The Constable’s Tale

Fans of Eliot Pattison’s Bone Rattler series (Soul of the Fire, etc.) will relish Smith’s impressive debut, set in 1759. Royal constable Harry Woodyard looks into a multiple murder at a plantation in North Carolina’s Craven County. Someone shot nine-year-old Andrew Campbell in a field, then rested the boy’s head on a pillow and put a sprig of rosemary under his nose. Andrew’s parents were slain in the house, their bodies also posed; only the baby was left alive. Most people believe that Indians were responsible, though the sparing of the infant’s life is uncharacteristic of similar Indian massacres. When Comet Elijah, a Tuscarora Indian and mentor to Harry, turns up in the vicinity, he’s arrested. Convinced of Comet Elijah’s innocence, Harry undertakes a perilous quest for the truth, which he believes is connected to a Masonic medal he found under the Campbell baby’s crib. Smith balances historical detail and a twisty whodunit plot like a veteran. [em]Agent: Jennifer Unter, Unter Agency. (Sept.) [/em]