Will is asked by his friend, Tobias, to accompany him to Virginia to Virginia to get his wife and bring her back to Maine. Will’s wife, Lydia, is still a bit distrustful of Will so she accompanies them to the Great Dismal Swamp. In the swamp, there is a town of escaped slaves (also known as maroons, which means “flee”) who are hiding from the townsfolk and the slave catchers. These towns are on drier islands within the swampland. When they arrive in town – basically huts around a fire – they are immediately met with distrust.
Shortly after their arrival, someone is murdered and Rees is asked to investigate at Aunt Suke’s request. She is the healer of the group. Because he is white, these escaped slaves aren’t quick or very willing to answer his questions. Eventually, they come around to Rees and Lydia and see that they are trying to help.
This was yet again an interesting story in this series. At the end of the book, Kuhns briefly describes the swamp and some of the forestry and wildlife one would find in the swamp and describes some facts about slave life in Virginia in the 1800s. ( )

1800 Maine. Will Rees is asked by old friend Tobias, to travel to Virginia to help bring his pregnant wife Ruth back to the north. On arriving at the Great Dismal Swamp, place of a small community of absconded slaves, they are soon embroiled in a murder, and Tobias is the main suspect. But then there is another murder, can Will discover the motives and the murderer.
An enjoyable and interesting slow-paced historical mystery with its well-rounded main characters.
Another good addition to this series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This is the ninth title in Eleanore Kuhns' Will Reese series, but the first I've read. That being the case, I want to note right off that I was able to comfortably follow both the action of this novel and the trajectory of the series nonetheless. Kuhn has a deft touch and can provide background information without being heavy-handed.

The central problem of this novel is fascinating. In 1800, a white man, Will Reese, joins his Black friend, Tobias, on a journey to "the great dismal," a swamp which is home to small communities of escaped slaves. Will's wife, still distrustful of him after an unconsummated dalliance he had with a circus performer decides to accompany them. Once there, a murder occurs and Reese, who has had some experience as an amateur detective, feels he can't leave until it is solved.

The central mystery is solid, but what really makes this novel a gripping read is its presentation of the tensions of life in the slave-owning south. Will has skin privilege (he gets a last name, Tobias doesn't, among other things) and is naive enough to be regularly surprised by Black characters' distrust of him. The Black population in and around the swamp is interestingly varied, giving a sense of the many different statuses a Black person, escaped or free, might hold at this time. The village in the swamp houses both free Black and runaway slaves. A canal is being built nearby and the working crew includes both slaves "rented out" to the canal builders and escaped slaves, whose runaway status is ignored (perhaps only until the end of the work season, when they can be turned in for a reward). There's more interaction between the slave population on a nearby plantation and those (free and escaped) living in the swamp, than one might expect.

Will, no spoiler here, does solve the murder, he and his wife gradually warm to one another again, and a pair of potential couples in the swamp make progress of one kind or another in their relationship. This is a title that will have readers thinking along two lines simultaneously: the book's central plot and the variety of complicated power relationships between Black and white, and Black and Black, at that time.

I received a free electronic ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are my own. ( )