As many of my posts here this week will be looking back at older mystery classics that would make great gifts, I thought that it might be a good week to showcase a brand new traditional mystery, as proof that authors still can - and do - write first rate mysteries in the classic tradition. So I want to invite your attention today to a new mystery that will be published later this month in the U. S. by the historian Paul C. Doherty, a terrific writer of great historical mysteries. Doherty is the author of several series set in a variety of ancient (or at least medieval) settings. One of those series, set in fourteenth century London during the reign of Richard II, concerns "the sorrowful mysteries of Brother Athelstan," and the fifteenth and newest book in that marvelous series is about to make its formal appearance in the U. S. in about two weeks. Welcome to the world of The Herald of Hell: A Brother Athelstan novel of Medieval London
The city of London, in the early summer of the year 1381, was a dangerous and unpleasant place to be. The leaders of the great peasant revolt, the people who called themselves the Upright Men, were plotting a revolution, one which they hoped would result in a new social order in the land. Treason and treachery were to be found everywhere, even when anyone caught and convicted – often by summary judgment - of such grave crimes could expect a terrible and painful death. Add that to the cesspool of filth and crime that was London at the time and you will understand why so many people were desperate to get away from London at all cost, before the inevitable uprising would take place.
And against that background, there were challenges that would fully occupy the attention of the royal coroner, Sir John Cranston, and his assistant, the Dominican friar named Brother Athelstan. They would discover a man hanged inside a locked, bolted and completely inaccessible room who must, nevertheless, have been murdered. They would find themselves trying to decipher a mysterious document, written in a code that none could read, but which might contain vital information about treasonous plots. And they would puzzle over the identity of a man serving the interests of the Upright Men who would appear without warning at night all over the city of London, carrying bloody warnings of impending doom to those whom the Upright Men considered their enemies. It was that man, known only as the Herald of Hell, who would prove to be at the center of all these mysteries.
The Herald of Hell is a first-rate mystery. As with so many other books by Doherty, we are given an impossible crime situation that must be solved, with the added tension provided by the revolt that was about to break within only a few days over the heads of everyone. Much hinges on the characters you will meet in this book - and, just a word of caution, this is fifteenth in a series, as I said, so there will be some references back to earlier mysteries and changes in continuing relationships. It's nothing that should keep you from enjoying this book. For the squeamish, be advised that there's a good deal of on-stage violence in all the books in this series, but it's never overdone and generally only done to provide key clues to the reader.
The Herald of Hell is being published by Severn House, which provided me with an e-book version for review. You can (and should!) pre-order it from your local mystery bookseller or indie book dealer or use the links above to find it on Amazon.
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