The Ninth Daughter (An Abigail Adams Mystery)

Barbara Hamilton has written a wonderful book to kick off her new mystery series. "The Ninth Daughter," set in Massachusetts in the 1770's, is a book about a serial killer loose in Boston and its environs, a case where a smart and somewhat progressive woman is the sleuth. That woman is Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, who will be the second president of the United States. With Abigail as protagonist, the novel introduces a handful of other illustrious Colonial Americans: Tories and Whigs, Colonials and Royals, Calvinists and Catholics, etc. The strength of this novel, in my opinion, is its historical accuracy and the delightful unfolding of the plot and its back stories. The story begins on the eve of the revolution and key players are representatives from the Crown and the "Sons of Liberty" (John Adams, Paul Revere, et al.). We are treated to visits to a small village a day away from Boston inhabited by Christian fundamentalists and see the protestant hatred for "papists". The Abigail Adams of this book relates well to a great variety of people sometimes using her gender as a buffer against hostility. Her friendship with a Redcoat Lieutenant and his Sergeant allow her a source, sometimes entre, to clues in solving the murders. Those characters sometimes are a backdrop when her husband (a prominent member of the Sons of Liberty) is in the room. Author Hamilton weaves these personalities and their points of view together in a living drama with great finesse and the real "feelings" of a nation in turmoil. We are aware that the preparation for the famous Boston Tea Party is a constant background throughout the book. It is, however, how the book "works" as a novel that is the proof of the pudding in historical fiction. I admire the way in which author Hamilton crafted this book, i.e., sentence structure and the historical authenticity of language. Ms. Hamilton uses language to great advantage in that way. This is a book in which you'll frequently look away from the page and think, "what a great way to say that": e.g.,"with an Irish brogue that could have been cut like cheese with a wire;" "yet outside of Boston, the veneer of England vanished like an early frost," and "Wind as sharp as broken oyster shells." There are just a few of the many many examples of figurative language that keeps the prose so fresh and imaginative. The denouement, the ending solutions, are so hidden and surprising, you'll be amazed at that twist, too. "The Ninth Daughter" by Barbara Hamilton is a great new book and I look forward to the next in the series. If you like American Colonial Historical Fiction, this is one that should be next on your reading list.

I liked this book very very much. The story/mystery was well presented and I didn't figure it out right away which is always a good thing. I like the characterization and interaction of Abigail Adams with her husband John Adams and other Bostonians. As a history buff I like reading historical mysteries but hadn't read any set in this time period. I thought the author did a splendid job of setting the scene. I look forward to more books in the series.

First in a new series is Barbara Hamilton's THE NINTH DAUGHTER, set in Massachusetts in 1773 and telling of Abigail, who visits a fellow patriot friend only to find a dead woman in her kitchen and her friend missing. A secret Sons of Liberty document leads to a search for clues to the murder in this fine historical mystery. A fine pick for lending libraries strong in murder mysteries.

I have had a longstanding passion for John and Abigail Adams and the colonial period in general. This wonderful mystery has everything--details of the times, a great sense of the complexity and ambiguity of the politics of revolution, a well constructed mystery, and resonance between the present and the past. Abigail is an indominable feminist, but within the context of her times. The characters are as real to me as John Adams was after reading McCullough's biography. This was a great read!

In 1773, the Sons of Liberty demand representation in England's Parliament and a say in running the colonies that they consider a country. They are preventing a ship containing tea imported by the West Indian Company from unloading. Abigail Adams is at the periphery of the standoff as her spouse John is one of the leaders of the tea boycott. She visits her friend Rebecca Malvern, who tells her that her husband abuses her. Abigail finds a corpse of a woman on the kitchen floor. Before she goes for help, she notices Sons of Liberty items everywhere. John and his brother Sam arrive to clean up the mess; the victim is Perdita Pentyre married to a wealthy merchant and mistress to the colonial governor. Rebecca is missing and Abigail believes she has been abducted. She intends to find her friend as does Sam who believes Rebecca possesses a ledger containing the names of the Sons of Liberty in other colonies and the cipher which is used to communicate with them. As her husband is accused of murder, her inquiry takes her into the worst sections of Boston where homicide is a daily activity. Barbara Hamilton writes a super Revolutionary War era Massachusetts Bay Colony amateur sleuth starring real historical figures who fans the flames of revolt two years before the "shot hear round the world" (Emerson's usage and not that of Bobby Thompson). The mystery is well crafted even though the audience knows John is obviously not the killer since this is not an alternate historical. The story line provides a deep look at Boston as rebellion is in the air. Fans will want to join the tea party hosted by Ms. Hamilton with guests being a who's who of Colonial Massachusetts. Harriet Klausner