A Lion’s Ransom (An Owen Archer Mystery, 16)
Captain of York, Owen Archer, begins his next adventure under the careful guidance of author Candace Robb during a turning point in England’s history: the death of Edward III in 1377, and the ascension of his 10-year-old grandson, Richard II. The whole country is unsettled by this shift in royal dynamics, and nervous that the country’s enemies will assume the boy king to be a weakness, and attack. The potential regency of Richard’s uncle Lancaster exacerbates contentious feelings, but Archer is firmly loyal to the Queen Mother, Joan of Kent. York’s guild of goldsmiths gathers a joint purse to reproduce a lost golden lion for Richard’s coronation gift. During a celebration at the guildmaster’s house, the lion is stolen, and Archer is tasked with its return and inevitably becomes entangled with other events. In a city rife with spies, an unidentified man is found dead in the River Ouse, and other calamities ensue before Archer can untangle the multiple threads and solve the mysteries.
This complex tale, with its neatly packaged backstory, has the author working with an extensive cast. Charming at-home scenes with Archer; his wife, Lucie; their four children; a dear friend, Martin; and housekeeper, Kate, break up the tension between dangerous investigative scenes. Further, Kate’s twin siblings, Rob and Rose, are spies for Archer; Magda, the riverwoman and non-conformist healer, provides a soothing calmness with her Quaker-like use of thee and thou; Archer’s strong men, Alfred, Stephen and Ned make frequent appearances, and numerous street children give a detailed picture of orphan life. York’s 14th-century milieu is creatively portrayed, the characters true to their previous iterations and clearly beloved by their creator. This is atmospheric and dark in places, the fear of attack looming large, but is a balanced read, which sets up well for the next Archer series mystery adventure.
