The Constable Tale (Audible Audio Edition) Donald Smith Corey Gagne Audible Studios Books
Download As PDF : The Constable Tale (Audible Audio Edition) Donald Smith Corey Gagne Audible Studios Books
Set in a tumultuous period that helped to forge a nation, a riveting mystery that takes a volunteer constable through the wilds of colonial North Carolina to track down a shadowy killer.
When a traveling peddler discovers the murder of a farm family in colonial North Carolina whose bodies have been left in bizarre positions, circumstances point to an Indian attack. But Harry Woodyard, a young planter who is the volunteer constable of Craven County during a period in America's past when there was no professional police force, finds clues that seem to indicate otherwise. The county establishment wants to blame the crime on a former inhabitant, an elderly Indian who has suddenly reappeared in the vicinity like an old ghost. But he is a person to whom Harry owes much.
Defying the authorities, Harry goes off on his own to find the real killer. His investigation takes him up the Atlantic seacoast and turns into a perilous hunt for even bigger quarry that could affect the future of Britain in the American continent.
The Constable Tale (Audible Audio Edition) Donald Smith Corey Gagne Audible Studios Books
For most Americans, the history of our country’s early years revolves around a set of iconic images learned in elementary school, most of which are at best misleading: the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock (they didn’t); witches burning at the stake in Salem (not true); Washington chopping down the cherry tree (really??); and . . . well, you get the point. What actually happened, and what it was like to live in pre-Revolutionary America, is all a blank to the overwhelming majority of us.Short of reading an academic cultural history of the period, which is likely to be unreadable, the best and for all practical matters the only way to get a fix on life during those times is through historical fiction. From Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans to Geraldine Brooks’ Caleb’s Crossing, talented novelists have re-imagined life in Colonial America, giving us a window on what is otherwise invisible. Now comes Donald Smith’s The Constable’s Tale.
Structured as a detective novel, Smith’s tale vividly brings back to life the time shortly before the American Revolution when our colonial forebears were all loyal British subjects. The action takes place in the year 1759 when what Americans call the French and Indian Wars came to a head with the British victory at Quebec City.
The constable of the title is James Henry (“Harry”) Woodyard, Royal Constable of Craven County, North Carolina. Harry lives in New Bern, the second oldest town in the United States, with his bride, Toby; his mother and grandfather live nearby on the family’s growing plantation. Harry, whose post as constable is a volunteer position, is called into service when a traveler comes upon the brutal murder of the Campbell family on a neighboring farm.
The sheriff, the chief justice of the peace, and seemingly all of the townspeople quickly conclude that the murderer is Harry’s old friend, Comet Elijah, an old Native American of the Tuscarora tribe who mentored him as a young boy. Harry is convinced that his friend couldn’t possibly have murdered his neighbors, the Campbells. Determined to set Comet Elijah free from jail by identifying the real killer, Harry soon uncovers evidence pointing to someone else — and his quest to prove the man’s guilt and bring him to justice takes him on a months-long journey. Following his prey, Harry spends weeks traveling to Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Quebec, landing him in the midst of the climactic battle in the war between the British and the French for the control of North America.
The Constable’s Tale is highly satisfying as a detective novel, suspenseful and surprising to the end, but its true rewards lie in its depiction of life as it was lived in Colonial America. The story is peopled with characters who illustrate the full range of Colonial class structure, from the pampered British aristocrats who rule the colonies to the wealthiest colonial farmers and merchants to the underclass into which Harry was born.
One charming aspect of The Constable’s Tale is the author’s use of excerpts from an 18th century book entitled the Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior In Company and Conversation to head up each chapter. Harry has virtually memorized the book and uses it as a guide to shedding his lower-class ways so he can rise into the elite. Here’s one great example: “Run not in the Streets, neither go too slowly nor with Mouth open go not Shaking yr Arms kick not the earth with yr feet, go not upon the Toes, nor in a Dancing fashion.”
Donald Smith is the author of at least five historical novels as well as other books about Scotland and Scottish history.
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The Constable Tale (Audible Audio Edition) Donald Smith Corey Gagne Audible Studios Books Reviews
Well, Don Smith has pulled it off big time! I was a little leery about an historical novel ... or actually anything set in Colonial America. This book proved how wrong that preconception was. The story is alive and lively, the characters quite intriguing and the plot has more sudden twists than I ever anticipated. And the reader learns a lot about how things worked in British America at the time of the French and Indian Wars. Harry, the main character, is a rather fascinating man whom we might be seeing again one day. This is a definite two thumbs up book. Get it!
I wanted to love this book, but found it was kind of...meh. I enjoyed the historical aspects of it, but in some ways it seemed like a Colonial Forrest Gump - he kept running into historical figures on his journey. It was entertaining and the writing was decent but overall I just wasn't terribly impressed by the actual story.
Great story set against an part of American history we rarely hear about - the French-Indian War. We were still a colony, but the author has deftly introduced the idea that Americans at the time were different from their British peers. Complex and interesting characters from start to finish. Despite the hero's attempts to interpret what is happening around him, very little is as it appears - which keeps the reader guessing.
Though the story spins a little in the middle it comes together in a reasonably good fashion. That said, the epilogue leaves me a bit bewildered. The quasi- paranormal/supernatural last few pages weakens the story imo, and leaves me with a 'what was the point' feeling.
If the ending few pages had been left on the editors dustbin, this would have been a much stronger tale.
I enjoy mystery novels set in remote locations or eras. This one is set in colonial America in the time of the war with French for the control of North America. It has some of the usual insertions of modern sensibilities to make the protagonists more attractive to contemporary readers but it is not excessive. The historical detail is, from what I can tell, quite accurate and the author successfully transports the reader to the time. The author has the additional gift of describing fight and sex scenes with real tension, not a small accomplishment. The mystery, perhaps more of a thriller, really isn't all that interesting from a sleuth point of view, the detective more or less keeps stumbling forward with more determination than sense, but that is always the way when the story is of an amateur who just can't let something go.
The Constable's Tale is an interesting period piece set in pre-revolutionary America. With the backdrop of a murder mystery, Smith exposes the reader to the daily life, customs, culture, and priorities of colonial times. He skillfully weaves in the language, writing, and spelling of the time in the form of letters among the principals.
The murder mystery itself and the road to solve it, is a bit too tortuous and unbelievable; it takes away from the glimpse into the life and times of the day. In particular, it is utterly preposterous that a man on a mission that takes him from North Carolina to Virginia to Philadelphia to Boston to Quebec would continually run into the exact same people seemingly at every turn. After all, I can go a week or more without seeing my neighbors; the very thought of running into them time and again on my travels would be absurd. As for trhe mystery itself, it turns out to be a pretty boilerplate whodunit, with the usual twists at the end.
That critique aside, this is an enjoyable read and a pleasant diversion from the run of the mill murder mysteries. I recommend it for anyone interested in the daily life of colonial America.
For most Americans, the history of our country’s early years revolves around a set of iconic images learned in elementary school, most of which are at best misleading the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock (they didn’t); witches burning at the stake in Salem (not true); Washington chopping down the cherry tree (really??); and . . . well, you get the point. What actually happened, and what it was like to live in pre-Revolutionary America, is all a blank to the overwhelming majority of us.
Short of reading an academic cultural history of the period, which is likely to be unreadable, the best and for all practical matters the only way to get a fix on life during those times is through historical fiction. From Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and James Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans to Geraldine Brooks’ Caleb’s Crossing, talented novelists have re-imagined life in Colonial America, giving us a window on what is otherwise invisible. Now comes Donald Smith’s The Constable’s Tale.
Structured as a detective novel, Smith’s tale vividly brings back to life the time shortly before the American Revolution when our colonial forebears were all loyal British subjects. The action takes place in the year 1759 when what Americans call the French and Indian Wars came to a head with the British victory at Quebec City.
The constable of the title is James Henry (“Harry”) Woodyard, Royal Constable of Craven County, North Carolina. Harry lives in New Bern, the second oldest town in the United States, with his bride, Toby; his mother and grandfather live nearby on the family’s growing plantation. Harry, whose post as constable is a volunteer position, is called into service when a traveler comes upon the brutal murder of the Campbell family on a neighboring farm.
The sheriff, the chief justice of the peace, and seemingly all of the townspeople quickly conclude that the murderer is Harry’s old friend, Comet Elijah, an old Native American of the Tuscarora tribe who mentored him as a young boy. Harry is convinced that his friend couldn’t possibly have murdered his neighbors, the Campbells. Determined to set Comet Elijah free from jail by identifying the real killer, Harry soon uncovers evidence pointing to someone else — and his quest to prove the man’s guilt and bring him to justice takes him on a months-long journey. Following his prey, Harry spends weeks traveling to Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Quebec, landing him in the midst of the climactic battle in the war between the British and the French for the control of North America.
The Constable’s Tale is highly satisfying as a detective novel, suspenseful and surprising to the end, but its true rewards lie in its depiction of life as it was lived in Colonial America. The story is peopled with characters who illustrate the full range of Colonial class structure, from the pampered British aristocrats who rule the colonies to the wealthiest colonial farmers and merchants to the underclass into which Harry was born.
One charming aspect of The Constable’s Tale is the author’s use of excerpts from an 18th century book entitled the Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior In Company and Conversation to head up each chapter. Harry has virtually memorized the book and uses it as a guide to shedding his lower-class ways so he can rise into the elite. Here’s one great example “Run not in the Streets, neither go too slowly nor with Mouth open go not Shaking yr Arms kick not the earth with yr feet, go not upon the Toes, nor in a Dancing fashion.”
Donald Smith is the author of at least five historical novels as well as other books about Scotland and Scottish history.
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