Medieval Mystery!
The Pardoner's Crime (Sandal Castle Medieval Thriller #1)
by Keith Moray
Chaucer's Canterbury Tale hints, and a medieval mystery--two favs! How could I resist reading this. If you know The Pardoner's Tale, then of course the rift off that title will catch your eye--as it did mine. Add to this Robin, err that is, Robert Hood and what more can I say.
Moray throws us right in at the deep end. It's 1332 Yorkshire, England. The traitor Lancaster has been executed, Edward II is King. Sir Richard Lee, Sergeant-at-Law, has been appointed the Circuit Judge of the King’s Northern Realm. He and his assistant Hubert of Loxley, are heading for Sandal Castle and the court of the Manor of Wakefield, where the King wants him to begin exercising his office.
Richard and Hubert's relationship is one of trust, reliance and friendship, strengthened by the bond the two men have tested in warfare.
As they pass through the forest of Outwood they run into Robert Hood and his men. Many are contrariants, who fought on Lancaster's side and now are outlaws, common wolf's heads. An interesting beginning, and their way will become even more twisted and complicated.
In the meantime a Pardoner is traveling along a similar route. His journey will take a different turn.
Richard no sooner arrives in Wakefield when he has two cases to look at, except one becomes a murder. A murder involving an arrow that pierces the victim's eye. The fletching is known and fingers are pointed.
The deputy steward of the castle, Sir Thomas Deyville, is a bully of a man, whose punishments have fallen far short of justice. As Hood had said to Richard, 'The bailiff is a lackey, the constables are a bunch of dullards and drunks and the new steward is a buffoon. There have been two hangings, a spate of floggings and too many people put in the public stocks for the merest of trifles.' Add to this the rape of a young woman left to flag and Richard has enough reasons for consternation if all is true.
Throw into mix a visit to the annual Mystery Play by the king, and you have an interesting set of circumstances.
There's a fascinating cast of characters in this first in the series, including the apothecary and his wife, the tavern owner, and Sir Thomas' daughter. I'll be intrigued to see how things pan out in the future.
At times Richard reminds me of Candace Robb's Owen Archer or Michael Jeck's Sir Baldwin de Furnshill. Good and true men, interested in justice, and creative thinkers.
I did enjoy this new medieval mystery with it's character twists.
A Sapere Books ARC via NetGalley
****
by Keith Moray
Moray throws us right in at the deep end. It's 1332 Yorkshire, England. The traitor Lancaster has been executed, Edward II is King. Sir Richard Lee, Sergeant-at-Law, has been appointed the Circuit Judge of the King’s Northern Realm. He and his assistant Hubert of Loxley, are heading for Sandal Castle and the court of the Manor of Wakefield, where the King wants him to begin exercising his office.
Richard and Hubert's relationship is one of trust, reliance and friendship, strengthened by the bond the two men have tested in warfare.
As they pass through the forest of Outwood they run into Robert Hood and his men. Many are contrariants, who fought on Lancaster's side and now are outlaws, common wolf's heads. An interesting beginning, and their way will become even more twisted and complicated.
In the meantime a Pardoner is traveling along a similar route. His journey will take a different turn.
Richard no sooner arrives in Wakefield when he has two cases to look at, except one becomes a murder. A murder involving an arrow that pierces the victim's eye. The fletching is known and fingers are pointed.
The deputy steward of the castle, Sir Thomas Deyville, is a bully of a man, whose punishments have fallen far short of justice. As Hood had said to Richard, 'The bailiff is a lackey, the constables are a bunch of dullards and drunks and the new steward is a buffoon. There have been two hangings, a spate of floggings and too many people put in the public stocks for the merest of trifles.' Add to this the rape of a young woman left to flag and Richard has enough reasons for consternation if all is true.
Throw into mix a visit to the annual Mystery Play by the king, and you have an interesting set of circumstances.
There's a fascinating cast of characters in this first in the series, including the apothecary and his wife, the tavern owner, and Sir Thomas' daughter. I'll be intrigued to see how things pan out in the future.
At times Richard reminds me of Candace Robb's Owen Archer or Michael Jeck's Sir Baldwin de Furnshill. Good and true men, interested in justice, and creative thinkers.
I did enjoy this new medieval mystery with it's character twists.
A Sapere Books ARC via NetGalley
****
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