Just Causes

by Georgia Piggott

When plague hits the small Dorset village of Hillbury, Alice Edwards discovers at close quarters the devastation it causes. Guilt-ridden at surviving the loss of those she loves, Alice comes to depend on the help and friendship of local blacksmith Daniel Bunting in running what is now her farm. When Alice discovers four-year-old Sam in the deserted village, her concern is to reunite him with his kin. Hunting for his family leads her seek help from the widow of powerful bully Rupert Cazanove, and Alice privately speculates whether Cazanove was murdered. Although a visit from Henry Jerrard, claiming acquaintance with her late father, brings Alice some relief from relentless guilt, it leaves Daniel with feelings of dislike and mistrust. Who is Henry Jerrard and what is his real reason for visiting Hillbury? Unaware of this conflict, Alice’s concern for young Sam and her curiosity about Cazanove’s death cause her to ignore growing rejection by the returned inhabitants of Hillbury, as well as growing pressure from neighbours with a son to marry off. A fight at the local inn throws Alice’s precarious existence into chaos and the predatory neighbours start to close in. They plan not only to take over Alice’s land, but also to get rid of Sam to the Poor House, and they engage the assistance of a local waster to hasten her decision. But this waster has his own ideas of what he plans to do to Alice, a lone woman at an out-of-the-way farm … Fighting for her survival, Alice risks all on a dubious bargain, and her search for Cazanove’s killer results in far-reaching effects for Sam’s wider family. Just Causes is set in 1625, when a plague did indeed devastate whole swathes of England, and historical evidence suggests that the number of dead exceeded the Great Plague of London in 1665. This is the first historical crime novel in a series involving Alice Edwards; the second will concern the death of a maidservant in the Spring of 1626.

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 13, 2014