Book
The Mapmaker’s Secret
First published 2004
On the Berkshire Downs, Thomas Finbow goes to assist after a tenant farm burns and learns that Simon Haylock, whose body was found in the barn, was probably dead before the fire began. Further deaths spread fear through nearby villages, where suspicion quickly settles on outsiders and unconventional residents.
Attention falls on Christopher Mead, a withdrawn mapmaker, and Paulo Schweiz, a travelling showman whose optical entertainments attract fascination and distrust in equal measure. Thomas looks beyond reputation and gathers evidence through the local community, gradually uncovering a pattern of secrecy and revenge. Mapping, itinerant entertainment and rural prejudice all become important to the investigation, while the murders demonstrate how easily unfamiliar skills or origins can be turned into proof of guilt when frightened neighbours want a simple explanation.
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