LITERAL REMAINS

Fount Royal, a small, newly formed, town in the Carolinas of 1699 has a few problems:  two murders, disastrous crops, fleeing citizens, and random arson.  Luckily, especially for Robert Bidwell, the founder, who hopes to make it a port city, the cause of all the problems is in the jail awaiting trial.  The problem is Rachel Howarth.  A witch.  A beautiful woman of Portuguese stock, which is hated in Fount Royal almost as much as the Indians and the Spaniards down south in Florida.  Rachel is accused of witchcraft, of having unholy relations with the devil which has been witnessed by very reliable citizens (one of whom is a child).  One of the murdered was Rachel’s husband, so it’s just one big mess.

Enter magistrate Isaac Woodard and his young clerk, Matthew Corbett.  They are sent to hold court and judge if Rachel is truly a witch, and, if found guilty, the nature of her sentence, e.g., execution.  The entire town has already decided that Rachel is a witch, and they are itching to burn her at the stake.  Investigating the case isn’t easy with all the animosity, and with the judgement already passed in the citizens’ minds.  It doesn’t help that Rachel is not cooperative with Woodard and Corbett, or that she refuses to recite the Lord’s Prayer.  Inability to say the Lord’s Prayer is one sign of a witch.  (I’m doing my best to remember it myself; does anyone else’s tongue burn?).

Speaks the Nightbird, which first hit book stores back in 2002, was Robert McCammon’s return to publishing after a ten year respite.  It’s the first in his Matthew Corbett series, with the third due late this year.  It’s an exhaustive book, but one worth reading.  It was my first McCammon experience, and I wish I had discovered him sooner.

McCammon brings colonial life to, uh, life.  It’s a meticulous book, sharp in detail, right down to the very last chamberpot and tricorn.  There are times I wished the story would move forward a little quicker, but even the diversions have a purpose in Speaks the Nightbird.  It’s a hefty, twisting, mutha, easy to get lost in its world, and once it was over, I wanted to go back.  It was just so darn interesting.  Finely wrought, expertly conceived and executed.

I will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

4 out of 5
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