Catching the Eagle
Catching the Eagle is based on a true story of the theft of £1157 from Kirkley Hall in Northumberland in 1809. Aynsley the steward and a farm labourer, Jamie Charlton, are suspected of the crime. Stephen Lavender, an officer from Bow Street, is sent to investigate. A golden eagle flies over the area and the search and capture of this bird is mirrored by the search and capture of the thief.
Karen Charlton has based this book on the life story of one of her ancestors. The novel is impeccably researched and has a good sense of period. In places the dialogue is particularly effective. Some chapters are written from the narrator’s point of view, others from mixed viewpoints. It is hard to warm to any of the characters as this writing style distances the reader.
In my opinion Catching the Eagle is overwritten and under-edited and is not a book I would recommend.
