1579. An exciting time for shipping and exploring. William Constable physician, inventor and now an unwitting spy is caught up in circumstances beyond his control.
Constable is a different character from the rest of the ships captains. He is simple, unassuming, kind, respectful and loves his fiancee and is keen for the voyage to be over so that he could marry. He really wishes he could get out of this voyage but does not see a way out. The purpose is to go to the New World, trade in goods and slaves, plunder ships that are sailing back and eventually become very rich.
The killings which take place adds to the delay in setting off on their journeys. The getting ready and refitting of the ships before the journey is descriptive enough for a story and the mystery and the characters involved in the story add to its interest.
This was not fast paced but it did not plod along either.
Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review courtesy of BooksGoSocial.
Though it has been done a myriad times, stories told in two time lines are fascinating for me. Invariably the first one is ancient, so there is history involved. Then the present time line brings in a modern twist to the mystery that has to be unfolded.
This is what happens here. England 1795 Rachel has lost her benefactor. She has gone back to being a prostitute and sees her future prospects dwindling. In the brothel, she is forced to join the Paternoster Club and this is the beginning of the end for Rachel.
This part of the story was harsh, and showed the hopelessness of women in Rachel's position sans family there was no protection of any kind.
Cheltenham 2013 and the discovery of two skeletons halts construction at a very posh school. Much to the irritation of the Management, it becomes a crime scene though the crime was committed 200 years before. Eden Grey is called upon to sort the mystery out, but she has secrets of her own and when they start to unravel Eden herself is in grave danger.
Paternoster was an edge of the seat thriller. Combing the best of historical fiction, mystery murders and a beautiful setting with excellent and unusual characters the book had everything going for it.
Sent to me by Netgalley for an unbiased review, courtesy of Sapere Books.
Excellent reviews of two books that sound like very worthwhile reads. I'm especially interested in Paternoster. I had not heard of the book or its author before, so thank you for introducing them to me.
ReplyDeleteThe dual timelines thing works for me some of the time. Pasternoster sounds like it's well done.
ReplyDeleteGreat reviews! The Kim Fleet book sounds like something I might like.
ReplyDeleteHow I wish I'd the time to read books from NetGalley. Both of these novels, "A Necessary Killing" in particular, sound interesting to me.
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