Synopsis
Physician and chemist Kathryn Swinbrooke of Canterbury, England, returns in her second medieval mystery, full of Chaucerian allusions, to investigate, with soldier Colum Murtagh, a series of murders connected with the disappearance of a royal relic, the Eye of God.
Reviews
YA-In 15th-century England, King Edward IV orders soldier of fortune Colin Murtagh to find the Eye of God, a priceless royal relic that has vanished. When its owner, a traitorous earl, saw his defeat coming at Edward's hands during the War of the Roses, he gave the relic to a trusted ally, Brandon. Now Brandon has died under mysterious circumstances and his companions are missing. The king also requests that Kate Swindon, physician and herbalist, examine Brandon's body and report on his cause of death. At the same time, Colin and Kate are being pursued by Colin's vengeful former comrades. The long arm of deceit and treason reaches from very close to the throne as treachery and intrigue cause corpses to be piled all over the English countryside near Canterbury. The witty team of doctor and soldier who first met in A Shrine of Murders (St. Martin, 1993) recite lines from Chaucer to one another as they solve the case and try to avoid the stalker. The story's swift pace keeps Kate moving rapidly between doctoring and detecting in this colorful historical mystery.
Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School Library, Upper Marlboro, MD
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
In this atmospheric mystery set in 15th-century England, physician Kathryn Swinbrooke, introduced in last year's A Shrine of Murders , investigates murder in the bloody aftermath of the War of the Roses. Before Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, is killed in battle, he gives his squire Robert Brandon a famed jewel, the Eye of God, to take to the monks in Canterbury to arrange masses for his soul. Brandon is captured and dies in prison but no jewel is recorded among his possessions. Edward IV, of the victorious House of York, sets Colum Murtagh, his special commissioner in Canterbury, to find the stone, which had originally belonged to his father, Richard of York; the king asks Kathryn to investigate the manner of Brandon's death. As Colum's interrogations continue, more murders occur. Katherine's knowledge of both anatomy and human nature combine with a clue found in Chaucer's "Pardoner's Tale" to lead Colum to the resolution in this promising new pseudonymous series from medieval mystery writer P. C. Doherty.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A medieval mystery set against the brutal and treacherous backdrop of the War of the Roses and featuring Kathryn Swinbrooke, comely physician, alchemist, and amateur detective. When the Eye of God, an invaluable royal talisman, disappears during the course of a bloody battle in 1471, King Edward IV commissions Kathryn's friend and boarder, Colum Murtagh, a trusted scout and messenger for the reigning House of York, to recover the treasured relic. Together Kathryn and Colum investigate the inexplicable death of a Lancastrian soldier who fled the battlefield with the Eye of God in his possession, immersing themselves in a morass of intrigue, deceit, and danger. A first-rate thriller steeped in action, adventure, and authentic historical detail. C. L. Grace is the pseudonym of renowned medievalist and popular novelist P. C. Doherty. Margaret Flanagan
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