Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Topic thread for group read discussions of chapters 1-4 of Graham Brack's historical mystery, Death in Delft.
Spoilers welcome; if the first to post, please briefly summarize to guide the discussion.

Oh my the names... thank goodness for Kindle xray
Chapters 1-4
Master Mercurius (b 1638) is thirty-three years old, in secret a Catholic priest, in public a Protestant minister and lecturer at Leiden University. Tasked to travel five leagues via barge to Delft, Mercurius is to investigate the abduction of three young girls.
Gertruyd Lievens was found, smothered. Magdalena Kuijper has been missing for three weeks, and Anna van Settens has been missing two days. The mayor of Delft has requested learned assistance in the investigation especially after Anna's disappearance. She is from a well to do old Delft family.

Mercurius, assisted by the painter, Mijnheer Johannes Vermeer, visits the places where the girls each disappeared, and views the body of Gertruyde. He questions neighbors and calls on each of their mothers.

It's cold and the inn accommodations are rough, the food safety questionable, and the mystery deep.

I am fascinated by the era and setting and the mystery of the girls' fates is intriguing. The dynamic between the townspeople, class and religious differences add color and interest.

Ann wrote: "Topic thread for group read discussions of chapters 1-4 of Graham Brack's historical mystery, Death in Delft.
Spoilers welcome; if the first to post, please briefly..."

I'm reading Chapter 4

I like the way Brack portrays Vermeer and the fact that he has a role in the investigation as a sketch artist.

I also liked that Mercurius refused to accept the denigration of Magdalena as a bastard. I loved when he said "Is there some badge that bastards wear that allows a killer to pick them out? How then can you think your children are safe just because you are married?"

As I finished Chapter 4, I became curious about the Remonstrants. I did a search and found the Wikipedia article on them which I thought was fascinating. They still exist in Holland. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remonst...

This is one book that I am happy to be reading on the kindle app, even though it’s taken forever for me to find the time to sit down and read. I love being able to click through to Wiki to learn more about the Remonstrants (just like you, Shomeret, I was curious), and to check on whether certain characters were actual historical figures.

Thanks for the link Shomeret! I found myself looking up places and names often while reading. I like that the book is adding to my knowledge store.
The secrets of individual religious preferences by different families for the most part seem to be acknowledged, at least by some portion of the citizens of Delft, and apparently co-exist peacefully as long as the non dominant groups remain so. Very interesting.