The Meadows of Murder (A Brother Athelstan Mystery Book 24)
The Meadows of Murder is the twenty-fourth book in Paul Doherty’s successful A Brother Athelstan Mystery series. And this latest offering has all the hallmarks of Doherty’s well-established style: intricate plotting and extensive historical knowledge of the period.
The novel starts with a typical Doherty prologue: small vignettes of seemingly disparate narrative strands. We move from the Kingdom of Castile in 1370, to the Tower of London in 1381; from St Osyth’s Priory in 1382 to the Guild of Fishmongers in 1383. Only after these tantalising tasters does the main story begin in dramatic fashion: a man bursts into Athelstan’s church in Southwark claiming right of sanctuary after he has killed a man.
The real strength of Doherty’s writing is his plotting, with clever twists all delivered at break-neck speed. Doherty, though, knows how to keep his readers with him, and there are several moments when the characters recap the evidence so far. The medieval London setting is well-described – all the sights, sounds and smells of the time. The public nature of punishment is particularly memorable with execution grounds (in the wake of the Peasants’ Revolt) forming just part of the scenery (and there is even a tinge of humour – we see the Keeper of the Heads on London Bridge lovingly combing the hair of one of his relics as he prepares it for its spike).
Readers acquainted with the series will enjoy a return to familiar characters, while the novel is equally accessible to new readers. Characterisation is not nuanced, and sometimes I wanted more: an early victim who is a ruthless money-lender is presented as pure evil and known only as ‘The Ishmaelite’.
However, quibbles aside, I loved my visit to 1380s London, and readers who are looking for a cerebral whodunnit with a convincing historical flavour will find much to enjoy here.
