Back Bay (Peter Fallon #1) by William Martin

I had read three or four stand-alone books by William Martin and enjoyed them all so I thought it was high time I began reading his Peter Fallon series.  Back Bay is actually the first novel he published, more than 30 years ago.  And, as expected, I enjoyed it very much.

This is a complex story that weaves historical events with a contemporary thriller/mystery-type plot.  Peter Fallon is a present-day student/historian working on his PhD and becomes entangled in a 200-year-old mystery concerning a silver tea set crafted by Paul Revere.  What follows is a multi-generational treasure hunt that drives the other aspects of the plot. I love the way the historical parts of the story are woven in among the contemporary scenes, allowing us to follow the history of the tea set and its impact on one very important and prominent New England family, the Pratts.  Chapters are presented alternately, with a historical chapter taking place in, say 1789, followed by a contemporary one.  I've read novels written this way before and sometimes they can be disruptive or downright confusing.  But not so with this one. There are a lot of plot threads here that have to connect across time and Martin does a fantastic job of keeping them all straight and allowing us readers to follow along easily, building suspense and intrigue along the way.

I also have to mention the setting.  Boston, especially historical Boston has long been a favorite of mine, ever since I read "Johnny Tremain" back in the 7th grade.  So along with the history of the Pratt family and the tea set, we get to witness the town of Boston grow through its history.  I've found the biggest theme in all of Martin's books is that we are the products of history and of our own personal decisions; the seemingly insignificant choice of some ancestor who made one small decision and thereby changed the lives of generations yet unborn, and of course, of the grand movements of history that affect us all.