This novel is written by Robert McCammon who is known for his horror novels. One of my favorites is Boys Life - which has a great coming of age story with a good dose of Stephen King horror.
However - Speaks the Nightbird is Historical Fiction - written in Charleston in a time period not far removed from the Salem Witch trials. We follow a Witch on trial.
Our main character, Matthew is a young law clerk who questions whether the accused is truly a witch. He goes about proving her innocence. During the course of his investigation he manages to expose many other secrets and subplots that are happening in the fledgling town of Fount Royal.
The novel is quite long and was once published in two parts. However - its quite a page turner and I managed to fly through it fairly quickly.
Matthew was a delightfully flawed character. He is without a doubt - nosy. He can not help himself from butting his nose in, which helps move the action along. You can understand why he frustrates other characters around him. But he is of course on the side of justice and you can not help but root for him.
Things I liked : The resolution. I wondered how the author was going to explain the witch like goings on -and I found the explanation novel. I also liked our main investigator Matthew. Young, callow , nosy, frustrating -he was great fun to watch
Things that could have been improved upon: I think I would have liked to see a different resolution for our witch, Rachel
There is a sequel to this novel called The Queen of Bedlam. I will pick it up at some time
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