The Sculthorpe murder by Karen Charlton

"The Sculthorpe murder" by Karen Charlton -  A period murder mystery. 

This book is published by Thomas and Mercer in 2016 and has 306 pages. This is Book 3 of Steven Lavender series. 

William Sculthorpe (86), is killed in Middleton village in Northamptonshire, beaten to death. One of the witness is dead man's cretin son.  Inspector Lavender and Constable Woods are invited to investigate upon Doweger countess Fitzwillams' request. 

Why was the old man murdered? What was the motive? Who was behind it? Can Lavender solve the mystery?

It was a time when Catholics were treated like pariah and were forbidden from holding public office in Protestant England. Call for Catholic emancipation was getting stronger. A gang nicknamed Panthers was on the loose. 

The story is set in year 1810, old England. Horses are mode of transport. The inn culture of village is vividly shown. Pace of life is slow. Story takes place in a village where everyone knows everyone else. Lavender and Woods have a task to find the murderer and they have no leads. 

The story is developed with leisure. There is no hurry. I was able to guess the identity of murderer as well as their location. 

I enjoyed reading this 3 book series. May be there are more. Don't mind treading of there are. It's a good change. 

Why did I read this book? Have read 2 books earlier.

What I didn't like? Murderer can be guessed. 

What did I like? Old times. 

A good change. Recommend reading.