2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3.5 Stars - Wonderful historic detail, somewhat abrupt ending, 9 April 2009
This review is from: The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker (Medieval West Country Mysteries) (Hardcover)
First Sentence: The first of the murders which so shook the Cathedral passed with little comment.
Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and his wife Jeannie, travel to Exeter, meeting up with their friend Bailiff Simon Puttock. The two men have been summoned to receive jeweled gloves in recognition of their service.
They arrive to find Ralph, the glove maker, has been murdered and his apprentice is in jail. Neither Furnshill nor Simon believes he's guilty. When a Secondary at the cathedral dies of poisoning during a service, the city Coroner asks Furnshill and Baldwin to find who's behind the deaths.
Since I'm reading one book each month in this series, I'll be inclined to repeat myself. But some things bear repeating.
From the glossary, through information on the Regulations for the Boy-Bishop at Exeter Cathedral after Bishop Grandisson c 1130 (translated from the Latin by Margaret Cash), the Cast of Characters and the Author's Notes, you know this is a very well researched book and series. But where this could cause a book to be dry, Jecks uses that information to create a strong, rich sense of time and place.
The beginning of the book is wonderfully visual. It is almost as if one is watching a drawing evolve, one detail at a time. Jecks' plots always have a number of threads and twists. In this book, I did feel the ending was very abrupt.
It does take a bit to keep up with the characters at time--hence, the Cast of Characters--but it is so well worth it. One thing I have noticed is that Jecks has changed the character and relationship of the two men, a bit, in a way I don't' particularly care for and the bantering dialogue between them has suffered for it.
However, even for the small flaws, I found myself reading straight through and looking forward to the next book.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Complicated and Well Thought Out Plot, 30 May 2005
This review is from: The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker (Medieval West Country Mysteries) (Hardcover)
I love Michael Jeck's books and cannot wait for a new one to be published. Somehow this one had escaped the net, I had not read it before.
Sir Baldwin Furnshill and his friend Simon Puttock have each been summoned to Exeter to receive an award from the Cathedral. The award is pair of jewelled gloves for each man. Presented to them by the "Boy Bishop," a title bestowed upon one of the young boy choristers of the Cathedral, who to all intents and purposes is the Bishop of Exeter for one day during the Christmas festivities.
Little do they know when they set out for Exeter, Sir Baldwin with his wife Jeanne, and Simon alone, the murder and mayhem that awaits them in the Cathedral City.
This is a complicated and well thought out plot and keeps the reader guessing until the last pages.
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5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very good reading !, 27 Nov 2001
By A Customer
I read this book following a book by Bernard Knight (Tinner's Corpse). I must say that I prefer this one because the plot was more complex and there were more twists. In fact, I found the book so engrossing that I finished it in one night. That's because it was very good !
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