A Simple Murder

Summary (from the publisher): Five years ago, while William Rees was still recovering from his stint as a Revolutionary War soldier, his beloved wife died. Devastated, Rees left his son, David, in his sister’s care, fled his Maine farm, and struck out for a tough but emotionally empty life as a traveling weaver. Now, upon returning unexpectedly to his farm, Rees discovers that David has been treated like a serf for years and finally ran away to join a secluded religious sect—the Shakers.

Overwhelmed by guilt and hoping to reconcile with his son, Rees immediately follows David to the Shaker community. But when a young Shaker woman is brutally murdered shortly after Rees’s arrival, Rees finds himself launched into a complicated investigation where the bodies keep multiplying, a tangled web of family connections casts suspicion on everyone, and the beautiful woman on the edge of the Shaker community might be hiding troubling ties to the victims. It quickly becomes clear that in solving Sister Chastity’s murder, Rees may well expose some of the Shaker community’s darkest secrets, not to mention endanger his own life. 
 An atmospheric portrait of a compelling time in American history, A Simple Murder is an outstanding debut from Eleanor Kuhns, Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America’s 2011 First Crime Novel Competition Winner.

Review: I won this novel as a giveaway on Goodreads.

A Simple Murder follows Will Rees as he investigates a series of murders in a Shaker community that he stumbled upon after traveling to see his teenage son, who has fled to the Shake community.  This novel was unusual for a crime novel, in that it was set in the post-Revolutionary War era. Will Rees, or Rees as he is referred to in the novel, is an unusual character in that he has a hard time staying in one place for long, and he investigates murders in a time period when things like murder investigations didn't exist.

I loved the historical fiction setting for this crime novel. That was a very unusual choice, but I loved the role the Shaker community and the general time period played in the novel. Obviously, because of the historical setting, the level of the investigation was pretty elementary. Bodies were just given the once over for clues and blatent clues were taken at face value. However, that is how crime detection evolved, and I loved seeing it in its early stages through Rees' work at solving the mystery. I also liked the involvement of the Shakers in this book. I've studied the Shakers and their beliefs in the past, so it was interesting to see them throw the eyes of a non-Shaker of the time period.

My only hesitation in giving this book more stars it that it seemed to move slowly and I didn't find the actual murder story/investigation very thrilling or enticing. I also felt like the ending failed to deal with several dilemmas posed by the characters and was thus kind of a cop out. Additionally, I wanted to learn more about Rees and his past than he actually provided for the reader. Because he provided scant details about his past, including his childhood, his life with his wife, and his time in the war and work after it, he remained an enigma for me.

Stars: 3