Shadow of the Past

The hero (if that is the right word) of Judith Cutler's new mystery Shadow of the Past is the Rev Tobias Campion Rector of Moreton St. Jude, a rural parish in early nineteenth century Warwickshire. Behind this modest front the Rev Tobias is in fact a titled gentleman, a member of a wealthy and influential familly inspired to put aside his priviledged background by his Christian faith. Thsi causes me to wonder if the Rev Tobias is the ancestor of Margery Allingham's Albert Campion also a titled member of an ancient familly who prefers to do his good works of detection as plain mister, but I digress. Lady Chase, one of Tobias' wealthy parishoners, is renowned for her generosity to the poor and as a leading figure in local society but her good works act as a cover for her grief at the loss of her son and heir, Hugo, who is missing believed killed in the Peninsular War. Her late husband's nephew, Sir Marcus Bramhall, then arrives with his familly and invites himself for a prolonged stay obviously expecting to inherit the title and estate as there is no news of Hugo despite the time and money Lady Chase has spent to discover his whereabouts or confirm his demise. When he declares his intention to bring a court case to have Hugo declared dead and himself the heir Tobias is moved to support his friend and parishoner. The discovery of the body of a man who could have been bringing information about Hugo and the disappearance of the Bramhall childrens governess wind up the plot nicely. This is a very entertaining mystery and brightened a couple of damp and gloomy winter afternoons for this reader.