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The Bricklayer's Helper

by Amy Corwin (Goodreads Author)

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 13 ratings · 2 reviews

Masquerades can lead to love...or murder. Sarah has masqueraded as Sam, a bricklayer's helper, for years. But her past catches up with her in London. A thirteen year-old fire, deliberately set to murder her family, is smoldering, and the killer intends to ensure there are no survivors. Desperate, Sam turns to the renowned Second Sons agency for help. Inquiry agent, William...more

Paperback, 376 pages

Published July 8th 2010 by Wild Rose Press

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Nov 13, 2010 LynnMarie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Clare's Review

The only survivor of a fire, Sarah lives as Sam, working as a bricklayers helper. Skilled at her job, she has survived 13 years as a man. She remembers nothing before the fire, and only has a vague recollection of the fire itself. When Major Pickering, offers to tell her something about it she goes to meet him only to see him murdered. She immediately engages an inquiry agent to find out what he knew and who killed him.

William knows Sam is lying about something and even though he i...more

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Aug 25, 2010 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

London, 1806. A pampered rich girl; an overnight with her cousins, Sarah and Sam; arson. A dying father whispers "Run, run for your life," and she escapes and is presumed dead with all the rest of the family. But one girl did survive the devastating fire.

Lost and alone, eleven-year-old Sarah Sanderson assumes her brother's name, Sam, and works for the next thirteen years as a bricklayer's helper. She barely remembers the fire; just the fear, and the certainty that she must live a lie, or die.

L...more London, 1806. A pampered rich girl; an overnight with her cousins, Sarah and Sam; arson. A dying father whispers "Run, run for your life," and she escapes and is presumed dead with all the rest of the family. But one girl did survive the devastating fire.

Lost and alone, eleven-year-old Sarah Sanderson assumes her brother's name, Sam, and works for the next thirteen years as a bricklayer's helper. She barely remembers the fire; just the fear, and the certainty that she must live a lie, or die.

London, 1819. Sarah has been safe as a "boy" who builds brick walls--until her job takes her back to the city where first life ended and her nightmare began. The killer strikes again. A stranger tells "Sam" he has information about the fire but is murdered at their appointed meeting place.

Sam may be the cleverest and most resourceful heroine of any Regency novel I've read. She faces the worst predicaments -- like being so good at her job, and so convincing as one of the guys, her boss pressures "Sam" to marry his daughter. Or suffering the embarrassment of being a boy who blushes and goes breathless at the touch of a man at the renowned Second Sons Inquiry Agency.

Sam can't work full time and investigate a murder, so she sacrifices her meager bricklayer's wages to hire help. The only available agent, William Trenchard, is a handsome novice with naked cherubs painted on his office ceiling. The comedy of Sam's situations rings out page after page, along with despair and danger. She doesn't guess that William is all but working for free, partly to prove to Sam that he's not the ineffectual pretty boy people think he is, but also because Sam tugs at his heartstrings, somehow.

William researches the fire and reports to Sam, a slim figure competently laying brick at a townhouse. He shrugs off the occasional odd feeling of attraction to this boy. A sniper fires at Sam, but the shot goes wild because the owner of the townhouse tosses a jug of water out the window at just the right time. The jug knocks Sam unconscious and out of work for a few days.

William discovers the urn-thrower is none other than John Archer, Sam Sanderson's uncle. Sam's troubles started when work at that site began. Even more interesting, John Archer and his wife, the sole survivors of the fire at the Sanderson estate, were conveniently away at the time. And if Sam Sanderson is indeed the son of the estate's owner, then the Archers will no longer get the income from the property. A good motive for murder, indeed.

While the injured bricklayer sleeps in the Archers' home, William discovers "Sam" is really Sarah Sanderson, presumed dead in the same fire that killed the Archers' only child, Mary. Sam awakens as Sarah in a lovely house with handsome William advising her not to trust the Archers. She promises to be wary but refuses to give her up her job or her identity. She's been quite safe as Sam the bricklayer--until now. Thanks to her years as a laborer, she has no idea how to act like a woman, nor does she want to learn. Her only safety lies in keeping her independence and hiding her sex.

Sarah falls behind on the rent, so her landlady sneaks a box from Sarah's room and sells it to pay off the debt. The box contained papers Sarah saved from the fire, so she and William must track it down to the new owner. He refuses to sell it back. The "thief in the night" scene with Sarah and William stealing it is the stuff of great movies, a scene you will remember for years to come.

The plot complications are nerve-wracking and comical. At times the novel feels like a family reunion, or a welcome visit from old friends, as characters from other Amy Corwin novels cross paths with Sarah in the same London.

Surprises never run out, from Sarah as Sam being trapped in a room with William during his bath, all the way to the breathless end, when Sarah is pressured to step out of men's clothing and character and into the dainty attire of a lady. Will she rise to the occasion, and will pretty-boy William prove himself worthy of Second Sons?

You will be begging for more after you close the book. As luck would have it, more is in store from this beloved Regency author. Watch for those cherubs on the ceiling in Amy's next novel. It will be none too soon for me!(less)

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Mar 21, 2013 Deirdre marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Feb 03, 2013 Roy Huff marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Nov 10, 2012 Maggie marked it as wishlist · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-romance, historical-mystery

Oct 23, 2012 Susie Willis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sep 29, 2012 Virginia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aug 12, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Jun 09, 2012 Dottiebears added it · review of another edition

Feb 09, 2012 Melanie marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jan 27, 2012 Therese rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jan 04, 2012 Ann Marie marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, mystery, romance, amy-corwin, kindle, cheapie, lendable, lady-in-pants, suspense, sensuality-subtle

Nov 09, 2011 Katya marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Oct 11, 2011 Eileen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aug 01, 2011 Heather marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jul 06, 2011 Dev marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jun 13, 2011 Carol Kean rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Apr 08, 2011 Cheryl Medley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jan 21, 2011 Zoe marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: to-read-historical

Sep 06, 2012 Amy Corwin added it · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mystery, historical-mystery-romance

Nov 13, 2010 Sharyl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nov 05, 2010 Lyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, suspense-mystery

Oct 28, 2010 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sep 28, 2010 Melanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sep 18, 2010 M. marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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About Amy Corwin

Amy Corwin is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America and recently joined Mystery Writers of America. She has been writing for the last ten years and managing a career as an enterprise systems administrator in the computer industry. She writes Regencies/historicals, mysteries, and contemporary paranormals. To be truthful, most of her books include a bit of murder and mayhem since she di...more

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