April 1603. The Scottish King James is to sit on the English throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. In Devon, former ship’s surgeon and now rural physician Gabriel Taverner is called to examine a corpse found with a blade in his stomach. I’ve found a new historical mystery series and the first book is A Rustle of Silk by Alys Clare. I started the tale not sure what to expect but found myself racing through the pages, not wanting to put the book down. Clare is a new author for me and as well as this series, there are many other Clare mysteries to explore.
The dead man is Gabe’s brother-in-law, a silk trader. Jeromy Palfrey is an assistant to a local wealthy dealer in silks, Nicolaus Quinlie. Celia’s house is much grander than Gabe’s quiet house, Rosewyke. She dresses in silk, the colourful home furnishings are silk and she spends much time alone in her luxurious house while her husband travels for work. Until he doesn’t return his body is found.
Immediately I was drawn to the complex character of Gabe. A man with a colourful past travelling, and fighting, on the oceans until a head injury forced him to find an occupation on land. Now a qualified doctor, he continues to study current medical tomes which he combines with avant-garde experience picked up on his travels around the globe and medical techniques learned onboard in the heat of battle. Now his feet are firmly on dry land and he is trying to establish a name in his local area. Unfortunately someone objects to his presence; deposited on his doorstep has been a series of ‘little gifts’ – faeces, dead mice, a headless rat, a square of linen soaked in blood, and worse. Not one to be threatened easily, Gabe knows he must stop the person making these threats. But then Plymouth coroner Theophilius Davey knocks on his door.
Is there a connection between the threats to Gabe and the death of his brother-in-law. Was Palfrey involved in money-making schemes to pay his debts and could his employer have found out. Two more deaths follow.
The portrayal of medical treatment at the beginning of the 17^th century is fascinating – formally-trained doctors such as Gabe, barber surgeons, midwife Judyth and herbalist Black Carlotta. Both female medics live in danger of being denounced as witches. Clare also shows the social restrictions on women at that time. Once married, all wealth and property transfers to her husband. An unscrupulous husband may spend his, and his wife’s, wealth without recourse to her.
A Rustle of Silk is not a long book, unlike some historical crime novels, and I read it easily in two days. An easy entertaining read though it does include some gruesome medical descriptions. I would describe this as a historical mystery rather than historical crime. Gabe is a doctor in search of the truth but he is also an able amateur investigator. I enjoyed the circle of professionals around him; coroner Theo and his assistant Jarman Hodge, and local preacher Jonathan Carew. I anticipate many hours spent reading the rest of this series.

If you like this, try:-
‘Winter Pilgrims’ by Toby Clements #1Kingmaker
‘The Confessions of Frannie Langton’ by Sara Collins
‘The Drowned City’ by KJ Maitland #1 Daniel Pursglove

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A RUSTLE OF SILK by Alys Clare https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7EN via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-