The complicated plot and bravura ending are sure to appeal to fans of medieval intrigues and stirring battles.
Malgwyn ap Cuneglas, in the service of High King Arthur, uncovers murder and heresy in a second investigation in Dark Ages Britain.
After a long-winded recap of his previous adventure (The Killing Way, 2009), Malgwyn sets off to accompany Arthur on a visit to the monastery at Ynys-witrin, where the king will negotiate with the abbot Coroticus and make certain of the loyalty of his vassal Lauhiir. On the road, they meet Brother Ider, who urges them to make all speed to the abbey. Elafius, a learned old monk, has been found dead in his ransacked cell, poisoned and wrung by the neck. Is the motive for the crime buried deep in Church teachings? Elafius had been a staunch opponent of women in the Church, arguing with the beautiful abbess Rhiannon. And there are whispers of more insidious heresies in the monastery, heresies so threatening that the saintly missionary Patrick has come from Hibernia to root them out. Or is the motive more venal? Lauhiir has become suspiciously rich from mining tin, and Elafius knew much of metallurgy. Confronted by a mystery so deeply entwined in the Church, Malgwyn joins forces with Patrick to investigate. But even their combined wits cannot stave off more killing, as Malgwyn scours the West to discover a dark conspiracy.
The complicated plot and bravura ending are sure to appeal to fans of medieval intrigues and stirring battles.Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7653-1946-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Forge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2009
The welcome return of an existential detective.
Jackson Brodie is back.
This is Atkinson’s fifth Jackson Brodie novel (Started Early, Took My Dog, 2011, etc.), but fans know that the phrase “Jackson Brodie novel” is somewhat deceptive. Yes, he is the hero in that he is a private investigator—former cop, military veteran—who solves (usually) mysteries. But he is not so much the central character as the grumpy, anxious, largehearted gravitational field that attracts a motley assortment of lost souls and love interests. In this latest outing, Jackson is a half-duty parent to his teenage son while the boy’s mother, an actor, finishes her run on a detective series. Vince Ives is a more-or-less successful middle-class husband and father until his wife leaves him, his boss makes him redundant, and he becomes a murder suspect. Crystal Holroyd—not her real name—has built a brilliant new life for herself, but someone from her past is threatening her daughter. Both Vince and Crystal seek help from Jackson, with varying results. Meanwhile, Jackson’s protégée, Reggie Chase, has risen through the ranks in the police force and is taking a fresh look at an old case. That these stories intertwine is a given. “A coincidence is just an explanation waiting to happen” is one of Jackson’s maxims; it could also serve as an ironic epigram for Atkinson’s approach to the mystery genre. A small cast of characters collides and careens in a manner that straddles Greek tragedy and screwball comedy. The humor is sly rather than slapstick, and Atkinson is keenly interested in inner lives and motivations. There are villains, certainly—human trafficking and the sexual abuse of children figure prominently here—but even the sympathetic characters are complicated and compromised. Jackson has a strong moral code, but his behavior is often less than ethical. The same is true of Vince, Crystal, and Reggie. The deaths and disappearances that Jackson investigates change with every book, but the human heart remains the central mystery.
The welcome return of an existential detective.Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-52309-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A delightful debut whodunit written with abundant wit and flair. Pray for a series to follow.
An affluent 19th-century wife and aspiring sleuth perseveres in the face of police skepticism to probe a series of suspicious deaths in Cracow.
A provocative prologue introduces an anonymous killer sneaking away after examining a frail corpse. The year is 1893, and restless Zofia Turbotyńska struggles, because of her provincial roots, to be accepted in Cracow high society. Keeping an efficient household for her husband, esteemed medical professor Ignacy Turbotyński doesn’t satisfy her. So she undertakes various projects to occupy her time and prove her worth. When her cook, Franciszka, asks for time off to visit her grandmother at Helcel House, Zofia decides to solicit the residents for donations to a charity raffle she’s organizing for the benefit of scrofulous children. The benevolent nuns who run the house are receptive. On her initial visit, Zofia notices a bit of a stir over Mrs. Mohr, a resident who’s gone missing. Her reading of Poe surely has an effect on her, for when she visits Helcel House again, Zofia takes the initiative to question the staff about the still-missing resident. Strangely invigorated, she undertakes a search of the premises and discovers Mrs. Mohr’s body hidden under a blanket in the attic. The consensus is a fatal fall while wandering. Zofia is not so sure. When another Helcel resident is found murdered, Zofia alone links the two deaths and doggedly proceeds to investigate. In a nod to Victorian convention, Szymiczkowa (the pseudonym of partners Jacek Dehnel and Piotr Tarczyński) begins each chapter with a wry summary of what’s to come.
A delightful debut whodunit written with abundant wit and flair. Pray for a series to follow.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-27424-7
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Mariner/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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