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Hew Cullan Mystery #3
Time & Tide: A Hew Cullan Mystery
A shipwreck brings excitement—and tragedy—to a sixteenth-century town, and a reluctant lawyer is drawn into the mystery behind it, in this suspenseful novel by a Dagger Award finalist.
Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2011
22 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Shirley Mckay
13 books43 followersShirley McKay was born in Tynemouth but now lives with her family in Fife. At the age of fifteen she won the Young Observer playwriting competition, her play being performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. She went on to study English and Linguistics at the University of St Andrews before attending Durham University for postgraduate study in Romantic and seventeenth century prose. She was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. Shirley works as a freelance proofreader.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 5, 2022
Set in the early part of King James’ reign in 1582, ‘Time and Tide’ concerns a windmill being salvaged from a Dutch wreck in St Andrews harbour Scotland. Ownership of this wondrous new machine is up for grabs as the sole man found aboard dies shortly after being brought ashore.
University lawyer, Hew Cullan, is called in by the local sheriff to settle the windmill’s legal possession, a matter made more pressing by the rash of unexplained deaths in the town. Cullan’s search for the truth takes him from the familiarity of Scotland’s East Coast to a convent in the war-torn Low Countries.
Well written, it is the people, and their responses to violence and greed within their own community, that make this a page-turning read.
University lawyer, Hew Cullan, is called in by the local sheriff to settle the windmill’s legal possession, a matter made more pressing by the rash of unexplained deaths in the town. Cullan’s search for the truth takes him from the familiarity of Scotland’s East Coast to a convent in the war-torn Low Countries.
Well written, it is the people, and their responses to violence and greed within their own community, that make this a page-turning read.
August 16, 2021
‘Giles seeks to tell the truth, yet truth itself at times is not the most efficient strategy, for it is often not what people wish to hear.’
Excellent late medieval mystery set in St. Andrews, Scotland. Third in series. Suggest new readers start with Huw and Cry.
‘You are, I think, impertinent, which may require correction.’ ‘I bow to your direction, sir,’ Hew retorted dryly. ‘It’s clear that you do not. And that is why I want you.’
Good character development and plotting. The reader need only relax and enjoy the ride.
‘Though, I prefer to be pragmatical . . .’ ‘You prefer to be equivocal,’
Like Dame Parteger, Mckay projects a fairly modern protagonist into a late Middle Ages setting. Echoes of the Cadfael-Huw Beringer relationship. Many Parallels to the Cadfael Chronicles, but not a rip-off.
‘But to take the law in your hands . . .’ ‘Nor law, but justice, [redacted], for law would little serve her in this case.’ ‘Be careful, [redacted]’. ‘For law belongs to man, and justice comes from God.’
‘To whom [redacted] will devote herself.'
Excellent late medieval mystery set in St. Andrews, Scotland. Third in series. Suggest new readers start with Huw and Cry.
‘You are, I think, impertinent, which may require correction.’ ‘I bow to your direction, sir,’ Hew retorted dryly. ‘It’s clear that you do not. And that is why I want you.’
Good character development and plotting. The reader need only relax and enjoy the ride.
‘Though, I prefer to be pragmatical . . .’ ‘You prefer to be equivocal,’
Like Dame Parteger, Mckay projects a fairly modern protagonist into a late Middle Ages setting. Echoes of the Cadfael-Huw Beringer relationship. Many Parallels to the Cadfael Chronicles, but not a rip-off.
‘But to take the law in your hands . . .’ ‘Nor law, but justice, [redacted], for law would little serve her in this case.’ ‘Be careful, [redacted]’. ‘For law belongs to man, and justice comes from God.’
‘To whom [redacted] will devote herself.'
August 23, 2022
Language in this book was very hard sometimes to understand and pronounce and very off putting
July 14, 2019
In number 3 (where it won't scare people) I'm going to stop resisting the comment that McKay's writing in this series often falls into cadences of verse feet. I find that aids my reading and I like it, but stumble where the neat feet end and we're back in unrhythmic prose.
January 13, 2026
This is the third of five Hew Cullan mysteries taking place in late 16th century Scotland. I’ve enjoyed all of the three, recreating life in this college town along with its non-academics like bakers, millers, & tavern owner. But I may have enjoyed this one a little bit more. One reason is it got Hew, our young lawyer & law professor, out of St. Andrew’s on a funny, harrowing, & touching journey to Ghent. I also enjoyed the solution to the rash of deaths back in St Andrew’s & how Hew chose to resolve it in a very un-lawerly way. It brought to mind a statement from, of all things, Isaac Asimov’s book “Foundation. “Don’t let your sense of morality get in the way of doing the right thing.” Sometimes justice isn’t legal. There is one I wish the author McKay would have done & that's to include a glossary. There are are a lot of archaic & exclusively Scottish terms that aren't always found in a dictionary. There's also some spellings trying to recreate a Scottish brogue adding to a sometimes bumpy reading experience. Despite that, I will definitely seek out books four & five in the series.
September 17, 2017
Was this my favourite Hew Cullan mystery so far? It could have been, I think, though they have all been good so far. It's good to see the characters developing and begin to know how they may react to certain situations. I loved the twist in the story plot and the moral dilemma posed which still has me wondering about whether it was the right thing to do or not. I like the cliffhanger that we were left with, too - next book is already purchased and ready to read.
December 24, 2017
Best in the series
It is the last book in the New Cullen Mysteries I read, and found it riveting. It expanded the story into the Spanish Netherlands and the wars there in the 16th century. The author describes how the war spreads mistrust and lawlessness, and gives the reader an idea, how the
Consequence of the Reformation affects other countries. It is historically informative as it turns history into an adventure - in true Scottish writing succession
It is the last book in the New Cullen Mysteries I read, and found it riveting. It expanded the story into the Spanish Netherlands and the wars there in the 16th century. The author describes how the war spreads mistrust and lawlessness, and gives the reader an idea, how the
Consequence of the Reformation affects other countries. It is historically informative as it turns history into an adventure - in true Scottish writing succession
August 30, 2022
The setting in this series is Scotland in the 1500's and language, customs, and history are well portrayed. The mysteries are complex and dark. The characters are layered and still revealing back stories. That being said, the language and phrasing is often difficult to follow. There is clever repartee amongst the characters that brings to mind Shakespeare's witty dialogue but it tends to get lost in the language. Still a good mystery series if you can work through the language and phrasing.
September 4, 2017
Probably the least engaging of the series so far but still good!
March 4, 2018
Well written and interesting. Lots of nice plot twists and a surprising ending.
December 22, 2019
Loved the action and adventure in this one.
July 26, 2020
Couldn't warm to any of the characters and the plot was a bit uneven
December 13, 2023
Became boring and dull halfway through
June 1, 2016
The Wild Winds of Fortune.
Hew Cullan still has problems. After the events of the previous book, he seems to have decided that being a lawyer is perhaps not his calling, and so he has returned to his hometown of St. Andrews and the life of a professor at the College. He spends his days flirting with the sister of one of his pupils and talking with his friends, seemingly content to put off making the hard decisions about his future. And then the windmill comes to town.
It is an ill wind that dashes ashore the ship carrying it. The only survivor is Jacob, a delirious young Dutchman who speaks some cryptic words to a local innkeeper before dying, and this sequence of events plunges Hew into a quest to find out the truth behind the matter. The local baxters (breadmakers) want control of the windmill to improve their own position in the town and, perhaps as importantly, to deny it to anyone else. However, under the laws of marine salvage, the true owner of the windmill must first be determined.
Hew is contacted by the Coroner (in this context, the King’s agent) to investigate and determine the truth of the matter, and in this it looks as though he might finally have found his niche. The Coroner, Andrew Wood, is a nicely sinister figure whose motivation remains shrouded, and whose relations with the rest of the town are never clear.
The early death of Jacob gives Time & Tide its central mystery and sets Hew off on a path that leads him from St. Andrews to the Dutch Netherlands, embroiled in a savage fight for independence against the Catholic Spanish. There are two extremely effective sections in this part of the novel – one which brings home the horror of religious and civil conflict and how it turns the population against itself; and a second that takes a more nuanced look at the soldiers of the period.
Time & Tide is the third in the series, and it feels as though Shirley McKay is comfortable with the characters and their period. The banter between Hew and Giles feels natural and human even in period dialect, and the way that the characters’ lives develop also feels realistic. The wider political situation of the day is referred to throughout, ensuring that the reader is kept informed of what’s going on in the world without it being obtrusive.
Time & Tide is truly impressive in its scale. Sweeping effortlessly from town politics in Scotland to Dutch whorehouses and the brutality of war, it still manages to keep the central plot devastatingly personal. The quest to discover the secrets of the windmill turns out to be far more convoluted than it seems, and it is the power of this central mystery to keep on surprising that gives the book its power.
David
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.
Hew Cullan still has problems. After the events of the previous book, he seems to have decided that being a lawyer is perhaps not his calling, and so he has returned to his hometown of St. Andrews and the life of a professor at the College. He spends his days flirting with the sister of one of his pupils and talking with his friends, seemingly content to put off making the hard decisions about his future. And then the windmill comes to town.
It is an ill wind that dashes ashore the ship carrying it. The only survivor is Jacob, a delirious young Dutchman who speaks some cryptic words to a local innkeeper before dying, and this sequence of events plunges Hew into a quest to find out the truth behind the matter. The local baxters (breadmakers) want control of the windmill to improve their own position in the town and, perhaps as importantly, to deny it to anyone else. However, under the laws of marine salvage, the true owner of the windmill must first be determined.
Hew is contacted by the Coroner (in this context, the King’s agent) to investigate and determine the truth of the matter, and in this it looks as though he might finally have found his niche. The Coroner, Andrew Wood, is a nicely sinister figure whose motivation remains shrouded, and whose relations with the rest of the town are never clear.
The early death of Jacob gives Time & Tide its central mystery and sets Hew off on a path that leads him from St. Andrews to the Dutch Netherlands, embroiled in a savage fight for independence against the Catholic Spanish. There are two extremely effective sections in this part of the novel – one which brings home the horror of religious and civil conflict and how it turns the population against itself; and a second that takes a more nuanced look at the soldiers of the period.
Time & Tide is the third in the series, and it feels as though Shirley McKay is comfortable with the characters and their period. The banter between Hew and Giles feels natural and human even in period dialect, and the way that the characters’ lives develop also feels realistic. The wider political situation of the day is referred to throughout, ensuring that the reader is kept informed of what’s going on in the world without it being obtrusive.
Time & Tide is truly impressive in its scale. Sweeping effortlessly from town politics in Scotland to Dutch whorehouses and the brutality of war, it still manages to keep the central plot devastatingly personal. The quest to discover the secrets of the windmill turns out to be far more convoluted than it seems, and it is the power of this central mystery to keep on surprising that gives the book its power.
David
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.
July 18, 2014
A couple of new characters are introduced in this one, that I hope we'll see more of, The Coroner of Fife, Andrew Woods, who employs Huw to solve the mystery of a shipwreck, and cursed windmill. On his travels to Ghent we meet the second, Robert, a mercenary, who keeps Huw out of trouble, or does he? We also get a glimpse into an old character's new life.
The plot was nicely rounded out and came full circle back to St Andrews in a satisfactory way, that in the last one had felt contrived and overworked.
The plot was nicely rounded out and came full circle back to St Andrews in a satisfactory way, that in the last one had felt contrived and overworked.
March 28, 2016
I found this one particularly interesting and pleasantly domestic, away from some of the high-politicking of the others in the series. The settings were convincing and the technical detail fascinating.
April 16, 2017
Good pacey mystery. Very evocative of late sixteenth century St Andrews and Ghent.
January 21, 2022
A delightful little mystery set in early-modern Scotland.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews