Book Review: Havoc, in Its Third Year

Reviewed By: Catherine Thompson - RAM

Havoc, in Its Third Year     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Ronan Bennett
Class/Genre:   Fiction   Historical
$14.95 trade paperback; 305 pages

As his wife Elizabeth labours to bring their child into the world, coroner John Brigge is called upon to investigate the murder of an infant. Katherine Shay, an Irishwoman, stands accused of killing her child. She denies it, but on the flimsy evidence given, the jury sentences her to hang. Brigge senses that something is being hidden, and he suspects the town’s powerful Puritan governors are behind the disappearance of a vital witness. He refuses to carry out the sentence, insisting that the town’s constable find Susana Horton and bring her before him. When Doliffe the constable refuses his duty, Brigge sets out in search of the girl. Meanwhile, he is beset by fears, as the Master of the town, Nathaniel Challoner, who is an old friend, begins to persecute those who once supported him.

Havoc, in Its Third Year is more an exploration of the human psyche than a traditional mystery. Bennett uses the form of crime fiction to examine guilt and innocence, sin and purity, and the evil that men do in the name of God and politics. Set in the middle of Charles I’s reign, before the rise of Oliver Cromwell, Havoc, in Its Third Year charts the course of Puritanism. Brigge is Catholic, but he is forced to hide his religious affiliation, especially in this northern town that is a bastion of Puritanism.

When I started reading this book, I disliked it. The first few chapters utterly lack dialogue; it’s just page after page of straight narrative, possibly the most boring thing to have to read in the world. Fortunately, Bennett introduces dialogue during the trial of Katherine Shay and maintains it from there.

Catherine Thompson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM