The Whispering Dead of Rewley Abbey (The Murders in the Abbey, 1)
In this novel the reader glimpses a time when town-gown tensions were high in Oxford, England. This is a murder mystery set in the late 13th century and the first book in The Murders in the Abbey series. Sister Agnes, a Benedictine nun from Godstow Abbey, investigates the brutal murder of a young academic from Balliol College just outside of Rewley Abbey, with the help of her noble friend, Lady Beatrix de Aylesbridge. Together they face danger, supernatural forces, and a ruthless killer.
I like that this story has two female detectives from very different backgrounds. Sister Agnes looks after the abbey’s infirmary and, like Ellis Peters’s Cadfael, she knows about nursing, herbs, and anatomical science. Because Sister Agnes can’t leave Godstow Abbey due to her vows, Lady Beatrix investigates on her behalf out in the secular world. It would be interesting to find out some more about these characters’ backstories as the series progresses because we don’t get to know a lot about them in this book. The pace of the narrative is slow in places due to repetition of information, as the main characters have to relay their findings back to Sister Agnes.
The author sets up a fairly easy to solve case; however, there is an oblique plot twist at the end in preparation for the second book which throws doubt on everything we thought we knew. Fans of traditionally plotted murder mysteries may find the solution to this story disappointing. If you enjoy reading about this time period and like a dollop of mysticism with your serving of murder, then this book is for you. Young adult.
