Blood of the Oak: A Mystery

by Eliot Pattison

Overview

The Edgar Award–winner’s colonial series continues as Scottish exile Duncan McCallum uncovers a loyalist conspiracy—“Historical mystery at its best” (Booklist, starred review).

The American Colonies, 1765. As the Stamp Act dissent marks the first organized resistance to English rule, someone is kidnapping and killing members of the Iroquois Nation. Asked by an elder to investigate, Scottish exile Duncan McCallum soon uncovers a network of secret runners supporting the nascent “committees of correspondence,” engaged in the political dissent fomenting across colonial borders. But as Duncan follows the trail further, it leads to his capture.

Thrown into slavery with the kidnapped runners, Duncan discovers a powerful conspiracy of highly placed English aristocrats bent on crushing all dissent. Inspired by an aged Native American slave and new African friends, Duncan decides not just to escape but to turn their own intrigue against the London lords.

A Publishers Weekly Best Book, the fourth entry in the Bone Rattler series moves ever closer to the beginning of the American Revolution. With a cast of characters that includes Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, the early Pennsylvania rebel James Smith, and Dr. Benjamin Rush, Blood of the Oak takes a fresh view on the birth of the new American nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619026155
Publisher:	Catapult
Publication date:	03/15/2016
Series:	Bone Rattler , #4
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Eliot Pattison is the author of the Inspector Shan series, which includes The Skull Mantra, winner of an Edgar Award and finalist for the Gold Dagger. He is also the author of the the Bone Rattler series, featuring Scotsman Duncan McCallum. Pattison resides in rural Pennsylvania with his wife, son, three horses, and three dogs on a colonial-era farm. Find out more at eliotpattison.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/11/2016
In 1765, the French and Indian War is over, but the American colonies are not at peace, as shown in Edgar-winner Pattison’s superior fourth mystery featuring Scottish ex-pat Duncan McCallum (after 2013’s Original Death). The Native Americans who inhabit the forests of New York have dubbed McCallum the Death Speaker for his ability to use his medical training to determine how people died. That skill is all too useful when Red Jacob, an Oneida who served with English frontier rangers, is murdered by someone who almost claimed the life of his superior, Duncan’s friend, Capt. Patrick Woolford. Theirs is not the last blood shed. Duncan soon finds himself on the trail of ruthless killers who are targeting messengers working for some secret committees in different cities, whose leaders include Benjamin Franklin. Pattison does a brilliant job of showing how political events at this time paved the way for the start of the Revolutionary War. Agent: Natasha Kern, Natasha Kern Literary Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Blood of the Oak

"Another complexly plotted historical mystery written in a baroque style highly suggestive of the period and unblinking in its portrayal of American history's dark lessons." —Kirkus

Praise for Eye of the Raven

"Few writers can combine history and mystery as well as Edgar–winner Pattison . . . Evocative language, tight plotting, and memorable characters make this a standout." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The pleasures of Eliot Pattison's books, and Eye of the Raven is another smashing example, are threefold: high adventure in perilous landscapes, a hero stubbornly seeking the truth, and the haunting mysteries of ancient cultures." —Otto Penzler, editor of The Vampire Archives

Praise for Bone Rattler

"Pattison's moving characters, intricate plot and masterful evocation of the time, including sensitive depictions of the effects of the European war on Native Americans, set this leagues beyond most historicals and augur well for future entries in this series." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"[A] sure winner." —Booklist

From the Publisher

02/15/2016
Duncan McCallum, a displaced Jacobite from Scotland and part-time healer, lands in another tension-filled morass of bizarre murders, kidnappings, stolen artifacts, and cryptic codes. By 1765 the seeds of the upcoming American Rebellion are beginning to sprout. The Stamp Tax dissent is gaining momentum, and the fallout from the recent French and Indian Wars fuels a palpable anxiety throughout the colonies and the neighboring Native American tribes. All the while, British troops and ships are becoming more prevalent and the English presence feels more like an occupation. Something has to give. VERDICT Pattison's fourth installment of his "Bone Rattler" series (after Original Death) features Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Samuel Adams, and a young Benjamin Rush making cameo appearances. The detailed handling of the times is accurate; however, often the pace slows to a slog and some of the characters feel a bit pedestrian.—Russell Miller, Prescott P.L., AZ

Library Journal

2016-01-10
In Colonial America, a Scottish exile stumbles onto a conspiracy of killers in a most unlikely place. In the spring of 1765, Duncan McCallum is enjoying a beautiful day and looking forward to returning home and seeing his beloved Sarah when he's summoned by Iroquois elder mother Adanahoe, who's on her deathbed. She warns of a vision she's had of Duncan and his Nipmuc Indian friend Conawago suffering grave wounds and asks his help in finding the mysterious man who kidnapped and killed her grandson Siyenca. Sadly, Duncan soon encounters another victim, the Iroquois Red Jacob, whose arm seems to have been eaten away. When he shares the story with Sarah and Conawago, his friend supports Duncan's choice to investigate after some much needed sleep. There turn out to be many more deaths or disappearances, a contagion to which the Iroquois apply a spiritual meaning. Duncan learns that there are political implications as well. He examines the bullets used to kill Red Jacob and finds them pure and advanced, not from frontier weapons. An inflammatory speech he reads in a newspaper leads to an attempt to rescue some captured Iroquois, hearing more accounts of barbarous torture, and learning of a horrible plot involving British opponents of the nascent American independence movement. The fourth installment in Pattison's Bone Rattler series (Original Death, 2013, etc.) is another complexly plotted historical mystery written in a baroque style highly suggestive of the period and unblinking in its portrayal of American history's dark lessons.

Kirkus Reviews