The Sea Hath Spoken
In this 3rd in a Colonial New England crime series, Quaker sister and brother Richard and Jane Whitcomb arrive from England, landing at the coastal town of Newbury. The local Puritans are suspicious (the Quakers’ unwelcome arrival is foreshadowed by the finding of a drowned sailor from their ship) and hostility is soon aroused by Jane’s odd behavior and Richard’s religious outspokenness. When Richard is found dead, midwife Catherine Williams, a voice of common sense among much intolerance and hypocrisy, investigates with help from aloof Indian, Massaquoit.
The town and its inhabitants needed more flesh on their bones – perhaps this was done in previous novels of the series (The Blind in Darkness was reviewed in Issue 13). But the story had good pace, keeping me guessing right to the end. And the arthritic but astute Catherine made an appealing sleuth.
