An elderly woman
is found dead in her Yorkshire manor home, The Grange. Her head has been bashed
in. Yet nothing has been stolen, so robbery wasn’t the motive. Detective
Inspector Blake Hartley is called to investigate, assisted by his sergeant
Ibrahim Khan.
The Grange,
however, holds old memories for Hartley. His mother worked there as a cook, and
he spent many hours in the kitchen and the grounds. He’s also keenly aware of
the heir to the estate, who always treated Hartley with upper-class disdain for
the working and servant classes.
In addition to
his police job, Hartley just happens to be an ordained Anglican priest – a Reverend
Detective Inspective, as it were. He’s not a paid priest but can function as
one (including for counseling and confession).
The
Bradshaw Mystery, published
in 2012, is the first of eight Blake
Hartley detective novels by John Waddington-Feather. The author has also written
a multi-volume historical saga set between 1910 and 1956; a collection of short
stories; children’s stories; a book about the Yorkshire dialect; and a poetry
collection. He’s even written a morality play.
 |
| John Waddington-Feather |
This story
involves quite a tour of the Yorkshire countryside, moving from manor to town,
to other towns, and to other rural areas. Hartley and Khan find themselves having
to navigate the antiques trade, drug smuggling, police department politics, and
long-buried passions. And there’s no want of suspects – the heir, the
housekeeper, the gardener, and several shadowy figures barely walking a line
between crime and the law. Hartley also finds himself having to navigate his
own class prejudices and resentments. For his part, Khan has to deal with race
prejudice and a Pakistani family that harbors a fair number of criminals.
It’s a fun read
for a mystery fan, and contains enough twists and turns to keep the reader
guessing (and entertained).
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