Blog Tour: Ravishment – James Walker*

Retired lawyer, and still active charity worker, living in Kent,with a keen interest in European history, who’s published six novels including Aliza, my love and Ravishment.

My first book, Ellen’s Gold is a historical drama set in the early nineteenth century.

This was followed by My Enemy, my love set in the First World War and I think he was George, a drama also set in that era.

I then published Shamila, a story of forbidden love between a Moslem and a non-Moslem, set in the near future, beforein the last year publishing Ravishment, which is whodunnit, set in 17th century England.

Finally, this was followed by Aliza, my love, which is set in Nazi Germany.

My thoughts:

This was an interesting take on the crime novel, set in Puritan England in the 17th century, a troubled time when families were divided along political lines and people suspected their friends and neighbours of either being or harbouring dangerous royalists.

Lady Jane and her late husband were indeed loyal to the Crown, something that makes her relationships with her brother-in-law and with some local dignitaries, like the local Justice of the Peace and the vicar.

She’s also involved in a small way in hiding royalists trying to raise an army on behalf of Charles II, risking confiscation of all of her property and imprisonment if caught.

Despite all this, Lady Jane remains determined to find the culprit after a series of rapes and a murder in her community. She takes her role of Lady of the Manor seriously, and even when it seems hopeless, keeps fighting for justice.

I find this enjoyable and a fun romp through a familiar landscape (my grandmother was from Devon and some of my family still live there). It’s also a reminder that before we had properly established police forces and laws, it was often up to one man to decide whether or not to investigate a crime.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.