Instruments of Darkness

Wanda McCaddon's elegant narration is the perfect complement to this refined historical mystery. The story takes us to 1780s England, where the formidable Mrs. Harriet Westerman has found a dead body on her estate. Her first act is to summon Gabriel Crowther, a reclusive anatomist who has recently taken up residence locally. The two discover that a mystery is at hand and hasten to solve it, only to uncover a deeply tangled web of deceit and murder. McCaddon does a superior job depicting characters from every social strata--man, woman, or child--and her skillful pacing maintains the natural tension of the plot while helping listeners discern the myriad elements of this divinely intricate story. K.O. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

December 13, 2010
Set in West Sussex in 1780, Robertson's auspicious debut introduces the unlikely sleuthing team of anatomist Gabriel Crowther and independent-minded Harriet Westerman, mistress of Caveley Park. When Westerman happens on the stabbed body of a man, eventually identified as Carter Brook, on her land on the track to Thornleigh Hall, Crowther agrees to help her catch the murderer. The secretive Crowther, who's maintained a reclusive existence since moving to the area, finds that Brook's death may be connected to the search for a long-lost heir to the Thornleigh estate. Meanwhile in London, someone knifes to death Alexander Adams, who bears the same first name as the lost heir, in Adams's music shop. While the killer's identity will surprise few, the book works splendidly as a period thriller, with complicated leads and informative details that illuminate 18th-century England for modern readers. Dry humor leavens what otherwise would be a grim story line.