The Finder of Lost Things
a standalone mystery set in Elizabethan England
"The
mystery is multilayered, and unexpected obstacles keep readers guessing until
the end. . . . Overall, an enjoyable period mystery packed with religious
tension and danger lurking at every turn."
Historical
Novel Society Review
Level Best Books
978-1-947915-82-4 (trade paperback) $16.95
978-1-947915-83-1 (e-book) $5.99
"The
Finder of Lost Things" is the name Blanche Wainfleet's three sisters
bestowed on her when they were young, not only for her ability to locate
missing handkerchiefs and runaway pets, but also because she was so good at
finding solutions to all manner of puzzles. Now, in the winter of 1590-1,
twenty-eight-year-old Blanche, a London merchant's wife whose husband is
traveling abroad, is faced with a much more serious mystery, one she is
desperate to solve.
Late
Elizabethan England is an era rife with treason and conflicting political and
religious loyalties. Priest-catchers target Catholic households in the hope of
being able to arrest and execute priests. The householders themselves have to
pay ruinous fines if they do not attend Anglican services. And yet leaders of
both faiths agree that a bewitched person can be cured by exorcism.
When
Blanche's youngest sister, Alison, fell in love with a Catholic gentleman, she
converted to Catholicism and went to live at Otley
Manor as Lady Otley's companion. Arrested for illegally
hearing Mass, she died under mysterious circumstances while imprisoned in
Colchester Castle. Some say she was bewitched to death.
To
discover the truth about how Alison died, Blanche contrives to have herself
confined with Lady Otley and other members of the Otley household in Colchester's dungeon. She tells no one
of her connection to Alison, but does pretend that she, like her sister, wishes
to convert. Still without answers when a royal pardon sets all women prisoners
free, Blanche accepts Lady Otley's invitation to join
her household and take instruction in the Catholic faith. She's just begun to
make progress when a second murder puts her in mortal danger from powerful
figures on both sides of the religious divide.