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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murder in the abbey., 9 Sep 2003
Two young novices stumble upon the corpse of Brother Nicholas, a Benedictine monk, in the bell tower at the Gloucester Abbey. The sheriff is convinced that the killer wears the black habit of the Order and will not look for the culprit outside the abbey walls. Domesday commissioners Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret are sent to Gloucester to resolve a land dispute. Unable to let such a hideous crime go unsolved, they begin their own investigation. Soon it becomes apparent that Brother Nicholas was not as innocent in life as everyone thought. Worse, his death is connected to an even greater crime that threatens the entire area and must be stopped, at the source, quickly. To complicate matters, King William show up and a plot to assassinate the King is in the works. **** Here is a great mystery that is set during an unstable part of history. Even though this is the tenth book in the series, you do not have to read the previous books to enjoy it. This book is able to stand alone. At no time will a new reader feel lost or confused. Only a sharp reader will be able to figure THIS mystery out before the main characters do! Recommended for all mystery fans. ****
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well Worth Reading, 14 Nov 2004
This review is from: The Owls of Gloucester (Domesday Books) (Paperback)
Edward Marston is a very accomplished writer and a knowledgeable historian. He has the ability to weave a complex plot around an accurate representation of how life would be in the 11th century in England and make it spellbinding and interesting for the reader. The calm of Gloucester Abbey is broken when the body of a murdered monk is found in the Bell tower of the Abbey. The Sheriff is all to quick to assume that the murderer must be one of the monks. When Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret arrive in Gloucester they begin their own investigations into who is responsible. But the killing is only the start of trouble which threatens to over-run the whole community.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast-paced whodunnit and a surprising ending, 11 Feb 2000
This is the tenth outing for those intrepid Domesday Commissioners Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret. As they ride into Gloucester they are hoping for a short and peaceful stay but once again they are disappointed for there has just been a murder at the Abbey. Unpopular rent collector Brother Nicholas has been found murdered by two young novices and naturally they take it upon themselves to find out whodunit. The sheriff is not pleased about this and tries to stop them but they doubt his ability to solve the business satisfactorily. Things are getting interesting anyway. Some say that Brother Nicholas was a wonderful man but it soon appears that he had many secrets. On top of this they also have to find out who is the true owner of a piece of land. Is it belligerent Strang the Dane, haughty Hamelin of Lisieux and his lovely wife Emma, calm Querengar the Breton or the highly useful Abraham, Archdeacon of Gwent? Then there is Golde Delchard's sister and her husband-to-be to entertain and more besides. Just as the commissioners and their party find plenty to occupy them in Gloucester, so will the readers of this book find plenty to interest them. There isn't a dull page in this fast-paced story which dashes along like a champion racehorse to its surprising conclusion. In some of the earlier novels, Ralph's wife Golde did far more than she would realistically have done - helping to investigate the crime and assisting her husband - but here she played a more traditional role. Less politically correct perhaps but a lot more historically correct, which is of greater importance. Marston has a likeable bunch of characters in this series and I look forward to book eleven. Rachel A. Hyde for The Charlotte Austin Review
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