The Crooked Spire
John the Carpenter (Book 1)
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $1.99
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
1361: Orphaned by the Black Death, all young John has left are the tools his father, a carpenter, leaves behind. Before long, however, John realises that he too has a way with wood; it speaks to him and he can make it do what he wants. Leaving the poverty and plague in Leeds behind, John travels to Chesterfield, where he finds work erecting the spire of the new church. But no sooner does he begin than the master carpenter is murdered and John himself becomes a suspect.To prove his innocence John must help the coroner in his search for the killer, a quest that brings him up against some powerful enemies in a town where he is still a stranger and friends are few. Chris Nickson brilliantly evokes the feeling of time and place in this story of corruption and murder.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the year 1360, John, an itinerant carpenter and the hero of Nickson's promising new historical series, arrives in Chesterfield, where he finds steady work helping to construct a church spire. When John discovers the body of his supervisor, master carpenter Will, inside the church tower, the local coroner investigating the crime considers him a suspect in Will's murder. John joins the search for the killer after persuading the coroner of his innocence, but he soon breaks an arm in an accident that leaves him unable to ply his chosen trade. Will isn't the last to die, and John himself falls under threat when he persists in probing the deaths and questioning the building practices that Will's successor employs. Nickson (Fair and Tender Ladies and five other Richard Nottingham mysteries set in 18th-century Leeds) offers few surprises, but an affable lead and a convincing depiction of late-medieval England make this a satisfying comfort read.
