A Journeyman to Grief

Zusatztext Praise for Maureen Jennings and A Journeyman to Grief  "Jennings's best to date. . . . The excellent plot takes us into the unknown (to most readers, I think) history of the small black community in 19th-century Toronto. How they came there, how they lived, is as engrossing as the mystery . . . of the abducted bride." - Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail "Jennings is a master at drawing out her characters." - Victoria Times-Colonist "A surprisingly tender tale of slavery, addiction, violence and revenge served ice-cold." - Kirkus Reviews "Within a few pages . . . we are firmly and happily ensconced in the late-19th-century world Jennings has created. . . . First-time readers can enjoy this as a standalone novel, and we will have the additional pleasure of knowing there are six more Detective Murdoch novels waiting to be read." - Quill and Quire Informationen zum Autor Maureen Jennings Klappentext In 1858! a young woman on her honeymoon is abducted and taken across the border from Canada and sold into slavery. Thirty-eight years later! the owner of one of Toronto's livery stables is found dead. Then a second man is murdered! his body strangely tied as if he were a rebellious slave. Detective Murdoch has to find out whether Toronto's small "coloured" community has a vicious killer in its midst - an investigation that puts his own life in danger. With her usual masterful storytelling and sharp dialogue! Jennings shows how a great harm committed in the past can fatally affect the present. CHAPTER ONE JULY 1858 She glanced over her shoulder to see if he was coming. What could he be doing? He’d been gone more than half an hour, and all he’d had to do was pick up the forgotten tobacco pouch from their hotel room and come right back. They had planned to take the steamer boat across the Falls, but they’d miss it if he didn’t hurry. She shaded her eyes against the sun, but the road was deserted except for a carriage that was approaching slowly, the horse’s head drooping wearily. She consulted the gold fob watch that had been her father’s wedding present to her. It was a beautiful and extravagant gift, but the giving of it was marred by her father being in his cups and barely able to utter his congratulation, so that when she did consult the watch, her pride in its richness was tainted by her disappointment in him. She shifted back on the bench. To her left, she could see a rainbow arching over the high-flung spray of the cascading water. She had been excited to come here for her honeymoon, but the week so far had been less than happy. Initially, she had been self-conscious, sure that the other guests were staring at them in disapproval. When she confessed this to her husband, he was dismissive rather than kind, but she clung to his words: “You are the most beautiful woman in the room. The men covet you and the women are envious. Nobody knows. They think you are a Spanish countess.” She longed for him to say more, but in the short time they had been married, she had learned not to press forward with any discussion he didn’t want to have. When he was courting her, he had been tender and solicitous, but nothing, not even her Aunt Hattie’s blunt warnings about “man’s nature,” had prepared her for the roughness of their conjugal relations. She couldn’t hide her discomfort, and he was impatient with her. “I wouldn’t have expected such coldness from you of all people.” She had cried so hard the first night that he had finally relented and teased and tickled her into a precarious laughter. This morning, she’d woken to find him sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her. He had kissed her fiercely. “Today, I want you to wear your best blue silk gown, your largest crinoline, and your big hat with the peacock feathers. You will be the belle of the promenade.” So she had, and laced herse...

Product details

• Authors: Maureen Jennings
• Publisher: Random House Canada
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 03.09.2013
• EAN: 9780771046797
• ISBN: 978-0-7710-4679-7
• No. of pages: 448
• Dimensions: 13 mm x 205 mm x 30 mm
• Series: Murdoch Mysteries; Murdoch Mysteries
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense > Crime fiction, thrillers, espionage