The Harper's Quine
By Pat McIntosh
Soho Constable, 2008. 300 pages. Mystery
McIntosh's mystery is a meticulously researched and convincing whodunit set in 15th-century Glasgow. Lawyer Gilbert Cunningham, a progressive and empathic young man, is letting entropy propel him toward a life in the priesthood. His natural intelligence, curiosity and logic serve him in good stead when he stumbles across the corpse of a young woman on the grounds of Glasgow Cathedral. The victim proves to be the estranged wife of a nobleman who had left him for a harper . Assisted by the forward and independent daughter of a local mason, Cunningham carefully examines forensic clues as well as the mysteries of the human heart to uncover the twisted soul responsible for a number of deaths. Impressively, the author manages to avoid false or anachronistic notes in depicting Scottish life in 1492.
This is the first in a very compelling series set in 15th-century Glasgow. The details of time and place are really wonderful. The sense of life in a late medieval city is very tangible, with wonderful elements of Scottish and Gaelic culture. The characters are realistic, interesting and stay with you long after reading the story. Gilbert Cunningham is a very sympathetic protagonist, and you start rooting for him from the very start of his story, and how he gets mixed up both with a murder investigation, and with Alys, the stonemason's daughter. I highly recommend this detailed mystery story.
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By S.D. Sykes
Pegasus Crime, 2015. 336 pages. Mystery
When Oswald de Lacy returns from a monastery to become the Lord of Somerhill Manor after a plague, he is confronted by the shocking death of a young woman whom the villagers claim was killed by a band of demonic dog-headed men.
By Iris Antony
Sourcebooks, 2014. 378 pages. Fiction
Three women seek answers to their prayers at Rochemont Abbey, in this appealing novel set in the Dark Ages. In a well-paced and interwoven story, Anthony's main characters relate their tales as they each face challenges of faith and hope for miracles . Sister Juliana left her lover and young daughter years ago and found refuge caring for Saint Catherine's chapel and protecting the saint's relic, which lies in a small casket. Disturbed by a promise she made to her dying mentor to assume leadership of the abbey, she's racked with unresolved guilt about her past and doubts her ability to honor her promise. So she remains silent as another usurps control and plunders the pilgrims' offerings and the chapel's modest treasures. Anna is a young girl who has rarely ventured beyond her home due to her physical deformities. But now her mother's death has left her homeless and destitute, and she desperately yearns to be healed. With no other possessions save her mother's pendant and the clothes on her back, Anna begins her journey to Saint Catherine's chapel. Abandoned by a group of pilgrims, she wanders into danger, and Godric, a sympathetic Saxon traveling with a group of Danes, becomes her protector. When Gisele learns her father, King Charles, has agreed to marry her off to a barbaric chieftain of the Danes to fulfill the terms of a treaty, the princess begs to travel to Saint Catherine's relic to ascertain that the marriage is God's will. Although her father decides to let her go, her plans are thwarted. She tries to enlist help from others, including the valiant knight who safeguards her, but she encounters unexpected problems, including wild animals and an uncooperative horse. The three women's stories converge into a logical, though not necessarily happily-ever-after, closure, as Anthony creates a narrative that subtly educates, poses stimulating questions and entertains.
By Ken Follett
Signet, 1990. 973 pages. Fiction
Set in twelfth-century England, this epic of kings and peasants juxtaposes the building of a magnificent church with the violence and treachery that often characterized the Middle Ages.
MGB
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