Authorpreneur Dashboard – Ronald John Lynch
A Just and Upright Man
Literature & Fiction
It is 1763. James Blakiston, overseer of Lord Ravenshead’s estate and a newcomer to the Durham parish of Ryton, is determined to solve the mystery of old Reuben Cooper’s murder – but he has no idea how to go about it. As enclosure threatens to make the poor even poorer, Blakiston follows one misguided hunch after another. The only thing that he can really be certain of is his love for the beautiful and spirited Kate Greener – a love he is determined to resist, for Kate is the daughter of a penniless labourer and Blakiston has in any case not recovered from being thrown over by the woman he believed loved him. The mysterious Joseph Kelly, an Irishman who is not an Irishman, falls under suspicion. But Kelly cannot be found. Then Matthew Higson flees to America, leaving his boyhood love Catherine Robinson behind in his headlong rush to be gone, and the mystery is solved. Higson was the murderer. But when Higson is found, not fled but murdered in his turn, Blakiston’s search resumes. As he builds a picture of the history of the murderous Cooper family over three generations, a missing coat also begins to occupy his mind. How did it get from where it was to where it is? And why? A chance remark by Lady Isabella Claverley opens the door to the murderer at last. And Blakiston rejects love. But will love let him go?
Book Bubbles from A Just and Upright Man
Here's what reviews on Amazon say
"If you want to find out how ordinary people lived in Northern England in the 18th century you can try to find the appropriate history books or you can read this excellent novel of historical fiction which probably does a better job. “A Just and Upright Man' is whodunnit murder mystery but to say that is to sell it short, because there are multiple sub plots and a cast of interesting characters portrayed in a very believable way." "How refreshing an intelligent, intellectual and honorable hero and a poor, semi literate heroine." "It is 1763, County Durham, England and there is a murder to solve and romance on the horizon. I really enjoyed the sense of time and place that Lynch created for this novel. From the gentry to the poor there is great characterisation."
