October
1143: A consignment of salt is being taken along the road
from Wich when it is attacked by a mysterious bowman. One
of the casualties is local lord, Corbin FitzPayne, so the
sheriff dispatches his undersheriff, Hugh Bradecote, and the
doughty Serjeant Catchpoll to find out what is going on. This
proves harder than it first appears, especially when Bradecote
finds himself falling for FitzPayne’s new widow, Christina.
This might sound like a romance, but I can assure you that
it is 100% detective story all the way through. There is some
romance in it, but it never holds up the action, of which
there is plenty as the sleuths sift through the evidence,
question suspects and generally detect. As with the first
two, this gives a good picture of life in the mid 12th century,
a time when a broken leg could be a death sentence, and lords
had the power of life and death over their hapless minions.
The ongoing conflict between Stephen and Matilda takes a backseat
this time, possibly more than it actually would have, but
I don’t know enough about the period to comment. Certainly
the protagonists are too busy with the case to involve themselves
with anything else, and this makes for an exciting story that
hits the ground running and races along until the end. The
often grim events are leavened with the author’s trademark
humor, which also reminds the reader that people are people
whenever they lived. In this third book, Bradecote and Catchpoll
are working together a lot more amicably, and they have the
ginger haired Walkelin to help them, too. One of the best
histmyst series around right now that reminds readers how
good this type of thing can be when played straight with likeable
characters and a really involving plot. Highly recommended.
Reviews of other titles in this series`
Ordeal
by Fire #1
Marked to Die #3
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