The Constable's Tale: A Novel of Colonial America - Hardcover

Through detailed descriptions of characters and setting, readers can easily imagine early American life and its shifting governance. Compares well with the Bone Rattler series by Eliot Pattison or the Smithyman saga by David More.

A yarn that combines the hue and scope of James Fenimore Cooper with the taut suspense of Elmore Leonard.--John Smolens, author of 'The Schoolmaster's Daughter'

With its intrepid detective, skillful plotting, colorful characters, action and rich period detail, Donald Smith's novel is sure to please fans of historical mystery.--Gary Inbinder, author of 'The Devil in Montmartre'

Top-notch historical fiction, authentic in character and setting, laced with a mystery and a bit of international intrigue, right up the whipsaw conclusion.

Donald Smith's exceptional first novel is a revelatory look at colonial America. In unmasking a villain, the investigation also provides insights into the surprisingly worldly ways of our colonial ancestors.

Rich in historical details and character. Smith's writing is well-paced, and his attention to historical detail is such that it does not overwhelm the reader, but still brings colonial America alive.

Historical fiction at its best. I have read many books about America's history, but this blood-curdling murder-mystery, set in 18th century North-Carolina, with America at the brink of the Revolutionary War, taught me a lot. Stylish, exciting, and packed with historical insight.--Bob Van Laerhoven, author of 'Baudelaire's Revenge'

Set in colonial North Carolina with a cast of authentic and endearing characters, including Harry Woodyard, a tobacco planter and the volunteer constable of Craven County, and his outspoken Welsh wife, Toby. Harry is a wonderful blend of naiveté and no-nonsense, compassion and reason, and his tale's an intriguing one.

The Constable's Tale is the best first novel I've read in a long while. Lyrical and tough and suspenseful and set in a time and place that's been little explored in fiction, especially detective fiction, but which Donald Smith brings alive with clarity and vibrancy and a muscular authority. A first-rate novel.--Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author James W. Hall

When a traveling peddler discovers the murder of a farm family in colonial North Carolina whose bodies have been left in bizarre positions, circumstances point to an Indian attack. But Harry Woodyard, a young planter who is the volunteer constable of Craven County during a period in America's past when there was no professional police force, finds clues that seem to indicate otherwise. The county establishment wants to blame the crime on a former inhabitant, an elderly Indian who has suddenly reappeared in the vicinity like an old ghost. But he is a person to whom Harry owes much.Defying the authorities, Harry goes off on his own to find the real killer. His investigation takes him up the Atlantic seacoast and turns into a perilous hunt for even bigger quarry that could affect the future of Britain in the American continent.