Beede is away at court when the body is discovered. The town leaders have locked up Sanborn on suspicion of murder, and they confront Beede when he returns. Physical evidence indicates the young woman was raped as well as murdered; rosary beads found under the body are significant in this mostly Congregational community. Beede doubts Sanborn would have reported his finding if he had committed the murder even though he suspects Sanborn has lied about not knowing the victim. He agrees to undertake an investigation and takes Sanborn into his custody and his home while the investigation is ongoing.

Another young woman arrives in town. A mill worker in Amoskeag Village, Alice Patterson has been looking for her friend, also a mill girl. Alice identifies the body as Sharon Cudahy, an Irish Catholic. Believing that Sharon’s past employment at the cotton mill might be related to her death, Beede accompanies Alice back to the mill along with Deborah Tomkins, the daughter of the leading citizen of Warrensboro. Their inquiries will uncover details of the dead girl’s life and raise more puzzling questions.

When I began this book, I suspected I was reading a sequel because a number of incidents in Beede’s life are alluded to without explanation, but I verified that this is indeed the first Josiah Beede Mystery (as it’s designated on the book’s cover). Over the course of the story, there are frequent flashbacks that reveal Josiah’s history - his childhood, war experiences, courtship, marriage, subsequent widowerhood, return to New England. These interrupt the progress of the 1836 narrative so the story is sometimes unevenly paced.

Considerable attention is also paid to the situation with Randolph, Beede’s hired man and former slave, to his relationships with his neighbors, even to his dissatisfaction with his housekeeper’s cooking. These digressions do, however, enliven what is sometimes a dry, conventional murder investigation. For a man of principle and intellect, Beede can be surprisingly dense. It is apparent to the reader that he’s regarded as a good catch by the fathers and unmarried daughters of Warrenboro and a number of tentative approaches come his way, but he’s oblivious. Apparently he saves his insight into matters of the law rather than of the heart.

Perhaps the book’s strength is not in the mystery plot but in the depiction of farm and mill life in mid-nineteenth century New England. The mill conditions are vividly described; it seems hard to believe that parents would consider a minimum of a year’s term as a mill girl a desirable occupation for their daughters.

Presumably this is the first book in A Josiah Beede Mystery series. The success of a mystery series depends to a great extent on the appeal of the protagonist. Beede has potential as a hero, and Deborah Tomkins seems a likely match for him. Readers may want to check out this first and any future books.

--Lesley Dunlap