Hungry Death is the 8th book in the Cragg and Fidelis historical mystery series by Robin Blake. Released 3rd May 2022 by Severn House, it's 288 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. Paperback due out 27th Dec 2022 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a consistently high quality well written mystery series with engaging characters and intricately crafted mysteries. This is one of the best so far. The plot moves along at a good clip and during the read I found myself losing track of time (and reading way past my bedtime). In this adventure, Coroner Cragg is called to the scene of a dreadful familicide at a remote farm. Titus' friend and colleague, Dr. Fidelis is also drawn into murderous intrigue when an unidentified body is found at Orford Hall, the estate of a local magistrate.

The fictional mystery is written around a framework of actual historical events so skillfully that it wasn't easy to know when fact shaded over into fiction. The author is very skilled at writing believable history, and the dialogue, although not stilted or difficult to read, really is redolent of the period.

Four stars. A very good read. With 8 books extant in the series at the current point, it's an excellent choice for a long binge / buddy read. Extremely well done historical fiction is rare and this series is a delight.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Coming in to a series that's well under way isn't always easy, but this story of Coroner Titus Cragg and Dr Luke Fidelis reads very easily as a standalone. Cragg is summoned from his home in Preston to a farm near Warrington where the Kidd family have all been slaughtered. It emerges that the dead family belonged to a strange religious sect espousing laissez-faire views, but providing severe moral guidance through an elaborate system of cursing (almost like brainwashing.). Kidd's surviving brother also belongs to this cult, and his lack of regret at the death of all his relatives does make Cragg suspicious of him. Another body is discovered, buried in the gardens of prominent landowner John Blackburne. This body must first be identified. Cragg explores a network of relatives and more earlier family shame, before he can tie the two crimes together and solve them at his final inquest. Along the way he meet lecherous French emigres, a 'bluestocking' insect collector, a famous acrobat, and the inventor of a shorthand system. He also picks up, in a bookshop, a new book called Joseph Andrews by one Henry Fielding, but decides not to buy it. Blake's Lancashire of the 1740s is doesn't quite have the depth and details of Fielding's world, but there are still some very enjoyable scenes here, and (if helped along by many coincidences) a satisfying intricacy in the plotting as we reach the denouement. Recommended.

The body in the hot-house

This is the first Cragg and Fidelis mystery I have read and won’t be the last. The author creates a convincing Eighteenth Century north of England rustic setting (the environs of Warrington), an honourable and meticulous coroner (Cragg), his more flamboyant friend (Fidelis) and a fascinating mystery within a mystery. Add a very peculiar religious sect, the Eatanswillians, riven by dissension, an entire family apparently killed by the man of the house, a maid up at the local large estate who suddenly disappeared years ago, a couple of French rationalists, and there are all the elements for a really clever piece of detection.

The pieces of the jigsaw all slot together in the coroner’s court at the conclusion of the novel, but I found Cragg’s patient, sympathetic investigation enthralling throughout, a perfect example of an enlightened rationalist in action. An unexpected pleasure, this, from a series which deserves to be much better known.

Robin Blake involves coroner Titus Cragg and his friend Dr.. Fidelis in finding out what caused the violent death of a farming family with peculiar religious beliefs in November, 1747. Hungry Death also involves the disappearance and murder of a servant girl. Could the farmer have killed his family? Who else in the countryside had hidden secrets? Hungry Death is a violent and difficult mystery.

A family is slaughtered seemingly by their father/husband and Coroner Cragg is called out to Warrington to investigate. His friend Dr Fidelis is staying with wealthy friends nearby when a body is discovered preserved in peat below the hothouse. In 1740s Lancashire everyone is afraid of the French and several local religious sects are thriving. Will Cragg and Fidelis manage to find the links between the two cases?
I have not read Blake's work before and this meant that I was playing catch-up in terms of understanding characters and relationships as there is little back-story given. However I loved the setting, mid-18th Century Lancashire in a time just as the Industrial Revolution is starting. There is a great section about a canal and the novelty of a journey upon it. As far as the plot goes, it is a fairly standard historical mystery with the added interest around rival religious sects.

I really enjoyed this book. The only disappointment was that I read it without realising there were 7 previous novels. Set in the 1740's, Cragg is a coroner investigating a death with the help of his friend Fidelius. It is slow paced but so well written the story never drags. We also meet Cragg's wife Elizabeth who, I assume, appeared in previous volumes. The book can be enjoyed as a standalone. I will now search out the previous books.
This is an honest review of a complementary ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical mystery even though I haven’t read any of the previous books in this series. Although there are one or two references to previous cases, the book works perfectly as a stand-alone

It is 1747 and Coroner Titus Cragg is called to the gruesome murder scene of a family who belonged to a religious cult. Soon, another body is uncovered.

Blake weaves an intricate plot, with plenty of red herrings. His research is thorough. Real characters from history mix with the fictional. However, the novel would not suffer from the loss of some of its cast.

Dialogue imparts information, without illustrating the characters. Several scenes are used to set the reader in time, but fail to move the plot forward.

My thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for the ARC.

Murder most foul!

A family murdered on their farm, a young witness without speech, a strange religious group that approaches the tenets of scripture from a very different perspective—all this is the background for a gruesome crime in Warrington, Cheshire, 1747.
As the County Coroner, Titus Cragg is called by the local magistrate, John Blackburne, to investigate the deaths
As fate would have it Dr. Luke Fidelis is staying as a guest at Blackburne’s manor with two French gentleman, one of whom Fidelis had studied with.
Serendipitously, or by chance, a reasonably preserved body is discovered, buried beneath a drainage area in the hothouse of the Hall.
Now two seperate incidents of murder will exercise Titius’ investigative powers.
His wife Elizabeth joins him for a few days, and as always proves to be helpful in bringing Titus’ thoughts to fruition.
I had a glimpse, a fleeting idea of who the culprit might be early on, but nothing concrete. Really it was troubling.
Another fascinating late medieval mystery that delves into these times and showcases some of the cultural and social aspects, the happenings, of that era. The religious offshoots of the murdered family are fascinating.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley

This is an interesting tale of two mysterious deaths in the 1740s. It gives a real feel for life during that period. I hadn’t realised that it was the 8th in a series of the coroner Titus Cragg, and I love that I can now go and read all the previous books.

The year is 1747 and County Coroner Titus Cragg has been called out to the brutal murder of an entire family in their own home ............ the family belonged to a strange cult - is there a connection between the murders and the Cult ?
Meanwhile a body has been found beneath the hothouse at nearby Orford Hall , where Titus' friend Luke Fidelis
is a guest .
The two friends must come together to use their powers of deduction to solve both cases against a backdrop of secrets , scandals and superstition

This is yet another entertaining murder/mystery with a great historical setting , highlighting the mores and politics of the times .

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

A well written historical novel with enough detail to give the reader a glimpse of the hard way of life suffered by ordinary people. Titus Cragg, the Coroner, has a perplexing case to investigate: why would a family man with apparently ordinary worries, murder his wife and children and then himself. With help from his wife Elizabeth who offers opinions and insight in her letters from home, Titus strives to find answers - and is then pulled up short as another body is discovered, buried under the hothouse of the local landowner. Peppered with widows, orphans, bigots, Frenchmen and an amazing array of lost names from old England, this book is an excellent mystery that the reader will struggle to solve.

This is the first of these historical crime books by Robin Blake that I have read and it won't be the last. It is well-written, engaging with good characterisation and sense of place. Set in Warrington and surrounds, it gives some good historical information on the place and area and all in all, I was very impressed.

Historical mysteries featuring Titus Crag never disappoints and this was one of the best I read.
Gripping, fast paced, and compelling. Vivid historical background and solid mystery.
I was glad to catch up with the fleshed out characters and the mystery kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Religious sectarianism, French libertinism and the dawn of eighteenth century European Enlightenment are some of the ingredients that definitely spice up this dark & compelling fictional tapestry set in Lancashire at the end of the 1740s.

Once again we follow Titus Cragg, the winsome and insightful County Coroner as he painstakingly tries to untangle a complex &
suspenseful tale of family violence and murder, a fiendish immersion into a dangerous domestic world full of deep-seated grudges, long-festering jealousies and burning covetousness

A captivating portrait of Hanoverian Britain full of delightful historical details, exquisitely drawned characters and lots of marvellous dialogues.
An entertaining murder mystery that really deserves to be enjoyed without any moderation whatsoever and a very accomplished fictional journey through a British rural landscape steadfastly moving toward 18th century Enlightenment.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Severn House for this terrific ARC

This is the first time I have read a Craig and Fidelis 18thC murder mystery but this bokk can stand-lone. Set in the 1740s Coroner Titus Craig and his friend Dr Luke Fidelis are tasked to solve brutal killings at a local farm without, of course, the modern methods and technology we almost take for granted in this modern era. The historical detail and the description of the social structure of the time is brilliantly described before the story culminates in a magnificent (Coroners) courtroom drama.
Add to all this a discovery of an another unrelated murder victim and the involvement of a small, local but unconventional cult makes for a great read.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Severn House for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical mystery even though I haven’t read any of the previous books in this series. Although there are one or two references to previous cases, the book works perfectly as a stand-alone.

The novel is set in the 1740s and the coroner, Titus Cragg, has been called to determine the cause of gruesome family deaths at a local farm. The family concerned were all part of a mysterious cult which may have contributed to the killings. In addition to this, another body is discovered at the house of the local magistrate during improvements to his hot house. Cragg and his friend, Doctor Fidelis now have two mysteries to investigate.
I really enjoyed both the mystery and the historical setting of this story. The story was well-plotted and the historical detail gave an excellent idea of life at the time for both rich and some of the poorest people. I really enjoyed the way that the mysteries were solved by Cragg and Fidelis with the help of other people. All the different threads of the story eventually came together in the inquest as the evidence was finally pulled together
This was a great historical murder mystery and I will certainly look out for other books in this series. I would definitely recommend it to lovers of historical crime fiction. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers, Severn House for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an intriguing insight into early eighteenth century murder investigation. Coroner Titus Cragg does not have the modern ways of solving and proving crime but has a remarkable tenacity and determination to prove what he can. The murder, apparently by the father, of a family then the discovery of a body buried in an unlikely place are the basis of this murder investigation. However, the real achievement of this book is the setting in the period. The conversations between adults, the social structure, the legal system are all depicted in astonishing detail. The book is a considerable achievement. It is well worth reading.

I’ve read most of the Cragg and Fidelis series and particularly enjoy the sense of time and place portrayed. This latest instalment is no exception to the usual high standard of writing and is highly recommended.

1747 Coroner Titus Cragg becomes involved in two cases. Firstly that of the deaths of the whole Kidds family of Moss Side Farm who belonged to a strange religious cult, and secondly, that of a body discovered under the hot-house belonging to magistrate John Blackburne.
An entertaining and well-written historical mystery with its range of characters, mostly likeable, and which can be read as a standalone story.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.