1/19/2011

A Corpse at St. Andrew's Chapel

The Second Chronicle of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon
Mel Starr
2009
Monarch Books
Fiction/Suspense/Historical

Reviewed by Cindy Loven

Set in 1365, in a small English village, Hugh de Singleton, surgeon and bailiff for Lord Gilbert Talbot finds himself in the middle of several mysterious deaths and occurences.  A dead beadle (manor officer in charge of curfew and other duties for the Lord) is the trigger to all the mystery that Hugh finds himself in the middle of.  It looks like an attack by a wild animal, only there are several things that trigger Hugh's suspicions.  The beadles shoes are missing, and he has a caved in spot on his skull, both acts that a wild animal attack would not produce.
Hugh's suspicions and nosing around nearly costs him his life, after an attack in the dark leaves him beaten and banged up, however in the light of day, it is realized that his attacker is dead.  How that happens is beyond Hugh, because the last thing he heard, was his attacker telling someone else that Hugh was still alive. 
Normally I do not enjoy books set in this time period, they are often hard to follow because there is such a difference in that era than in ours.  However this book was very interesting and the author was able to make the differences of times periods a non issue, without loosing the historical aspect of the story.  A great mystery and a good story.  300 pages $14.99 US 4 stars.
This book was provided for review purposes by Christian Bookworm Reviews, no payment was received for this review.

No comments:

Post a Comment