Maori murders in New Zealand set in 1868

I do enjoy historical fiction, so this week I selected an e-book from BookBub, “Not the Faintest Trace” by Wendy M. Wilson.

It is the first in her Sgt. Frank Hardy Mystery series set in New Zealand in the late 1800s. The story opens with a small native family group attempting to escape pursuing troops. Before they can slip into the deep swamp, they are captured. The husband is killed, and the wife and another woman are taken away, leaving two little boys to a horrible death. Sgt. Hardy tried to stop the carnage but is ordered to move on with the other troops.

Shortly after that, Frank left the military, but the memory has haunted him ever since. Frank is an imposing and roughly handsome Englishman with a strong sense of right and wrong. During his service, he came to understand and respect the native Maori people and their attachment to their ancestral lands.

Deciding he’d had enough of senseless brutality, he took a job driving the mail coach between the villages and settlements spread along the river. The job bores him, and he wants something more challenging. The sparsely settled areas made settlers targets for thieves and the occasional cold-blooded killer, and those new to New Zealand were prone to getting horribly lost in the bush. Frank knew he’d be good at handling such cases, but he wasn’t ready to make an attempt at starting his own private investigating business.

Two young men recently disappeared near the river. Most believe they drowned, but neither body had been found. The reader soon knows what happened to one of the boys, but not the other one. Pieter Sorenson, a relative of the boys, asks Frank to search for them so the family can have closure. Frank reluctantly agrees but gets more interested after meeting Pieter’s sister-in-law Metta Jensen.

Metta is more handsome and sturdy than pretty, and she has a sharp mind. She’s eager to learn all about the edible plants in her new country and often heads into the nearby bush to forage. Metta’s family tries to convince her to stay in the clearing, but she goes out whenever she can. Metta gets a terrible fright when confronted by a fierce, native-looking man who tries to take a piglet that she has killed.

She is thrilled to learn that Frank will be searching for the boys because she has a secret crush on him. Metta finally confesses that Gottlieb Larson, one of the men on the road crew, tried to rape her. Frank finds the man, beats him badly and makes a murderous enemy in the process. Now he has to watch for both the vengeful Maori warrior and the crazed Larson.

Metta is sent to bring back Pieter’s widowed sister, so she rides the mail coach with Frank. The woman refuses her offer, so Metta joins Frank for the return trip. Larson ambushes them at the edge of a deep gorge. After a harrowing struggle, Frank hits Larson with a native tomahawk and he falls into the river.

Frank gets along well with the local police, but the head of the Constabulary is openly hostile toward him. So, to protect Metta from the shame of the near rape, they decide to tell no one about the attack. Frank finally learns that the Maori warrior is Anahera, a brother to one of the women taken that fateful day. He has sworn to kill all who wear the “Die Hard” military insignia.

After a terrible battle, Anahera is subdued and taken to a far-off prison. Later, the body of one boy is found, but not the other. Only Anahera knows what happened. The book ends with a strange epilogue that creates more questions than answers. I doubt I’ll bother to read the next one. Too little history and too many loose ends for me.

Your public library can supply all the endings you want. Cliffhangers to neat package finales are all available. Just make plans to stop by soon so you can check it out.

AT A GLANCE

BOOK: “Not the Faintest Trace”

AUTHOR: Wendy M. Wilson

PUBLISHER: Wilson

PUBLISHED: Jan. 4, 2018

PAGES: 286