Matthew Corbett is the chief protagonist in the Matthew Corbett series of novels by Robert McCammon. The first novel published in the series featuring the Corbett character was the 2002 published Speaks the Nightbird. The series of novels are best described as historical fiction mysteries.
Matthew Corbett is a professional investigator living in the tail end of the 17th century, a time when the forces of evil and good are at war in colonial America. The towns and countryside of American are plagues with a range of tragedies that most residents believe to be as a result of witchcraft. When we are first introduced to the lead in the series, he is a young assistant/clerk to the itinerant judge Isaac Woodward. Over the course of a few years, he develops a passion for justice and love and is sent by his employers to a range of locations to uncover truth and confront evil forces threatening the innocent.
The first novel in the series Speaks the Nightbird is set in 1600 The Carolinas where the residents of Fount Royal are convinced that their city is cursed due to its many tragedies. Seeking a scapegoat, their wrath falls on Rachel Howarth, a beautiful widow that they demand be executed for practicing witchcraft. Isaac Woodward is the itinerant judge who they select to preside over the case. The young and astute clerk Mathew Corbett, who believes the
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The masterpiece is a tale of murder and mystery that transports one to Fount Royal where shady characters and sordid dealings are the order of the day. It comes with gray brushstrokes of sober sadness, bright orange humor, blue electrifying romance, lurid red gushes of horror, infuriating justice, seething passion, crackling dialogue, and rollicking adventure. Matthew Corbett the lead in the series takes one on an historical adventure back to the 17th century that will enthrall both the historical and mystery fiction buff