Crow Hollow

What a wonderful journey? A widow and a British spy travel across the new land that is new to British rule. The Nipmuk tribe have already destroyed the life the Prudence Cotton has known. Her husband has been killed and her daughter has been captured but there is more at stake than she understands.

James Bailey has been sent by the crown to Boston to investigate the murder of Prudence’s husband. He is also sent on a clandestine mission to instigate a reason for King Philip to install royal governors. Along the way, his partner is murdered and now he needs help from someone who is as close to the situation as can possibly be.

Prudence easily fits the bill. The two travel across New England finding clues to continue the investigation that they both are completely invested in. As a Puritan, Prudence see the world in a different light than James does:

“Yet the call themselves Christians,” James said.
“There are no Christians in war.” Prudence blurted the words before she could reconsider. Horrified, she put her hand over her mouth. “Pray, pardon me. I shouldn’t have said that.”

I did enjoy the fast pace of the murder mystery. Follow Prudence on her emotional roller coaster of trying to find her daughter and coming to the realization that there was more at play in her husband’s murder kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the read.

The cultural differences that arise throughout the book put a new spin on the colonies for me that I had never thought of before. Quakers, Puritans, English, and the Nipmuk, all bring their own viewpoint to the table while trying to survive in a land that is unknown and familiar at the same time. I’ve only ever read about Indian raids in books that would best be described as Western as seen through the eyes of the American CowBoy. It is very interesting to see a different view through the eyes of the British while seeing the world through Prudence’s eyes who had never been to Britain and sees the British very differently.