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Thaddeus Lewis mysteries #1
On the Head of a Pin: A Thaddeus Lewis Mystery
Thaddeus Lewis, an itinerant "saddlebag" preacher still mourns the mysterious death of his daughter Sarah as he rides to his new posting in Prince Edward County. When a girl in Demorestville dies in a similar way, he realizes that the circumstances point to murder. But in the turmoil following the 1837 Mackenzie Rebellion he can get no one to listen. Convinced there is a serial killer loose in Upper Canada, Lewis alone must track the culprit across a colony convulsed by dissension, invasion, and fear. His only clues are a Book of Proverbs and a small painted pin left with the victims. And the list of suspects is growing …
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
10 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Janet Kellough
19 books45 followersJanet Kellough is an author and performance storyteller who has an abiding interest in bringing Canadian history to life. As well as the Thaddeus Lewis series of historical mysteries with Dundurn Press, she has self-published three books, recorded two CD's and written and performed in countless stage works and concerts that feature a fusion of music and spoken word.
She currently lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada, an island community perched on the north shore of Lake Ontario where her family has been resident for over 200 years. She inhabits an old farmhouse on the cusp of the Marysburgh Vortex with her sound engineer husband and two rescued dogs.
www.janetkellough.com
On the Head of a Pin was a Dewey Diva pick for 2009.
http://ampersandinc.ca/files/buttons/...
She currently lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada, an island community perched on the north shore of Lake Ontario where her family has been resident for over 200 years. She inhabits an old farmhouse on the cusp of the Marysburgh Vortex with her sound engineer husband and two rescued dogs.
www.janetkellough.com
On the Head of a Pin was a Dewey Diva pick for 2009.
http://ampersandinc.ca/files/buttons/...
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 20, 2020
This is a mystery about a serial killer in the mid 19th century in Prince Edward County in southeastern Ontario. Thaddeus Lewis is an itinerant preacher who is perfectly placed to see that murders committed in different jurisdictions (because of course there’s no communication between towns in this era) follow the same signature, although he has a hard time convincing the authorities of this. It doesn’t help that the deaths end up being blamed on the unrest caused by Americans soldiers and in one case a victim is immediately buried once the husband gets home because of course it was invading soldiers.
It was interesting to read about an area that is normally ignored in historical fiction, but it was definitely odd to read about Picton as if it were a big name town as opposed to to the small town with the funny intersection that you might go through while trying to get to wine country (sorry to any Prince Edward County readers).
It’s unfortunate that print copies of this book don’t seem to be currently available since I’m sure my mother would be interested in reading a book focusing on this area (she’d probably know all the names of places too and wouldn’t have to google “Bath”). This appeal obviously won’t be there for readers who are completely unfamiliar with Prince Edward County and the Kingston/Belleville area, so I’m not sure how interesting the book would be for them. The mystery is decent but a bit simple and I find the serial killer angle less interesting as opposed to a unique murder puzzle. I am looking forward to reading other books in the series, but I’m hoping the mysteries and investigations will be a bit more involved.
It was interesting to read about an area that is normally ignored in historical fiction, but it was definitely odd to read about Picton as if it were a big name town as opposed to to the small town with the funny intersection that you might go through while trying to get to wine country (sorry to any Prince Edward County readers).
It’s unfortunate that print copies of this book don’t seem to be currently available since I’m sure my mother would be interested in reading a book focusing on this area (she’d probably know all the names of places too and wouldn’t have to google “Bath”). This appeal obviously won’t be there for readers who are completely unfamiliar with Prince Edward County and the Kingston/Belleville area, so I’m not sure how interesting the book would be for them. The mystery is decent but a bit simple and I find the serial killer angle less interesting as opposed to a unique murder puzzle. I am looking forward to reading other books in the series, but I’m hoping the mysteries and investigations will be a bit more involved.
November 27, 2015
Having started with book 4, I had to go back and read book 1, and glad I did. The history of this time period is vague enough in the US for me, much less Canada, so I found the back story very interesting. Surprising how many Americans assumed Canada wanted to rid themselves of the English the way we did. And thought their rebellion was squashed, they didn't seem to want our part in any of it. Some history of the Methodist church was interesting, but like all Christian factions, they had their infighting too. The mystery is woven into all of this, and has a good ending beyond catching the killer. Worth the read.
May 31, 2018
I am not quite sure what to make of this book. It is posted as a mystery and shelved that way at my local library but the mystery part is only maybe 1/3 of the book.
Most of the book, however is better categorized as 'the history of Upper Canada with a focus on the development of Methodism in the region', reminding me of my days in elementary school studying the history of Upper Canada (less the focus on Methodism), and which I often found quite tedious. Unfortunately, I still found this part somewhat tedious, in particular in this case because it was also fairly repetitive. Yes, OK! I get it, there were problems between the Episcopal Methodists and the Wesleyans! Really, Kellough, you do not have to tell me again. I am a smart person, I am literate, I am a good student. I have no need to have the same idea told to me at least once every few pages! ARGH! I ended up skimming over much of these sections.
Related to the above point, I also found Lewis's constant navel gazing got tedious after a while. I enjoy learning about the inner thoughts of characters, particularly likeable protagonists, like Lewis. However, again, these thoughts went in circles and were repetitive to the point that I wanted to throw the book across the room; the fact that I was reading on my Kobo reader stopped me, as it would almost certainly have smashed it. Instead, as I did for the history of religion in Upper Canada sections, I skimmed through much of these pages too (and there was a great deal of overlap between the two as Lewis spent much of the book mulling over the place of Episcopalism in the Methodist Church especially in relation to that of the Wesleyans).
Strangely, aside from these moments of frustration, I found much to like in the book. In truth, my rating would be somewhere between two and three stars but I rounded up to three both because this is a first book of the series (and first books generally have bugs in them), and because there are parts that are really well done. I actually did enjoy learning more about the history of that region, at least in the first telling of it in the book. I also enjoyed the actual mystery part. I figured out who dunnit fairly early on but that, I think that might be due to the fact that I was outside looking in and have read many mystery novels. Even with my sense of who had done it, I still enjoyed the figuring out process that Lewis undertook (again, at least the first time his mullings were outlined).
Finally, I found the protagonist/narrator, Lewis to be a complex, likeable character. He is thoughtful, and compassionate, but also flawed in ways that make him seem more real and engaging. The supporting cast of characters were also well written and felt real and fitting nicely into the plot and the communities created in the story.
Overall, while parts of this book frustrated me, I think it was worth the patience I took to read it. I will definitely look up the next in the series to see how it goes.
Note: I gave this book a full review because this book was published by Durdurn Press.
I used to give full reviews for all of the books that I rated on GR. However, GR's new giveaway policies (Good Reads 2017 November Giveaways Policies Changes) have caused me to change my reviewing decisions. These new GR policies seem to harm smaller publishing efforts in favour of providing advantage to the larger companies, (GR Authors' Feedback) the big five publishers (Big Five Publishers). So, because of these new GR policies from now on I will be supporting smaller publishing efforts by only giving full reviews to books published by: publishing businesses outside the big five companies, indie publishers, and self-published authors. This book was published by one of these smaller publishing efforts so I have given it a full review.
Most of the book, however is better categorized as 'the history of Upper Canada with a focus on the development of Methodism in the region', reminding me of my days in elementary school studying the history of Upper Canada (less the focus on Methodism), and which I often found quite tedious. Unfortunately, I still found this part somewhat tedious, in particular in this case because it was also fairly repetitive. Yes, OK! I get it, there were problems between the Episcopal Methodists and the Wesleyans! Really, Kellough, you do not have to tell me again. I am a smart person, I am literate, I am a good student. I have no need to have the same idea told to me at least once every few pages! ARGH! I ended up skimming over much of these sections.
Related to the above point, I also found Lewis's constant navel gazing got tedious after a while. I enjoy learning about the inner thoughts of characters, particularly likeable protagonists, like Lewis. However, again, these thoughts went in circles and were repetitive to the point that I wanted to throw the book across the room; the fact that I was reading on my Kobo reader stopped me, as it would almost certainly have smashed it. Instead, as I did for the history of religion in Upper Canada sections, I skimmed through much of these pages too (and there was a great deal of overlap between the two as Lewis spent much of the book mulling over the place of Episcopalism in the Methodist Church especially in relation to that of the Wesleyans).
Strangely, aside from these moments of frustration, I found much to like in the book. In truth, my rating would be somewhere between two and three stars but I rounded up to three both because this is a first book of the series (and first books generally have bugs in them), and because there are parts that are really well done. I actually did enjoy learning more about the history of that region, at least in the first telling of it in the book. I also enjoyed the actual mystery part. I figured out who dunnit fairly early on but that, I think that might be due to the fact that I was outside looking in and have read many mystery novels. Even with my sense of who had done it, I still enjoyed the figuring out process that Lewis undertook (again, at least the first time his mullings were outlined).
Finally, I found the protagonist/narrator, Lewis to be a complex, likeable character. He is thoughtful, and compassionate, but also flawed in ways that make him seem more real and engaging. The supporting cast of characters were also well written and felt real and fitting nicely into the plot and the communities created in the story.
Overall, while parts of this book frustrated me, I think it was worth the patience I took to read it. I will definitely look up the next in the series to see how it goes.
Note: I gave this book a full review because this book was published by Durdurn Press.
I used to give full reviews for all of the books that I rated on GR. However, GR's new giveaway policies (Good Reads 2017 November Giveaways Policies Changes) have caused me to change my reviewing decisions. These new GR policies seem to harm smaller publishing efforts in favour of providing advantage to the larger companies, (GR Authors' Feedback) the big five publishers (Big Five Publishers). So, because of these new GR policies from now on I will be supporting smaller publishing efforts by only giving full reviews to books published by: publishing businesses outside the big five companies, indie publishers, and self-published authors. This book was published by one of these smaller publishing efforts so I have given it a full review.
August 8, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyable, looking forward to all further books in the series. Learned a great deal about local history in the Prince Edward County area.
May 21, 2018
An excellent read. Just the right length. A page Turner.
January 7, 2017
OK, I'm a little biased. My mother grew up in the region where this book takes place with ancestry going back to (and even before) the period being portrayed. I found the historical setting fascinating. The mystery itself is in a different cast than most. The hero is a Methodist preacher who recognizes a pattern to some murders and, when the law enforcement of the time does not identify the deaths as murder, starts to pursue the mystery on his travels. The mystery element is slow paced, fitting in around the hero's family problems, church issues and traveling ministry.
If you are looking for fast paced mystery, this isn't it. If you are interested in the post-1812 history of the Kingston area, this is an enjoyable way to learn.
If you are looking for fast paced mystery, this isn't it. If you are interested in the post-1812 history of the Kingston area, this is an enjoyable way to learn.
October 25, 2020
Interesting mystery in a series set around Methodist preacher Thaddeus Lewis who rides the circuit in the Kingston area of (now Ontario) Canada during the 1840's. In this first novel, he attempts to find a serial killer while ministering to the needs of his parishioners and his family.
Re-read October 2020. I still liked the history of Upper and Lower Canada in the late 1830's and the description of American/British conflicts and differences between Anglicans, Methodists, and Wesleyans.
Re-read October 2020. I still liked the history of Upper and Lower Canada in the late 1830's and the description of American/British conflicts and differences between Anglicans, Methodists, and Wesleyans.
November 23, 2013
It's not great literature, but I enjoyed the description of early 19th century Methodism in Upper Canada, included the differences between the British and American Methodists. The plot was engaging. This is the first in a series, so I'm guessing subsequent titles in the series will improve.
June 28, 2012
The first in a series, an intriguing historical mystery set in Prince Edward County at the time of the 1837 Mackenzie Rebellion starring "saddlebag" Methodist preacher Thaddue Lewis.
August 23, 2012
Another excellent book. Easy to read. Goes great with coffee!
October 9, 2016
More like 1.5. I expected more of a mystery. However, for me, history overtook the story.
Want to read
July 3, 2011I love the cover! Now I just need time to get past the cover.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews