Death of a Colonial

Death of a Colonial (1999) Bruce Alexander

There is a distinct disadvantage to buying used books on-line. In order to get as many books as possible from as few sellers as possible, I didn’t pay close attention to the sellers comments, and so ended up not only with five hard-backed books (ick) but a hard back larger print edition of Death of a Colonial. however, I have to say that other than having to turn pages more frequently, the large print wasn’t that big a deal.

Jeremy is sixteen and has started discussing law with Sir John Fielding, and paying even closer attention to the cases that come to Bow street–as well as taking regular trips to Old Bailey, to watch the cases that were tried there. In an effort to continue to expand Jeremy’s education, Sir John sends Jeremy to look up his unresolved cases file. It’s actually quite slender–only three cases (which I find rather unlikely actually). Additionally, Jeremy accompanies Sir John to the house of the Lord Chief Justice, where a commission has been gathered to resolve the issue of the Laningham estate. A claimant has appeared–the putative brother of Lawrence Paltrow, who has spent years in the American colonies–without even a word or letter to even his mother the whole time he has been gone.

There are several things that bothered me about this story. First, I would have found it far more convincing had the Red File been brought up in response to the case, rather than preceding Sir John’s involvement in the case. That was just a little too neat for me. I also had minor issues with the resolution of the story. Again, things were just a tad bit too neat for my liking. I also wasn’t sure I believe the reasons that some of the characters acted in the manner they did. It was convenient for Jeremy, but I wasn’t sure I found it believable.

But the tale was interesting, the way it moved through time and back and forth through the colonies. And I certainly didn’t expect some of the events that occurred, and that is always nice. And although Jeremy is acting like an annoying teenager in some places, he is acting like a believable annoying teenager, so it wasn’t bad. (Hubris, thy name is teenager.)

So although this was an interesting addition to the series, it is probably my least favorite book so far.
Rating: 5/10

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