York,
1374, and it looks as though there are wolves loose in the
city causing injury and even death. But something doesn’t
quite add up, and when the coroner’s son is killed,
it starts to look as though humans are behind the rumors.
But what is going on and why? Owen Archer investigates, aided
and abetted (on his own terms anyway) by Geoffrey Chaucer.
I was a big fan of the Owen Archer
series and read the books as they came out. This means that
the last time I read one was back in 2008, so it took some
time to get back into remembering who was who and what part
they played in the series. Fortunately, there is a dramatis
personae at the front, which was a lot of help, and slowly
things fell into place.
As
ever, Owen and Lucie are a very likeable pair of sleuths,
and this is a teasing mystery, as more people get attacked
by the “wolves”, and the reasons behind it all
gradually become clearer. There are quite a few repeat characters
and, as with all good series, part of the enjoyment comes
with finding out what they are up to, and how things have
changed since we first encountered them. Readers of the series
will remember (and anybody new to it needs to start at the
beginning with The Apothecary Rose) that Owen’s employer,
Archbishop Thoresby, had died leaving him looking for a new
job. He has more than one option to consider and fourteenth
century politics to navigate. This means that the next book
will be very interesting indeed; I just hope we don’t
have to wait another eleven years for it! Like all in this
series, this is highly recommended.
Reviews
of previous title by this author
A
Spy for the Redeemer #7 [Review
1] [Review
2]
The
Crossed Legged Knight #8
The Guilt of Innocents #9
A
Vigil of Spies #10
A
Conspiracy of Wolves #11
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