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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Looks like a good start to this mystery series, June 12, 2000
This review is from: The Blazing Tree (Michael Merrick Mysteries) (Paperback)
In the nineteenth century, Jasper Quincey, publisher of the Boston newspaper The Independent, summons his police news reporter Michael Merrick to his Cambridge home. Jasper provides background material about the series of arson and the lifestyle of the Shakers. Next, he assigns Michael the task of investigating the questionable fires that led to the death of an octogenarian Shaker in Western Massachusetts. Michael heads to the western side of the Commonwealth to make inquiries among the residents of Hancock Shaker Village. Although Michael knows that religion is not his bailiwick, he realizes that somehow he must infiltrate the sect to learn what is going on inside the village because no one will simply cooperate otherwise. Inside, Michael surprises himself by finding the Shakers way of life appealing and interesting. Having lived on the uglier side of Boston, Michael comprehends that even this little Eden has a dangerous snake whose antics are turning more dangerous by the moment. Knowing he has quite a story, Michael only has to live long enough to tell it. THE BLAZING TREE is an exciting historical mystery that places its emphasis on the depths of history rather than on the who-done-it. The story line is crisp and fast-paced although some subplots never fully tie back to the main tale. Michael is an intriguing character whose years on the streets eating opium have carved edges into his personality. The mystery is fun, but it is the nineteenth century tidbits, not all obvious (for instance Quincey and opium eating), that make Mary Jo Adamson,s a delightful glimpse at a bygone era. Harriet Klausner
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully Written--Buy It, August 8, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: The Blazing Tree (Michael Merrick Mysteries) (Paperback)
One of the most enjoyable mystery novels I've read in a long time. Emphasis on both "mystery," and "novel." It could go in either genre. On one level, a simple murder mystery set in the timeless world of the Shakers at Hancock Village Massachusetts (which is still there as a living museum, and can be visited--it rightly has earned the name the City of Peace). If you have ever been to Hancock or any other Shaker village, you will love this book. If you have never had that treat, this book will really capture the flavor of the place. On a second level, the book is a novel, a meditation on the meaning of love. I can hardly wait for the second book in this series. This is the product of a very talented writer.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An arsonist is at work in a Shaker village., July 8, 2000
This review is from: The Blazing Tree (Michael Merrick Mysteries) (Paperback)
Though there are fewer than ten Shakers extant today, this communal sect, officially named the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, once numbered some six thousand at their peak around 1830, spread among several villages in the eastern United States. In Mary Jo Adamson's riveting mystery, "The Blazing Tree," a structural fire--the latest and most frightening in a series of unexplained blazes in the Shaker community of Hancock Village, Massachusetts--has resulted in the death of an elderly man. Boston newspaperman Michael Merrick, on orders from his publisher, is propelled into impromptu undercover detective work at the village in the hope of unmasking the arsonist. Merrick's assignment quickly becomes a race against a clever murderer who will not hesitate to kill again. With richly textured prose and striking characterizations, Ms. Adamson takes the reader into the midst of everyday life in an 1840s Shaker village, weaving a compelling and suspenseful tale. Moreover, her comprehensive research brings powerful verisimilitude to the descriptive and narrative elements of the story, and summons a long-lost era back to colorful life. Whether as novel or as mystery, this is a first-class read.
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