Ordeal by Fire

by Sarah Hawkswood Book 2 in the Bradecote & Catchpoll series.

First published 2016

Amazon

4.3(2,855)

Worcester, September 1143. A fire at a silversmith’s workshop appears accidental until another blaze leaves a charred corpse. Further outbreaks and sightings of a hooded figure suggest that someone is using the crowded timber city as a weapon. Catchpoll calls upon Bradecote when the evidence points towards a death concealed for months.

The investigators must reconstruct the relationships surrounding the workshops and households most at risk while preventing another fire from spreading through Worcester. Bradecote’s methodical reasoning and Catchpoll’s knowledge of the city begin to operate as complementary skills. Their search shows how easily private grievance can become a public catastrophe in a town already strained by the Anarchy.