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The Blazing Tree |
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T he Blazing Tree byMary Jo Adamson Signet Books 272 pages, 2000 ISBN 0451200349 Reviewed by Diane Gotfryd It’s the 1850’s and police beat journalist Michael Merrick has little joy. His life so far has been full of dismal events. He is an orphan, a Harvard dropout, a recovering opium addict and lately, a workaholic at his Boston newspaper. From his fatalistic viewpoint, it is no wonder his publisher chooses him to go undercover at a Shaker settlement, hoping to uncover an arsonist whose fires have turned deadly to the Shaker economy and life. Michael knows nothing about the Shakers and has even less desire to learn. Still, he owes the publisher a great debt and undertakes the three day journey by horse cart, emerging gradually from his muffled existence to arrive wide-eyed at the thriving settlement. He has not been there an hour when he realizes someone already knows he is a spy. But who? And what will the consequences be? How dry our nonfiction books seem compared to this delightful and fascinating glimpse into a foreign time and lifestyle. Adamson takes us on a journey to the hey day of the Shakers. Today, the American Shaker community has but seven brethren. The significant research Adamson must have undertaken to be able to immerse the reader so totally in her setting, is all the better for being undetectable. She writes as if describing her own familiar neighborhood. Guided by her sure hand, the reader becomes a guest of the Shaker community, complete with its food, philosophy, rules, language, work and meetings. We feel so attuned that we are indulgent of the childish Shaker response to the glory of an angel’s visitation. We are never allowed to forget the prevailing mystery in the book. The motive behind the fires and other violence is before us all the time, but we don’t recognize it until the unveiling. And, true to the era, Michael is at times dramatic, overwrought, querulous and admirable. His intelligence and readiness to absorb all that is new make him palatable to modern readers. The same is not true of the newspaper publisher, who makes an unnecessary reappearance in the story as a genius father figure. This character is the only false note, having been done before and far better as fat, reclusive Nero Wolfe, in Rex Stout’s famous series. This is the first book in another fine historical mystery series to add to your collection. |
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