#BookReview Searcher of the Dead by Nancy Herriman @Nancy_Herriman @crookedlanebks @Joni2345zb #HistoricalFiction

Book Details
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books, 336 pages
Publish Date: March 13, 2018
Genre: Historical Fiction; Mystery



About the Book:

Herbalist Bess Ellyott flees London after her husband is murdered, but the peace she has found in the quiet Wiltshire countryside is short-lived. Her brother-in-law, a prosperous merchant, is himself found dead—dangling from a tree, an apparent suicide.

Clues suggest otherwise to Bess. Word around town holds that the dead man is a victim of rival merchants scheming to corner the wool market. Bess, though, is convinced the killer is out to destroy her family for reasons unknown.

Can she trust the town constable to help her find the truth? Christopher Harwoode will cross members of his own family to find the killer…whose next target may very well be Queen Elizabeth I herself.

My Rating: 
5 out of 5 🔍🔍🔍🔍🔍

My Review:

What a great historical mystery by author Nancy Herriman. Searcher of the Dead is the first installment in The Bess Ellyott Mystery Series. The story starts out in London but quickly moves to Wiltshire, England and takes place around the year 1593 during the Tudor Period. This book was loaded with things that I love (some of those will also reveal how big of a nerd I am but that’s ok).

Searcher of the Dead was full of things in history that I didn’t know before. When I come across a word or topic I’m not familiar with I like to look up more information. Some things I learned about in this book: searchers of the dead, plagues during this time period, town waites, hautbois, shawms, Abraham-men, Felo-de-se and non compos mentis (which I may suffer from periodically…I will let you look that one up).

I have always loved reading books set during this time period. Nancy Herriman’s descriptive writing brings the story to life, especially the town of Wiltshire and its surroundings. The main character was Bess Ellyott, an herbalist/healer. She is new to the town of Wiltshire and finds people are automatically suspicious of her because of that. Bess was definitely my favorite character. Her backstory was heartbreaking but even though she had a hard past she still persevered. I admire that in any human being but I especially admire that trait in a woman. What a strong character! I enjoyed the interaction between Bess and the constable, Kit Harwoode. Kit doesn’t quite know how to handle a woman like Bess.

I felt the mystery itself was original and creative. The author had me guessing whodunit until the end. The Searcher of the Dead is definitely a 5 out of 5 🔍🔍🔍🔍🔍 for me. I hope there are many more Bess Ellyott Mysteries to come and I would recommend this book to everyone who loves historical mysteries and stories from England’s Tudor Period.

Thank you Nancy Herriman, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book to read.