Shadow of the Past

Tobias Campion #2

by Judith Cutler

Tobias Campion is happily settled as vicar at Moreton Priory. He finds the new lady living of Moreton Hall a charming and generous spirited member of his parish who is only too willing to help Tobias and his friend Dr. Hansard look after the less fortunate in the community. Lady Chase’s nephew, Marcus Bramhall, however is another kettle of fish. No sooner has he moved his entire family into the Hall, under the pretence of concern for his aunt’s recent widow status, than things start going awry. Miss Southey, the Bramhall family’s ill-treated governess, intrigues Tobias with her secretive ways. When a stranger’s body is found in a river on the estate, Tobias and Hansard suspect foul play. Who is the man? Evidence suggests he has travelled a fair distance but why? When it appears he may have something to do with Lady Chase’s lost son, and then Miss Southey mysteriously disappears, Tobias realizes he and Hansard may have to adopt their sleuthing cloaks once again.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Regency, Historical

346 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2008

About the author

Judith Cutler was born and bred in the Midlands, and revels in using her birthplace, with its rich cultural life, as a background for her novels. After a long stint as an English lecturer at a run-down college of further education, Judith, a prize-winning short-story writer, has taught Creative Writing at Birmingham University, has run occasional writing course elsewhere (from a maximum security prison to an idyltic Greek island) and ministered to needy colleagues in her role as Secretary of the Crime Writers' Association.

Reviews

[Alma (retirement at last) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in a similar vein to the previous book but not quite as gruesome. An enjoyable historical mystery with several twists to it.
Tobias Campion and Dr Hansard have a murder to solve and a missing person to find, but find their hands tied as they cannot identify the murdered person and have several avenues to follow in order to find the one who is missing. Like a maze they have to return to various locations in order to find another clue.
An easy jaunt through the ways of the gentry and their employees with emphasis laid on the disparity between them. It beggars belief the amount of food the gentry ploughed through at each meal but it probably meant the servants ate well after the remains of the meal were removed.
3.5/5

[Jan Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting who dunnit set in early 1800s. Quite a few twists in the tale. Some of the vocabulary was unfamiliar which was surprising.

[Judith Baxter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shadow of the Past

Book No 2 in the series. Tobias is now well settled into the parish.
A new beneficent patron is ensconced in the village. Mrs Chase is a totally different patron to the earlier one, Lady Elham. She encourages Tobias in his wish to bring education to the villagers and his attempts to alleviate their desperate, impoverished lives.
Mrs Chase's son and heir has been missing for several years and she has been searching for him, without success. She is convinced he is still alive.
Then a body is found in a local river, identity unknown. Tobias and Dr Hansard are determined to discover the identity of this man. They also determine to find out what happened to Mrs Chase's missing son.
Meantime, thinking the son is dead and that he will inherit Mrs Chase's fortune, a nephew ans an unlikeable buffoon, Marcus Bramhall, takes up residence with his family in Mrs Chase's house
Very soon it is discovered that the daughter's governess, Anne is missing. This is another question to be answered.
Tobias sets out on his travels in order to find answers to the many questions and on his journey, meets a variety of interesting characters. All the characters are well rounded and well written. An easy read but well worth it.

[Denise Mullins · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the continuing saga of country pastor Tobias Campion, one may feel a slight sense of “déjà vu”. Although this time there is a new beneficent patron for the parish, yet another young woman suddenly and mysteriously disappears, requiring the affable parson to enlist the aid of his valet Jem, Dr. Hansard, and his wife. Complications involving a murdered messenger, an absent young heir, and several devilishly mean supporting characters keep the pace moving, and readers will also enjoy second guessing if Campion can finally find a bride to share his pastoral duties. Overall, there was enough variation and interest generated by lively dialogue and historic detail to keep one engaged.

[Virginia Tican · Rating 5 out of 5]

I despair at the tradition and pride of some families in sending the only son and heir into war to fight Napoleon. Given the estates and properties and the people depending on the next master for their livelihoods, it seems that the Family should have had the foresight to consider their retainers as well as their own future progeny and thus their Legacy. Like in this story, we have a missing son and heir even after 2 years following Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. Where is he? After the death and murder of an unknown man of African descent, whose body the villagers of Moreton St. Jude found days after a brutal storm, Tobias and his Friends concluded that the answer to the unknown man's identity could only be in London given that they found an advertisement for the missing heir padding his shoe that was from a London Newspaper.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Run of the mill murder mystery.

Tobias Campion has left his privileged life behind to become the rector of a country church. He soon becomes embroiled in a murder and two disparate disappearances. What follows is a standard rather uninspiring mystery. The most interesting storyline is the relationship between Campion and his groom Jem. Although I felt this relationship wasn't explored fully.

Shadow of the Past is a distracting read but lacks originality.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dragged a bit, at the start, but turned into a decent story.

As an aside, this was the most poorly edited book that I have read, full of spelling and grammatical errors, missing words, etc.

[Chara · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Up to the middle it kept my interest but afterwards... meh... It didn't live up to my expectations.
I'm in a quandary whether to read the next book in the series or not.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4. I like the complexity of these mysteries. I also listened to the audio books and the narration is spot on. Worth rounding up for.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main plot is fine, but the sloppy time references are annoying, the erroneous nobility title usage is inexcusable, and the blatant plagiarism of "Mansfield Park" simply beyond the pale.

[Ellen Dark · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable historical mystery.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book, set in 1811, an example of historical crime fiction at its best. Although I've not read any books by Judith Cutler, but plan to read more. It was a little slow to get going, but as the story unfolded, it became more and more intriguing and drew me in. Tobias is the rector of Moreton St Jude. The relationships he forms with all the other characters play a major part of this tale. We learn early on that Mrs Chase's son and heir has been missing for several years, Mrs Chase is convinced he is still alive. Then a body is found in a local river, identity unknown. Tobias and friends are determined to discover the identity of this man, to find out what happened to Mrs Chase's missing son and uncovering the mystery of the missing governess, Anne.

Tobias sets out on his travels in order to find answers to the many questions and on his journey, meets a variety of interesting characters. All the characters are well rounded and well written. Well worth a read, and a must for readers of crime fiction, and historical novels.

[Dorothy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having recently read a historical novel by Anna Dean, comparisons were inevitable - and Anna Dean won!

While Judith Cutler used a lot of the right terminology for the era, I never felt I was "hearing" Tobias's voice because the overall feeling was too modern. I can't put my finger on why, but I do know that Anna's main character did "sound" authentic. For me, that made a big difference to my ability to immerse myself in the story.

I got confused in the early stages when the various characters were introduced, so I didn't feel that was done clearly enough. Once I'd worked everyone out, though, the story unfolded logically. However I didn't ever feel particularly involved and could easily have put it down without wondering whatever happened.

That said, I have picked up another Judith Cutler to see how she handles a different era.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this, but not as much as the first book. Too much time away from the village for Toby and the doctor...it just wasn't realistic. And too much time spent using Regency slang. Good for realism, perhaps, but didn't further the plot. And Tobias is rather flighty. He was sooo in love in the first book, and here he's almost ready to make an offer to another (and less likable) girl. Or was that tongue in cheek? And what about the girl with the violet eyes from the first book? Oh, well. I'll probably check out the next installment.

[Kerry Bridges · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too worthy for me!

[Penny Little · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read but not very realistic in parts. The main characters were likeable, if a bit twee.

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read....I hope Judith is writing more of Parson Campion!!

[Lynne Elsisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant enough. Don't know if I'll bother with another though.