The Motive from the Deed
Patricia Wynn
Pemberley, Feb 2007, $26.95
ISBN: 0977191338

In 1715, supporters of James Stuart the Pretender have begun a coup to depose King George I. In reaction to the open hostilities, the monarch assumes all Roman Catholics advocate the placing of the Pretender on the throne so are exiled from London to reduce assassination possibilities; other freedoms like free speech and press are curtailed so that any opposition is suppressed, with those who complain spending time at Newgate for seditious activity.

Without the benefit of a trial, Jeremy is dispatched to Newgate for printing subversive pamphlets. He denies ever doing this treasonable action, but no official heeds his plea. In fact, his plight turns worse when he is accused of homicide though he swears he is innocent. His sister Mrs. Kean believes her sibling so she turns to her friend the Blue Satan to help her prove Jeremy's innocence.

In their third Georgian thriller, (see BIRTH OF BLUE SATAN and SPIDER'S TOUCH), Mrs. Kean and her associate, the aristocratic highwayman Blue Satan, work on a whodunit that is personal as her sibling is heading to the gallows unless they can prove more than just his innocence. Thos is a timely tale with the Bush Administration ignoring basic civil rights especially of foreign citizens which is similar to the dissolution of rights in 1715 England (the Peter Zenger "Freedom of the Press" trial occurs in Colonial New York in 1734); in either time, innocence or guilt is irrelevant once incarcerated. THE MOTIVE FROM THE DEED is a superb historical mystery with current relevancy.

Harriet Klausner