Books Reviews

The Seal King Murders – Book Review

By Angela Youngman Apr 6, 2011, 15:20 GMT

The year is 1861 and Inspector Faro\'s rest is disrupted when he is given a special assignment by old friend, Detective Superintendent Macfie. Macfie\'s cousin-in-law, a champion swimmer, has drowned in mysterious circumstances. Could his death have really been an accident, or is something more sinister going on?Arriving in Orkney to investigate, he is met with rumors of missing artifacts, the myth of the seal king, a dead body under ...more

Set in Victorian times in the far north of Scotland; Constable Faro is returning to Orkney with plans to investigate the death of an ex-colleague's relative.  Dave Claydon had been a champion swimmer - yet had drowned in mysterious circumstances.  Was this an accident or not?

As Faro investigates he begins to wonder, particularly when artifacts found on an Armada galleon sunk in the seas off Orkney go missing.  The situation becomes even more complex when a girl goes missing and Faro's life is under threat.  It is quite a complex story, highlighting the society and attitudes of a small island in the latter years of the nineteenth century.

As always, Alanna Knight does her research well, she really knows how to bring such communities alive. The pace is steady and the story well written.  You really feel you are in the midst of Faro's story, experiencing his problems for yourself.