Thomas T. reviewed on 6/6/2006 + 27 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

In the scabrous and pungent world of medieval London, Brother Athelstan and his Falstaffian partner, Coroner Sir John Cranston, return in a new mystery that pits them against a secret killer lurking in the Tower of London. Inside the Tower, the dreaded Constable, Sir Ralph Whitton, is dead - his throat slit in his own locked room under the noses of his own guards. Outside in the blustery London night, two of Athelstan's suspects, old crusader comrades of Whitton's, have fallen to their deaths in cunning moves of foul play. And mean-while, a robber is desecrating Athelstan's parish cemetery. Athelstan, with his love for a highborn lady, and his gluttonous, irascible cohort, Cranston, are a truly unforgettable pair in this chilling mystery laden with scholarship and villainy. Together they lead a cast of murderers and suspects, spies and allies - but who's who? Armed with a head for logic and a priest's eye for guilt, Athelstan distinguishes the righteous from the iniquitous and unravels the knot of ancient betrayal and revenge. But can he beat the assassin slithering in the shadows - poised for his final stroke? Paul Harding strikes again with another fast-paced thriller as atmospheric as The Name of the Rose and as smart as Agatha Christie. Weaving together urban corruption, curious characters, and the shady side of fourteenth-century life, Harding has masterminded a plot whose threads stem from the very heart of London's Bloody Tower.

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