Book Review: Ashmole Foxe and the Moon-Shadowed Murders, Ashmole Foxe Georgian Mysteries Book 7, William Savage
Book Review: Ashmole Foxe and the Moon-Shadowed Murders, Ashmole Foxe Georgian Mysteries Book 7, William Savage
Blog Tour March 8, 2023
Having now read a couple of the books in this series, I can confirm that I am a big fan of Ashmole Foxe. A bookseller by trade, Foxe also has a knack for solving mysteries. Set in Norwich during the reign of King George III (no indication of him singing, “You’ll Be Back,” which is a real shame), Foxe is favored by the elites of Norwich, particularly business leaders, to find the criminals they seek as well as find a way to minimize scandal.
So when a young priest, the third son of a local nobleman, is found dead on the parish grounds, Foxe is called to investigate. That is, the dean of the church is called, who notifies the bishop, who notifies the mayor, who notifies Foxe’s friend, who sends a servant to find him. Communication pre-telephone was neither swift nor direct.
Somewhat faster, Foxe hears about a young woman who is murdered in an abandoned house. A street child comes to tell him the news. Foxe leaves immediately to view the crime scene before the police arrive and discovers the woman dressed nicely in an expensive dress, but with indications that she was not someone who could normally afford such a fine garment. Still, a strange woman unknown to the town’s leaders hardly rates a thought, and she is quickly consigned to a pauper’s grave.
Foxe, though, does not see things that way. To him, a murder is a murder, and an unknown woman dying in an abandoned house is just as important as a cleric whose father was nobility. He has to tread carefully, though, because if he seems to be neglecting the investigation of the young man, his investigative work will disappear.
William Savage has done an excellent job of merging thoughts and sensibilities of the time with a more modern view of the world. Foxe lives in a world where a woman’s value was measured by her worth to her husband. Poor women kept their house in order, cooking and cleaning and raising children. Wealthy women ordered poor women to keep the wealthier houses in order, often passing not only cooking and cleaning responsibilities but child-rearing and education as well. Wealthy men spent their time being wealthy men, doing things that wealthy men did.
Foxe is a more modern character in this 17th Century world. He values women–albeit often sexually. He does not see the murder of a poor woman being less important than the murder of a wealthy man. He treats street children with charity and respect. That is not to say he is a completely modern character–he may be embarrassed when a 16-year old girl kisses him on the mouth, but not in the same way as we would be horrified by a similar occurrence between an underage girl and an adult today.
Admittedly, as an American my knowledge of this period of English history is rather poor. We fought a war against each other, America gained it’s independence, then England pretty much disappears again until we start fighting again in 1812. This series probably will not fill the gaps my history classes left in my knowledge of this period, but it is absolutely delightful to peek in at people living their lives and dying their deaths in this previously unconsidered (by me) time of English history.
I hope you can forgive me for humming “Hamilton” songs as I read.
Our thanks to Kelly Lacey of Love Books for our copy of Ashmole Foxe and the Moon-Shadowed Murders, provided so we could participate in this blog tour. The opinions here are solely those of Scintilla. For other perspectives on this novel, check out the other bloggers on this tour.
Book Review: Ashmole Foxe and the Moon-Shadowed Murders, Ashmole Foxe Georgian Mysteries Book 7, William Savage