AboveTheBayOfAngels #NetGalley Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union for this advance copy of Rhys Bowen's latest stand alone."A single twist of fate puts a servant girl to work in Queen Victoria’s royal kitchen, setting off a suspenseful, historical mystery"
I enjoyed it and the historical period it evoked. Of course Queen Victoria was a bit out of known character but who knows?
I would not mind it being the beginning of a short series as the characters were a bit uneven, but that came and went in the book. That often happens with the first part of a series.
I enjoyed the time period and setting and it was a fun read! I think that Helen/Bella's figuring out the killer was a little bit hard to be plausible, but it was fiction.
I am so glad I saw Book #4 as a "to read" at Netgalley a couple months ago and enjoyed it.. Once I was "into" the characters I purchased the rest with an Amazon Kindle rebate. Only one more book to read (snif snif) but I will have the whole series and can reread in a year or so AND I understand Sarah Hawkswood is writing now ( Hopefully book #7 )
Rereading is satisfactory with a great series like this as right now I am going backwards and forwards with the characters.
Book # 1 saw Hugh Bradecote doing some service for his manorial duty to his overlord the Sheriff of Worcester and being appointed undersheriff. In this tale he is summoned to the city in William de Beauchamp's absence to a string of arsons, very perilous in Medieval times in cities due to flimsy construction, close proximity to other dwellings within the city walls.
Bradecote had gone home after his service and appointment to his wife's anticipated lying-in for his first child. He has a son now but his wife did not survive and he has been confused, morose and guilty every since. It has been 3 weeks, and when he receives his summons from the castellan of Worcester to lead the investigation into the series of fires, he at least has a purpose.
The fires and their perpetrator remained a mystery for most of the book, deaths resulted and the ending was both sad and hopeful a young boy's future. I am off to the next book, Marked to Die. Great Series!!
What a fascinating historical novel about a pivotal time for many people. Elizabeth Chadwick is a favorite author, of course, but the supporting characters in addition to Richard de Clare are known to me ancestrally.
My maternal ancestors are from Ireland, Faunt from Limerick (13th century castle), who came in the retinue of the Norman Kings.They were knights and mercenaries, from the very south of France along the Mediterranean. In addition, my father's Kirwans were from the Wexford border and his mother a Carrow, (Raymond le Gros was born in Carew Castle) from The Welsh Marches. I am a lot Irish but mostly Norman Irish (per DNA results also). I have Pendergast cousins still in County Wexford, (characters Maurice Pendergast and his family.
The history here was superb, I knew little about Aoife and her parents but a good bit about Isabelle who married William, Henry, John and Henry III's marshal both in Wales and Ireland.It was delightful to read about how the Normans came to Ireland initially and what they did there (not all of it savory by any means).My Great Grandfather was Patrick Faunt born in Limerick to a Soldier in the British army in 1865( yes, they stayed as military people and "nailers" or blacksmiths in the armies over the centuries.
I loved this book for many reasons, not the least that it was so carefully written with extraordinarily vivid characters who, I feel were true to what they were in life. Recommended to many, including my Irish relatives.
Book # 1 of Bradecote and Catchpoll did not disappoint, it was a great read! I started the series with Book # 4 which is Hostage to Fortune which I got as an ARC at NetGalley. I plan to review all of them there and also at Edelweiss.
Hugh Bradecote is performing some obligatory rounding up of a lawless band for his overlord the Sheriff of Worcester. They stop for the night at Pershore Abbey,to find the Sheriff was to be sent for as Eudo, clerk of the Bishop of Winchester had been murdered.
The Sheriff quickly deputizes Bradecote as Undersheriff to fill a temporary vacancy and leaves him and Serjeant Catchpoll to solve the mystery. A rough five days ensues with all suspects kept in the Abbey, where murders kept happening.
A great entry into this series, which leaves Hugh as permanent Undersheriff to fill a now permanent vacancy, thereby yoking he and the Serjeant together.
My first book finished in 2020 ( well shortly before 2020 actually)
I reviewed book #4 for NetGalley and liked it a lot, but as it was a bit violent, this next book was almost perfect. Vale of Tears, Book #5 was all about a complicated mystery which happily was resolved.This Bradecote and Catchpoll mystery brings Walkelin, "sergeant-in-training" right into the very good mystery and puts him in danger.
There were a lot of deaths, solved and mostly solved all of which lead to a lord of the manor of Harvington, whose wife was recently deceased and her brother's body found floating in a mill leat. This of course takes them only to river Avon communities starting in Fladbury and ending at the Sheriff's Castle in Worcester.
Agatha and Leofwine reuniting after many years as friends after being bereaved brings a more hopeful ending to this story. Sarah Hawkswood is a very fine author and I am n on to the next in the series.
