In
the field of medieval writing, there can be no better candidate for
Ellis Peters' crown as the 'queen of historical murder fiction' than
Susanna. All her books are superbly researched, with enormous detail
of the period, the area, and the life of monks and the folk of
Cambridge.
This book, the
eighth in the Matthew Bartholomew series, takes us away from
Cambridge and off to the Isle of Ely in the year of 1354, during a
long hot summer. The Bishop of Ely has been accused of murdering a
man called Glovere, a terrible crime if it can be proved. His
accuser is Lady Blanche de Wake, a near relation of the King. She
and the Bishop have hated each other for a long time, so her
accusation could be malicious, but in the heat of the summer, many
of the peasants are easily persuaded of the evil of their masters
who live so well in the cathedral. The monks are all well-fed,
protected from hard work, and yet still show enormous greed, while
the poor who live in the shadow of the place starve. This is
immediately after the terrible plague which wiped out so much of the
population, and many hoped for a better life, but the landlords in
the cathedral want the same efforts, the same labour, the same
rents, and it has led to enormous disaffection. There is a rumour
that a revolt is coming. However not everyone believes that it was
the Bishop who killed Glovere. Some in the town have accused a band
of gypsies who have arrived to help with the harvest, especially
since there has been a spate of thefts - everybody knows gypsies can
be light-fingered - but others think it could be a local man -
Glovere himself had been saying that just before he died.
Susanna has
not lost her skill of creating believable, rounded characters. Her
two protagonists, Bartholomew and Brother Michael, who are called in
to investigate on behalf of the Bishop, feel like real people. Her
plot is intricate and well-conceived, and the ending is worryingly
up-to-date, looking at the news today. But you'll have to read it to
find out why! |
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