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A review by weaselweader
Smuggler's Moon by Bruce Alexander
4.0
A somewhat predictable but thoroughly entertaining period mystery
"Smuggler's Moon", Bruce Alexander's eighth novel in the highly acclaimed Sir John Fielding series, is neither the cozy, lightweight mystery (à la Agatha Christie or Susan Wittig-Albert) nor the historical thriller that many readers might expect. It might more accurately be categorized as an atmospheric and compelling investigation set within a graphic description of 18th century Georgian England.
Jeremy Proctor, the 17 year old orphan learning the law from Bow Street magistrate, Sir John Fielding, narrates the story of an investigation of smuggling and murder along the Kentish coast. "Smuggler's Moon", as its predecessors in the acclaimed series did before it, will treat its readers to extraordinary characterization and atmospheric embellishment that brings people, time and place to life with a sparkling vitality and a sense of realism that can hardly be rivaled. Jeremy's character is further developed as, like so many teenaged boys maturing into manhood, he is disturbed by the first stirrings of romantic interest in his housemate, Clarissa Roundtree, an orphan like himself who was welcomed into the Fielding household as Lady Fielding's assistant.
I've said it before in other reviews of the series but it bears repeating. While each novel in the series can be read as a stand-alone mystery, maximum enjoyment will be the reward for the reader who takes the time to go back to the beginning and read the entire series in order. There is definitely a background story line to all of the characters, their development, their personal growth and their outlook on the world around them. Characters from previous novels pop in and out of the story and it definitely adds a layered dimension of enjoyment to each subsequent novel to know who they are and where they came from.
A highly recommended novel in a terrific ongoing series.
Paul Weiss
"Smuggler's Moon", Bruce Alexander's eighth novel in the highly acclaimed Sir John Fielding series, is neither the cozy, lightweight mystery (à la Agatha Christie or Susan Wittig-Albert) nor the historical thriller that many readers might expect. It might more accurately be categorized as an atmospheric and compelling investigation set within a graphic description of 18th century Georgian England.
Jeremy Proctor, the 17 year old orphan learning the law from Bow Street magistrate, Sir John Fielding, narrates the story of an investigation of smuggling and murder along the Kentish coast. "Smuggler's Moon", as its predecessors in the acclaimed series did before it, will treat its readers to extraordinary characterization and atmospheric embellishment that brings people, time and place to life with a sparkling vitality and a sense of realism that can hardly be rivaled. Jeremy's character is further developed as, like so many teenaged boys maturing into manhood, he is disturbed by the first stirrings of romantic interest in his housemate, Clarissa Roundtree, an orphan like himself who was welcomed into the Fielding household as Lady Fielding's assistant.
I've said it before in other reviews of the series but it bears repeating. While each novel in the series can be read as a stand-alone mystery, maximum enjoyment will be the reward for the reader who takes the time to go back to the beginning and read the entire series in order. There is definitely a background story line to all of the characters, their development, their personal growth and their outlook on the world around them. Characters from previous novels pop in and out of the story and it definitely adds a layered dimension of enjoyment to each subsequent novel to know who they are and where they came from.
A highly recommended novel in a terrific ongoing series.
Paul Weiss