The Reward of Delay – stylish historical detective fiction by John Davies.
There’ll be no reward of delay for the publisher who doesn’t pick up this little beauty, writes Lorraine Gilmour, from London, for here is historical detective fiction right in tune with the concerns and fascinations of today’s readers. It’s a simple idea and a niche in time and place - and in the market - that no other detective or writer yet occupies, the late eighteenth century in the English Midlands.
A world power is disseminating its culture. The industrial revolution is in its ascendant, dynamic phase. A paradigm shift has taken place in science. The thrust of Romanticism is driving through the arts. As modern society and consciousness are forged in the furnace of technology, politics and feeling, every aspect of life comes into question. Ancient traditions begin to fade but ancient problems – of gender, race, religion and class – remain.
Introduce into this maelstrom a modern policeman working at a time just before the first police force in Britain had been established and you have a formula for a highly successful series. As he investigates murder in a cathedral, you can see both how far we’ve come, yet how close we are. He’s working at a time, the 1780’s, when no true police force existed in Britain, although the whole subject was being avidly debated. Like now, the role of a police force was a constant concern.
Reliant on his wife Susannah for support and insights beyond his ken, Kinsman tempers his own intuition with rationality. In his research, he is assisted by his watchman, Dudley Netherford, and by Dr Johnson’s former manservant (and manumitted slave) Francis Barber.
But what makes this work so compelling isn’t just the portrayal of character and the evocation of place and time: it’s also the excellent ensemble playing of the cast as the story moves to its denouement. You gain a real feeling of intimacy with the people involved at a time when many of today’s great issues and problems first took root.
Every aspect of life comes into question, yet innovation brings new threats as well as benefits. As ancient traditions begin to fade, ancient problems – of gender, class, race and religion - are exacerbated.
As Kinsman investigates the murder he must battle patronage, corruption and prejudice. His own family may be in jeopardy as he struggles with his own responsibilities and fallibility. Kinsman’s enquiries make for a rewarding and entertaining read, introducing a believable cast of characters, a wealth of historical detail and a complex plot with plenty of twists and turns, that leads to a climax as taut as the hydrogen balloon about which it takes place, and to a twist in the tail just as explosive.
