The Scrivener / The Hidden Man

Summary of The Scrivener/ The Hidden Man

In the third Cragg and Fidelis mystery, the action moves on to the year 1742, when the people of Preston are looking forward to their ancient once-every-twenty-years festival of merriment and excess, the Preston Guild. But the happy prospect darkens as the town plunges into a financial crisis caused by the death of pawnbroker and would-be banker Phillip Pimbo, shot behind the locked door of his office. The finances of the Guild, which had been invested through Pimbo, are suddenly in peril. 

Did Pimbo commit suicide? Coroner Titus Cragg suspects so, but Dr Luke Fidelis disagrees. To untangle the truth Cragg must dig out the secrets of Pimbo's personal life, learn the grim facts of the African slave trade, search for a missing Civil War treasure, and find an elusive Liverpool scrivener called Zadok Moon. Meanwhile he has to deal with the machinations of his old enemy Ephraim Grimshaw, now the town's mayor. 

Mild-mannered as ever but passionate about justice, Cragg relies once again on the help and advice of his analytical friend Fidelis, his astute wife Elizabeth, his acerbic clerk Furzey and the contents of a well-stocked library.

Note on the Title

This novel has two titles – one for the UK (The Scrivener) and another for the USA (The Hidden Man). In every other respect, the books are identical. I have written more about this in my blog section.