that he should have followed the wishes of his
adored wife, Mary, and accepted retirement on a small pension. But being
Constable of Leeds is part of his identity and he cannot bear to give it up.
His hopes of a gentle return are shattered when the decomposing bodies of three
children are discovered in a pit. It soon becomes clear that they were homeless
children, living rough, and that they had been violated and murdered.
All
three men on the Constable's team take this discovery to heart: John Sedgwick
has young children of his own; Rob Lister has never before encountered so vile
a crime; and Richard Nottingham had once been a homeless child, living from
hand-to-mouth and well-acquainted with hunger and hardship. Above all, they are
decent men, appalled by the murders they are aware of; afraid that there are
many other victims undiscovered; and determined to bring the killer to justice.
Soon
it becomes clear that the killer is shielded by wealth and power and, whatever
proof the Constable provides, the Mayor will look the other way. At the risk of
dismissal, the Constable and his men continue to build their case, but Justice
is served at an unforeseen and terrible personal cost.
At
the Dying of the Year is a very dark and powerful
book. With the theme of child abuse and murder it could hardly be otherwise. It
deals with matters that are as relevant today as in the 18th
Century: that the poor and rootless are painfully vulnerable and that the
wealthy and powerful can buy immunity from the Law. However, it is also a book
that is based on the decency and courage of its central characters, their
mutual loyalty and their determination that evil-doers should not escape the
consequences of their actions. The characters are well-drawn and the historical
detail is skilfully inserted but at the heart of the story is the age-old fight
against evil and corruption. At the Dying of the Year is a very
compelling read.
------
Reviewer: Carol Westron
Chris Nickson was born
and raised in Leeds. He is the author of the
Richard Nottingham books, historical mysteries set in Leeds
in the 1730s and featuring Richard Nottingham, the Constable of the city, and
his deputy, John Sedgwick. The books are about more than murder. They're about
the people of Leeds and the way life was -
which mean full of grinding poverty for all but the wealthy. They're also about
families, Nottingham and his and Sedgwick, and the way relationships grow and
change, as well as the politics, when there was one law for the rich, and
another, much more brutal, for everyone else. In addition to this Chris is also
a music journalist, reviewing for magazines and online outlets
http://chrisnickson.co.uk/
Carol Westron is a successful short story writer and a Creative
Writing teacher. She is the moderator
for the cosy/historical crime panel, The Deadly Dames. Her crime novels are set both in contemporary
and Victorian times. The Terminal
Velocity of Cats is the first in her Scene of Crimes novels, was published
July 2013
www.carolwestron.com
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