Book
The Maiden Bell
First published 2005
In the Berkshire village of Lambourn, the arrival of travelling bell-founders to cast a new church bell is a major communal event. Excitement changes to fear when the respected churchwarden Will Stubbs is found dead in the woods, and a second death removes the village constable who should have led the inquiry.
Thomas Finbow is asked by his master to restore order and identify the killer. The investigation brings old grievances, local loyalties and suspicion of outsiders to the surface while the dangerous work of casting the bell continues. Thomas must understand how the deaths connect to the village's past before panic creates more victims. The novel uses the making of a church bell to frame a tightly local mystery about craft, reputation and communal memory.
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