Starred review from August 24, 2009
At the start of Hamilton's exceptional debut, set in Boston in 1773, Abigail Adams stumbles on an unknown woman's bloody corpse while paying a call on her friend and fellow patriot, Rebecca Malvern, who later goes missing. When it looks as if Abigail's irascible husband, John, may be accused of the murder, she sets out to clear his name. The trail takes her through the streets of colonial Boston and into the surrounding towns. Meanwhile, political unrest and opposition to the English crown grows. Working with both the Sons of Liberty and loyalists, Abigail bridges the gap between them as she investigates the murder and searches for Rebecca. While bringing to life such historical figures as Sam Adams and Paul Revere, Hamilton transports the reader to another time and place with close attention to matters like dress, menus and the monumental task of doing laundry. Historical fans will eagerly look forward to the next in this promising series.
Starred review from October 1, 2009
Abigail Adams seeks justice for both the colonies and women.
Boston in 1773 is no place for a woman alone, but Abigail knows Rebecca Malvern had to sew and edit rebellious pamphlets to make ends meet. Still, she's shocked to find Rebecca missing from her tiny quarters and a horribly mutilated corpse in her place. After Abigail sends for the Sons of Liberty, Sam Adams and Paul Revere scour Rebecca's house for every trace of sedition before alerting the Crown authorities. But their purge is not thorough enough. Redcoats show up at the Adams home, accusing John of murdering Perdita Pentyre, a wealthy merchant's wife. To find Rebecca and save John, Abigail inquires where only a goodwife could—among the servants and lady's maids. Scouring the countryside for Rebecca, she saves the Lieutenant of His Majesty's Guard from a band of irate patriots; he tells her that two common women were murdered the same brutal way last year. Is Perdita's murder also the work of a madman, or a calculated killing disguised as insanity? While tension mounts over tea in Boston Harbor, Abigail seeks the killer and her missing friend.
Novels that re-imagine historical figures are a dangerous gambit, but the wry repartee between Abigail and John, together with the fact that this clandestine investigation of the murder of loose women would never have made the official record, make Hamilton's debut believable and gripping.
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Starred review from October 1, 2009
In 1773 Boston, Abigail Adams finds a dead woman in her friend Rebecca's home and then realizes that Rebecca, too, is missing. The ship bearing the first of the controversial taxed tea from England is about to enter Boston Harbor, seditious patriots are agitating for freedom, and when her husband John is accused of the crime, Abigail launches a murder investigation more dangerous than she realizes. VERDICT Hamilton, a pseudonym of Barbara Hambly (known for her Benjamin January historicals), has just the right touch to guide the intelligent Abigail through the dangerous shoals of being a patriot while seeing the good side of the Colonies' English rulers. There are no missteps here in what should prove to be a captivating series for all historical fans. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 6/1/09.]
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