None So Blind by Alis Hawkins

 

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You can buy None So Blind.......Here

You can find out more about the author.....Here

The Blurb...

1850 – Harry Probert-Lloyd is a young barrister making a successful career in London when he realises he’s going blind. Forced home from London to rural Cardiganshire, the only path open to him seems to be one he hoped he’d have never take: to become one of the squirearchy.

But Harry has scarcely got his things unpacked when a messenger comes banging on the door. Human remains have been discovered on a neighbouring property.

Harry has a horrible feeling he knows who the bones belong to; and that he’s part of the reason she’s dead.

But the murder took place during the infamous ‘Rebecca’ tollgate riots and, with the whole area caught up in a frenzy of gossip, rumour and fear, the inquest jury brings in an anomalous verdict o. Intimidation by the resurgent influence of the shadowy Rebecca? Harry thinks so.

In the teeth of opposition from all sides, he sets out to find out who killed Margaret Jones. And why.

Needing help, Harry hires John Davies, a young solicitor’s clerk, to be his eyes and, as they pursue their investigation, three names keep cropping up.

Rebecca – Why are the men who dressed as women and rode out at night so keen to leave Margaret Jones’s death uninvestigated?

Nathaniel Howell – rabble-rousing, equality-before-God espousing minister of the local chapel. Why did he disappear when the riots were at their height? What did he know about Margaret Jones? Is he still alive, or did he, too, end up in an unmarked grave?

And David Thomas. Every time his name is mentioned, Harry steers away from it and John becomes suspicious. Who is David Thomas and why are they not beating a path to his door to ask him what he knows? Exactly what part did Harry himself play in the Rebecca Riots?

Harry and John’s investigations take them as far afield as London and Ipswich where they make an astonishing discovery.

The truth behind Margaret Jones’s death changes everything.

My Review...

None So Blind is the first in the Teifi Valley Coroner Series. Other novels in the series are

In Two Minds

Those Who Know

I found this to be a very good book on so many levels. The murder mystery was intriguing,  the characters were compelling and (to me anyway) the historical context was absolutely fascinating.

Murder Mystery; How do you solve a murder if there is no police force? Indeed how can even find out  that it is a murder. This is the dilemma facing Harry. There is no police force but there is a very rudimentary coroner system in 1850s rural West Wales. Harry believes he knows the victim who was buried beneath a tree. He feels duty bound to find her killer. His first step in his quest is to use his fathers influence to push the local coroner to open an inquest. This is by no means a straight forward and routine procedural  task as would be the case today. The jury returns a verdict that cannot be correct. They have been nobbled. Harry is requested to continue his investigations by an unlikely source. He does this gladly but by doing so falls foul of his distant father. Harry must navigate his path to the killer, but that path lies through corruption, conspiracy and physical intimidation by the Rebecca Rioters.  The 1840s equivalent of a vigilante, guerilla, militia.  Several possible scenarios for Margaret's death are investigated and several red herrings are produced before the perpetrator is exposed. In addition the author does have a lively turn of phrase. Have a squint at the selected quotes for some fine examples. I have probably used too many quotes. I hope the author forgives me but they are all little belters

Compelling Characters; Harry on first glance would appear to be the stereotypical hero. He is from landed gentry, well educated with a conscience. This is all well and good but it would make for a very boring protagonist. This is where the author comes up with two strokes of genius. Harry has a debilitating occular disease and is going slowly blind. He only has periphal vision. He needs help. He needs someone to be his eyes. This is where John Davies comes in. John is from a lower social strata than Harry and can see things that Harry cannot both physically and societally. Between the two of them they have access to the whole social strata. They grow to become almost symbiotic. The second stroke of genius is to give Harry a past both with Margaret and the Rebbecca Riots. John begins to suspect Harry of some sort of involvement. It's like Starsky not really trusting Hutch! In addition John himself is carrying a dark secret. Yes Hutch is hiding something from Starsky (ed probably showing my age with those references 🤔) It makes for full, well rounded, proper meaty characters.

There are few appendices in the version that I read. Notes on the Rebecca Riots, notes on law and order in 19th Century West Wales and questions for reading groups. All very interesting additions to the story itself. 

Historical Context; This aspect was fascinating. We go from rural West Wales where the poorest in society are sharing their homebuilt dwelling with cattle to London where there are gaslights in the home along with turquoise wallpaper. The Rebecca Riots play a large part in the story and it seems to me while they started as a sort "Poll Tax Riot" they degenerated into the paranoia and chaos of the Salem Witch Trials. I have read about the Rebecca Riots, The Merthyr Rising and the Chartist Rising but I think if you ask the average Welsh citizen about these, their knowledge would be little to nothing. That is why is great to see books like this, that provide a palatable and engaging way to learning about our heritage. These things together with Treweryn should be higher in our collective national conscience. Anyway I digress back to the book

 I was thinking what novels could I compare it with regards to  setting and context and it eventually came to me, and if you think the Starsky and Hutch reference was odd you are going really surprised at this. It reminded me of both the Godfather  and I Claudius (two of my favourite books.) Yes, Yes I know I am odd but here me out. All three totally immerse you  in a society with a very distinct social strata. The rules and etiquette  for recognising  who is on what level (and sub level) of society  are numerous and, to the outsider at least, opaque. For example speaking Welsh is only for the lower classes, upper classes speak English. Tenant farmers are below land owners. Power, wealth and status are everything. Trying to to move up the social ladder is fraught with danger and conversely the threat of falling down the ladder is forever looming in the background. The hand you are dealt with from birth greatly impinges on everything you do in life. In an ideal world it wouldn't but it does and sadly that is still true today. All three societies are cultures that I had limited knowledge of before reading about them. However upon reading them felt totally immersed in that world with all the subleties and nuances that go along with them, and now I will never forget them. 

Selected Quotes...

"As we walked under a sky like soaked linen,"

"I didn’t trust anything until it was written down where I could see it. Behaving itself."

‘In my experience, Mr Probert- Lloyd,’ the coroner said, ‘the truth is rarely told where a suspicious death is concerned. And certainly not the whole truth.’

‘Do you defend these Rebeccas?’ ‘I defend their right to take action if nobody else will uphold the law!’ ‘To take action? They’re rioting, boy!’ ‘Riot is in the eye of the beholder.’

"...fire burning in a room nobody was in. That was what having money meant."

"Parry was a large man and I remembered him as being soft around the edges, as if he might be easy to squeeze into a blancmange mould."

About the Author...

Alis Hawkins grew up on a dairy farm in Cardiganshire. Her inner introvert thought it would be a good idea to become a shepherd and, frankly, if she had, she might have been published sooner.

However, three years reading English at Corpus Christi College, Oxford revealed an extrovert streak and a social conscience which saw her train as a Speech and Language Therapist. She has spent the subsequent three decades variously bringing up two sons, working with children and young people on the autism spectrum and writing fiction, non-fiction and plays. She writes the kind of books she likes to read: character-driven historical crime and mystery fiction with what might be called literary production values.

As a historical writer, Alis takes her research very seriously which sometimes has unexpected consequences. Research into the techniques of medieval charcoal burning led to a fascination with the craft and she and her partner are now regular members of the team that keeps the earth burn charcoal-producing technique alive in the Forest of Dean.

Series: The Teifi Valley Coroner historical crime series, featuring Harry Probert Lloyd and John Davies, published by The Dome Press. #1 - None So Blind (2018),#2 - In Two Minds (2019), #3 - Those Who Know (2020)

Testament, a split time narrative set in fictitious university town Salster in both fourteenth and twenty-first centuries – published by Sapere Books July 2019.

The Black and The White, a historical psychological mystery set during the time of the Black Death will be published by Sapere Books (publication date March 30th 2020)