A Chorus of Innocents: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery

Set in the contentious borderlands between England and Scotland in 1592, Chisholm’s absorbing seventh Sir Robert Carey mystery (after 2014’s An Air of Treason) focuses on Carey’s lady love, Elizabeth Widdrington, whose pluck and wit help her find her way through a world ruled by men. When two strangers rape eight-months pregnant Poppy Burn and murder her minister husband, James Burn, Poppy rides 40 miles on horseback from her home in Wendron to Widdrington castle, where she pleads for Elizabeth’s help. Elizabeth returns with Poppy to Wendron, where her sleuthing brings her into contact with a host of distinctive characters, including Dowager Lady Hume, who sometimes communes with faeries. Carey’s path intersects with Elizabeth’s just as solving Burn’s murder threatens to ignite smoldering clan passions into an inferno. Chisholm illuminates the daily life of the period from the social position of women and children to food preparation, religion, and dentistry, as the action builds to the surprising conclusion. [em](Aug.) [/em]