Another shout out to Narfna for putting this on my radar. I am your literary stalker! This was a very entertaining murder mystery set in an era that has always fascinated me and featuring a set of unusual sleuths. I’d never read any of Elizabeth Andersen’s books before, but I gather that historical fiction is her thing and setting a murder in the immediate aftermath of the Black Death had me from the get go. Even better, the sleuths in this novel, which I hope is the start of a series, are three women from the poor part of Colmar, in the Alsace region. When poor women end up dead, and the sheriff doesn’t care, these three enterprising women will start their own investigation and get help from an unexpected quarter — the local monastery.
The three main characters are Gritta, a harried wife and mother of 12 children who all miraculously survived the plague; Appel, an older childless widow who might have a lover on the side; and Efi, a lovely if somewhat dim-witted young widow. Gritta’s husband Jorges is an alcoholic deadbeat (although his journey to that status, explained later in the story, is rather sad), and she is struggling to keep her children fed. She and Appel are good friends and reside in the Les Tanneurs section of Colmar. Les Tanneurs is so named for the tannery there, which leads to the area being incredibly smelly and polluted. Many of the folks living there are suffering and on the edge of poverty. The two friends meet Efi as a result of Efi becoming a widow and needing support. The three women, who all need financial support, decide that they could earn some extra coin as brewers. Women brewed their own beer for their families and were allowed to sell any extra they had leftover. The women decide that they will simply make it a business and brew enough to sell to taverns. One problem is that women were not allowed to undertake such enterprises without male oversight. Another problem was that the women did not really know how to brew a tavern-worthy ale. And so they secretly start working on a recipe in the hopes of being able to support themselves.
So far, so interesting. Andersen’s descriptions of ale-brewing and the science involved in a successful enterprise were fascinating to me, but even better were the socio-economic implications of women starting a business. I might have expected that in the wake of the plague, rules would be relaxed and women have an easier time starting their own business, but that was not the case. It is while the women are trying to start up their aleworks that a series of unusual crimes occur in Colmar. First, the local Dominican monastery is experiencing a rash of thefts. The church possessed both gold and relics worth a lot of money, and the prior is trying to keep the thefts secret while getting to the bottom of who is stealing from the church. As a result, he brings in a Franciscan friar from Strassbourg to help. Brother Wikerus comes recommended by his abbot but, as we learn, has a bit of a shady past. Wikerus is know for his investigative abilities and discretion, and he cares deeply about the poorest of the poor. As part of his duties in Colmar, he agrees to minister to the people of Les Tanneurs, which is how he comes to meet Gritta, Appel and Efi and learn of their nascent (and illicit) brewing. They are wary but will soon find an ally in Wikerus.
The second set of crimes involve murder. After a grouchy old woman of Les Tanneurs is found dead, Gritta, Appel and Efi suspect murder. The woman had been heard in a screaming match with another neighbor over “stolen property,” and when Appel was called in to prepare the body for burial, she saw bruises around the woman’s neck. Because she was poor, local authorities really don’t care what happened to her. After another local woman is found dead in shallow water, the women are convinced there is a murderer on the loose even though the authorities again chalk it up to bad luck. A third murder, however, puts everyone on edge, and as the three women come closer to the truth, they also find themselves in grave danger.
The end of the mystery is quite suspenseful, and the resolution of all the crimes was completely satisfactory. I really like the main characters of this novel and look forward to learning more about their backgrounds, their business and their growing friendship. If you like murder mysteries, brewing and historical fiction, The Alewives will hit the spot.