There are truly very few mystery series where the author is able to delver a solid, well crafted, and absorbing read with every single installment; Kate Sedley is one of those authors. Whenever I settle down with the latest Roger the Chapman installment, I know that I'm about to enjoy a compelling and riveting read, and this was definitely true of The Three Kings of Cologne.
Alderman John Foster (soon to be Mayor of Bristol) has purchased a piece of land from the Magdalen Nunnery with plans to build a new almshouse and chapel dedicated to the Three Kings of Cologne. However the alderman's charitable plans take a setback when a body is unearthed on that very piece of land. It turns out that the remains are those of Isabella Linkinhorne, a beautiful if somewhat wild young lady who mysteriously disappeared about 20 years ago. At the time of her disappearance, everyone, her parents included, believed that Isabella had runaway with one of her suitors. But now it is beginning to look as if she may have been murdered by one of her suitors. Determined that his gift not be tarnished, the alderman hires Roger the Chapman (who is well known for his abilities to solve mysteries and ferret out the truth), to discover who murdered Isabella and to bring the murderer to justice. Always willing to embark on an investigation, Roger takes to his latest task with alacrity. But will he be able to solve a murder so old? All Roger has to go on are rumours and the faded memories of those who knew Isabella. But Roger is determined to do his utmost to solve the murder nevertheless...
The Three Kings of Cologne was a well crafted and engagingly written mystery novel that was intelligent and full of wonderful period colour and details. On top of it all, The Three Kings of Cologne was a real puzzler as well -- the suspense and the mystery were so capably layered on that I had to stay up till the early morning hours in order to finish the book. It was that riveting. Suspenseful and full of intriguing plot twists and turns, The Three Kings of Cologne is one mystery novel that I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone looming for a good, absorbing read.
Showing posts with label medieval-era mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medieval-era mystery. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Monk Who Vanished by Peter Tremayne
The stakes are high indeed in this seventh installment in the Sister Fidelma mystery series, because this time she is fighting to protect her brother's claim to the kingship of Murman.
The Ui Fidgente, a major clan of Murman, have been adversaries of Cashel for a long time, and indeed they have long challenged Cahsel's right to the kingship of Murman, refusing to pay tribute. Now however the current prince of Ui Fidgente, has decided to put all the bad blood between the two clans behind him and to negotiate a treaty of peace with Cashel. To this end, he and his retinue have come to Cashel in a gesture of goodwill in order to hammer out some form of an agreement. However, just as the two princes are about to exchange greetings, an unknown bowman shoots at them, wounding both men. He is later found dead, wearing the emblem of the Golden Chain, which identifies him as a member of Cashel's elite bodyguard. This proves to be a bad sign for Fidelma's brother, for if he is found guilty of the attempt of the prince of Ui Fidengente's life, the kingship of Murman would then be forfeit to the Ui Fidengente! Another bad sign: in the abbey at Imleach, the relics of the holy man Ailbe, has been stolen. Legend has it that if ever the relics were stolen then the kingship of Murman would fall from Cashel and chaos would ensue. It looks as if the two incidents are tied and that Fidelma will have to do some rather nifty detective work to discover who exactly is behind this move to take the throne away from her brother and start a war.
This historical mystery series is a really good one even if Peter Tremayne's writing style is a little to dense and dry. However he has struck gold in his creation of Sister Fidelma. In Fidelma, Tremanyne has created a brilliant and charming heroine, with a thirst to see justice done and set things right. The plot of this mystery novel is intriguing and a little convoluted, full of red herrings and sub-plots that have sometimes very little to do with the actual problem at hand. However the final denouncement where Fidelma finally lays all her cards on the table makes everything worthwhile: the somewhat dry and dense prose, the convoluted plot with all its red herrings, and the somewhat ranting style of communication that nearly everyone save Fidelma and Brother Eadulf seem to employ. A book well worth reading in spite of the few nit-picking problems I had with it.
The Ui Fidgente, a major clan of Murman, have been adversaries of Cashel for a long time, and indeed they have long challenged Cahsel's right to the kingship of Murman, refusing to pay tribute. Now however the current prince of Ui Fidgente, has decided to put all the bad blood between the two clans behind him and to negotiate a treaty of peace with Cashel. To this end, he and his retinue have come to Cashel in a gesture of goodwill in order to hammer out some form of an agreement. However, just as the two princes are about to exchange greetings, an unknown bowman shoots at them, wounding both men. He is later found dead, wearing the emblem of the Golden Chain, which identifies him as a member of Cashel's elite bodyguard. This proves to be a bad sign for Fidelma's brother, for if he is found guilty of the attempt of the prince of Ui Fidengente's life, the kingship of Murman would then be forfeit to the Ui Fidengente! Another bad sign: in the abbey at Imleach, the relics of the holy man Ailbe, has been stolen. Legend has it that if ever the relics were stolen then the kingship of Murman would fall from Cashel and chaos would ensue. It looks as if the two incidents are tied and that Fidelma will have to do some rather nifty detective work to discover who exactly is behind this move to take the throne away from her brother and start a war.
This historical mystery series is a really good one even if Peter Tremayne's writing style is a little to dense and dry. However he has struck gold in his creation of Sister Fidelma. In Fidelma, Tremanyne has created a brilliant and charming heroine, with a thirst to see justice done and set things right. The plot of this mystery novel is intriguing and a little convoluted, full of red herrings and sub-plots that have sometimes very little to do with the actual problem at hand. However the final denouncement where Fidelma finally lays all her cards on the table makes everything worthwhile: the somewhat dry and dense prose, the convoluted plot with all its red herrings, and the somewhat ranting style of communication that nearly everyone save Fidelma and Brother Eadulf seem to employ. A book well worth reading in spite of the few nit-picking problems I had with it.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
The Chapel of Bones by Michael Jecks
While this latest West Country mystery featuring Keeper of the King's Peace, Sir Baldwin Furnshill, and his good friend and fellow crime solver, Bailiff Simon Puttock, may not be as suspenseful or as edgy as previous West Country installments, it still did make for a rather engrossing and compelling read. One piece of advice though: read author Michael Jecks' note at the very beginning of the book carefully because the murder of Chaunter Walter de Lecchelade at Exeter Cathedral in 1283 lies at the center of The Chapel of Bones, and would help many readers understand better what's going on in the earlier chapters.
In 1283, the Chaunter of Exeter Cathedral, Walter de Leccehlade is brutally murdered, along with the churchmen loyal to him, by churchmen who opposed him and by certain townsmen who felt hostile towards him. Some of the churchmen involved in the murder were punished, while others kept quiet and melted into the background. The townsmen involved were never betrayed by their ecclesiastical accomplices, and so they too blended back into the background, even though the then mayor of Exeter was hanged by Edward I as punishment for their crime. And for the next forty years, everyone went on with their lives and tried hard to forget that fateful and awful night. But now, in 1323, as the cathedral is being rebuilt, and three men who had left Exeter after the dreadful events of 1283 are back again in the city of their childhood. One of the men is the mason, Thomas, who had fled Exeter in guilt over his part in the murder; the other man is Friar Nicholas, who had left after being so grievously injured during the attack; while the third man is the priory's new corrodian, William, who left Exeter to serve Edward I. Many of the townsmen who had taken part in the murder and who had never left are not happy to see these men back again. And when one of the townsmen, the wealthy saddler Henry Potell, is slain on Cathedral grounds, both Sir Baldwin and Simon (summoned to help discover the murderer) naturally begin to wonder if Potell's murder is linked to the events of 1283, or if Potell, who seems to have been in the middle of two disputes with a rich German client and with his old friend, joiner Joel Lytell, was murdered over something else. But when another man who was involved in the 1283 killing is also found murdered, Sir Baldwin and Simon realise that what their dealing with is someone with a secret to hide and who is willing to kill in order to protect that secret...
Even though the plot was a little straightforward, with very few surprising twists or turns, The Chapel of Bones still made for an enjoyable read. As usual the author has written a book that is rich in ambiance, colour and historical detail. And the character development was brilliantly done as well -- each character, no matter how small was vividly and credibly rendered. I especially liked the manner in which the author showed us how the guilt that many of the characters felt over the wrongs that they had committed, coloured and affected their lives. And if I was a little disappointed that the mystery subplot was not a very perplexing one, Michael Jecks' stark accounting of how guilt and loss affects people more than made The Chapel of Bones a good and worthwhile read. Why, on why though, has this series been subtitled a Knights Templar mystery? The Knights Templar don't figure into this series at all -- or at least not since The Last Templar, and that was about 18 mysteries ago, where Sir Baldwin put his past firmly behind him. It seems rather strange to bring up the Knights Templar at this stage. Is this some kind of a marketing ploy?
In 1283, the Chaunter of Exeter Cathedral, Walter de Leccehlade is brutally murdered, along with the churchmen loyal to him, by churchmen who opposed him and by certain townsmen who felt hostile towards him. Some of the churchmen involved in the murder were punished, while others kept quiet and melted into the background. The townsmen involved were never betrayed by their ecclesiastical accomplices, and so they too blended back into the background, even though the then mayor of Exeter was hanged by Edward I as punishment for their crime. And for the next forty years, everyone went on with their lives and tried hard to forget that fateful and awful night. But now, in 1323, as the cathedral is being rebuilt, and three men who had left Exeter after the dreadful events of 1283 are back again in the city of their childhood. One of the men is the mason, Thomas, who had fled Exeter in guilt over his part in the murder; the other man is Friar Nicholas, who had left after being so grievously injured during the attack; while the third man is the priory's new corrodian, William, who left Exeter to serve Edward I. Many of the townsmen who had taken part in the murder and who had never left are not happy to see these men back again. And when one of the townsmen, the wealthy saddler Henry Potell, is slain on Cathedral grounds, both Sir Baldwin and Simon (summoned to help discover the murderer) naturally begin to wonder if Potell's murder is linked to the events of 1283, or if Potell, who seems to have been in the middle of two disputes with a rich German client and with his old friend, joiner Joel Lytell, was murdered over something else. But when another man who was involved in the 1283 killing is also found murdered, Sir Baldwin and Simon realise that what their dealing with is someone with a secret to hide and who is willing to kill in order to protect that secret...
Even though the plot was a little straightforward, with very few surprising twists or turns, The Chapel of Bones still made for an enjoyable read. As usual the author has written a book that is rich in ambiance, colour and historical detail. And the character development was brilliantly done as well -- each character, no matter how small was vividly and credibly rendered. I especially liked the manner in which the author showed us how the guilt that many of the characters felt over the wrongs that they had committed, coloured and affected their lives. And if I was a little disappointed that the mystery subplot was not a very perplexing one, Michael Jecks' stark accounting of how guilt and loss affects people more than made The Chapel of Bones a good and worthwhile read. Why, on why though, has this series been subtitled a Knights Templar mystery? The Knights Templar don't figure into this series at all -- or at least not since The Last Templar, and that was about 18 mysteries ago, where Sir Baldwin put his past firmly behind him. It seems rather strange to bring up the Knights Templar at this stage. Is this some kind of a marketing ploy?
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