In 1684, the body of a young woman, who had been violated horribly, is found in a New England river. The tagline of the book states that the story is based on an actual unsolved murder from Colonial American records. However, Mistress Coffin reads more like historical literature than a murder mystery.
Begiebing is an English professor at New Hampshire teaching American Literature (at the time of the copyright), so his writing style reflects the writing of the latter half of the seventeenth century. As historical fiction, the book is superbly written and paints a colorful picture of Colonial life, as a stream of people continues to pour into New England seeking new beginnings and possible fortunes.
As a mystery, it falls flat. No words were wasted on building suspense, as there was no sense of urgency to find the murderer, since the book takes place over the course of over thirty years. When the final solution is revealed in the final pages, the reader is left wondering why we had to wait so long for such a mundane and unsurprising finish, especially when Richard Browne (the "sleuth") was informed halfway through the book. The widower Coffin had pursued a suspect in his wife's murder, but dropped proceedings against him. In this, Begiebing makes no sense, when Browne reveals the conclusion to his children.
In most novels when the author has based a fictional story built on the backbone of actual events, a note is written at the end of the book, informing the reader of the facts surrounding the mystery. The author discerns which characters are real and which ones are fabrications. Begiebing does nothing of the sort, frustrating those of us who enjoy knowing the research and planning it took to put the novel together.
However, since Begiebing's strength is Colonial America, he concentrates on recreating the style of that era. Nearly one-sixth of the book is dedicated to Mistress Coffin's journal, which is given to Browne by the deceased woman's husband. Here the reader is treated more to the literary musings of a frustrated and abandoned young woman than clues to solving a brutal murder. Lines such as "What a mystery is the heart inflamed with desire!" [page 96] appear throughout Coffin's journal as well as Browne's own thoughts as he falls deeper in love with the main suspect's wife: "For you see I have not written to relate such descriptions of the turmoil and delights of these seaborne rocks which I temporarily inhabit, but rather to tell you that I can no longer pretend the indifference of mere proximity or even friendship toward you." [page 192].
Such writing may be a bit high-brow for the casual mystery buff, but literary aficionados will love it.
Begiebing is an English professor at New Hampshire teaching American Literature (at the time of the copyright), so his writing style reflects the writing of the latter half of the seventeenth century. As historical fiction, the book is superbly written and paints a colorful picture of Colonial life, as a stream of people continues to pour into New England seeking new beginnings and possible fortunes.
As a mystery, it falls flat. No words were wasted on building suspense, as there was no sense of urgency to find the murderer, since the book takes place over the course of over thirty years. When the final solution is revealed in the final pages, the reader is left wondering why we had to wait so long for such a mundane and unsurprising finish, especially when Richard Browne (the "sleuth") was informed halfway through the book. The widower Coffin had pursued a suspect in his wife's murder, but dropped proceedings against him. In this, Begiebing makes no sense, when Browne reveals the conclusion to his children.
In most novels when the author has based a fictional story built on the backbone of actual events, a note is written at the end of the book, informing the reader of the facts surrounding the mystery. The author discerns which characters are real and which ones are fabrications. Begiebing does nothing of the sort, frustrating those of us who enjoy knowing the research and planning it took to put the novel together.
However, since Begiebing's strength is Colonial America, he concentrates on recreating the style of that era. Nearly one-sixth of the book is dedicated to Mistress Coffin's journal, which is given to Browne by the deceased woman's husband. Here the reader is treated more to the literary musings of a frustrated and abandoned young woman than clues to solving a brutal murder. Lines such as "What a mystery is the heart inflamed with desire!" [page 96] appear throughout Coffin's journal as well as Browne's own thoughts as he falls deeper in love with the main suspect's wife: "For you see I have not written to relate such descriptions of the turmoil and delights of these seaborne rocks which I temporarily inhabit, but rather to tell you that I can no longer pretend the indifference of mere proximity or even friendship toward you." [page 192].
Such writing may be a bit high-brow for the casual mystery buff, but literary aficionados will love it.
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