Speaks the Nightbird by Robert McCammon

Speaks the Nightbird by Robert McCammon is a shockingly good historical thriller. In 1699 in colonial Carolina, judicial clerk Matthew Corbett travels along with his guardian and magistrate Isaac Woodward to the small village of Fount Royal to investigate the case of a witch. Rachel Howarth, a young widow of Portugese descent, has been blamed for murders, crop failures, and a rash of fires in the town, and everyone is looking forward to seeing her burn at the stake. But Matthew has questions about the enigmatic beauty, and the more he digs into the town's secrets, the more his life is in danger. I read the review of The Queen of Bedlam in Publisher's Weekly and saw that it was a sequel to this book, so I ordered it. I was intimidated at first by its 700+ pages, but once I cracked it open, it was nearly impossible to put it down. McCammon carefully lays the foundation for the suspense, so that when it starts to build, each page feels like another stick thrown on Rachel's pyre. McCammon doesn't make her innocence or guilt immediately obvious, so as Matthew falls for her despite the testimony about her midnight indiscretions with imps and Satan himself, fear is palpable. But where McCammon really shines is in creating the suffocatingly claustrophobic atmosphere of this isolated community. Everywhere villagers are calling for Rachel's death, and with each of Matthew's questions, they start to raise accusations about him as well. The book feels hopeless, and yet as long as Matthew believes in Rachel, there is hope. The dialogue is vibrant, especially the exchanges between Matthew and Bidwell. There are multiple forces at work, and McCammon does a terrific job of making them work together to make a piece of classic horror literature. Nearly every page made me catch my breath in horror, fear, or surprise. It's a book I'll be recommending to everyone for the next few months. I've already reserved The Queen of Bedlam in which Matthew returns!