Book description
The year is 1740. George II is on the throne but England’s remoter
provinces remain largely a law unto themselves. In Lancashire a grim
discovery has been made: a Squire’s wife, Dolores Brockletower, lies in
the woods above her home, Garlick Hall, her throat brutally slashed.
Called to the scene, Coroner Titus Cragg finds the Brockletower
household awash with rumour and suspicion. He enlists the help of his
astute young friend, doctor Luke Fidelis, to throw light on the case.
But this is a world in which forensic science is in its infancy, and
policing hardly exists. Embarking on their first gripping investigation,
Cragg and Fidelis are faced with the superstition of witnesses,
obstruction by local officials, and denunciations from the Squire
himself. Robin Blake is the author of acclaimed works on the artists
Van Dyke and Stubbs. He has written, produced and presented extensively
for radio, is widely published as a critic, and is a Royal Literary Fund
Fellow at Brunel University. He lives in London.
