The Wickham Market Murder
Iain Maitland
140 pages
Sharpe Books
February 15, 2022
Synopsis
Suffolk, 1907.
Wickham Market’s local constable William Palmer spends his days yearning to solve a significant case so he can earn his detective’s badge.
But Palmer is torn, because he is also in love with the school mistress Alice Kemp who doesn’t want to leave the village.
One night, the night of a dramatic storm, there is a murder. A housemaid – Evelyn Maud Roberts – is found stabbed to death at the local vicarage.
Palmer has his chance to make a name for himself.
The local doctor declares that Evelyn was six months pregnant.
And the vicar’s daughter, Charlotte Mellor, names three men who may have reason to commit murder; Walter Fisk, soon-to-be-master at the workhouse; Albert Nunn, the postman; Frederick Hawes, the slow-witted village boy in love with Evelyn.
Palmer investigates. But he only has so much time before Inspector Bloomfield – the veteran detective from Suffolk Police – arrives from Ipswich to take over the case.
And before the killer strikes again.
My Review
An atmospheric story that grabs you right from the start. You are being told the murder from a third-party perspective without knowing who the murderer is. I found this to be a clever hook to draw me in. It is told in a no-nonsense tone that you’d expect from an early 1900s detective. The deceased was stabbed eleven times because she was pregnant with only three possible suitors as a father. The young inexperienced detective has just a short time to try and solve the case before an experienced detective takes over. With none of the modern tools of the police, he goes about questioning the townspeople and retracing her steps to solve the case.
If you are looking for a quick, period mystery, then this will fit the bill.
Author Bio
Iain Maitland is the author of three previous psych thrillers, The Scribbler (2020), Mr Todd’s Reckoning (2019) and Sweet William (2017), all published by Contraband, an imprint of Saraband. Mr Todd’s Reckoning is coming to the big screen in 2023.
Iain is also the author of two memoirs, Dear Michael, Love Dad (Hodder, 2016), a book of letters written to his eldest son who experienced depression and anorexia, and (co-authored with Michael) Out Of The Madhouse (Jessica Kingsley, 2018).
He is also an Ambassador for Stem4, the teenage mental health charity. He talks regularly about mental health issues in schools and colleges and workplaces.
Zoé
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