- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Headline; New Ed edition (6 Sep 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747234922
- ISBN-13: 978-0747234920
- Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 0.6 x 17.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 134,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
1284 and Edward I is battling a traitorous movement founded by the late Simon de Montfort, the rebel who lost his life at the Battle of Evesham in 1258. The Pentangle, the movement’s underground society whose members are known to practice the black arts, is thought to be behind the apparent suicide of Lawrence Duket, one of the King’s loyal subjects, in revenge for Duket’s murder of one of their supporters. The King, deeply suspicious of the affair, orders his wily Chancellor, Burnell, to look into the matter. Burnell chooses a sharp and clever clerk from the Court of King’s Bench, Hugh Corbett, to conduct the investigation. Corbett – together with his manservant, Ranulf, late of Newgate – is swiftly drawn into the tangled politics and dark and dangerous underworld of medieval London.
About the Author
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough. He studied History at Liverpool and Oxford Universities and obtained a doctorate for his thesis on Edward II and Queen Isabella. He is now headmaster of a school in north-east London and lives with his family in Essex.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Hugh Corbett has become P.C Doherty's most durable central character (closely followed by Athelstan), and it's easy to see why from this opening adventure for the clerk-cum-sleuth. Doherty has a gift for bringing distant ages alive and for populating his books with endearing, believable characters and this quality is displayed here as Corbett and his assistant Ranulf are introduced to the world. Corbett is invited, by the powers that be, to solve the seemingly mundane murder of a Lawrence Duket in the London church of St.Mary Le Bow but he soon discovers dark undercurrents which could threaten the King himself... Corbett is a sympathetic character with a tragic past and the reader soon has a degree of empathy with him. Ranulf is the familiar Doherty rogue ( Jankyn, Shallot etc) but the two work well together. The plot itself is typical Doherty too...dark and mysterious deeds in the backstreets of medieval London, but all these stories manage to retain an individuality that keeps the reader coming back for more ! Highly recommended !
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well, this story gets off to a promising start and I was really looking forward to a gripping murder mystery but I was sadly disappointed. The history is amazing, but the story telling is a little weak. You know who the culprits are as soon as they are introduced so even though Doherty tries hard to build mystery and suspense it's all a bit anticlimatic in the end. It's a good quick read if you've got nothing else to do but don't expect too much.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have to say that I was keen to read a medieval mystery and was encouraged by the long series of Paul Doherty's books - so I decided to give the first in the Hugh Corbett character range a try.
I have to say that this is Paul's first book in this series and there may have been teething problems - but unfortunately too many for me to return back to them.
The premise of the story is good - an apparent suicide to be investigated, the church, devil worship, a secret sect, conspiracy and treason against the King. The problems begin as the actual plot of the story pans out. It is very very disjointed. We have a LOT of emphasis on the historically accurate backdrops (places, streets, clothes, food) and a very rushed story with the characters - using many random cliché's such as relaying to the reader that the main character has discovered something integral to the plot but not actually revealing what this is for another few pages...why? It only serves to annoy not to encourage reading - especially in such contrived scenes that basically did not leave any room for guess work - I had the main villain (easily, folks) figured out by chapter 4 and the author does not reveal this revelation until the end (of course) in an embarrassing build up.
I also felt the actual execution of the novel was extremely poor. On one page alone the character had moved to around 3 different places in London and the author tried to cram in a series of events that occurred in each. It was like watching a film on fast forward.
The characters had potential but again their development was rushed, and where you were given a background to induce some kind of empathy this was lost really as the book delved into another "well researched" historical tangent.
It is clear that Paul Doherty is a researcher in this field and has a definite passion for it - he even added an authors note at the end saying that "some of the characters actually existed" - wow, I only hope their true story was better executed than this.
I have to say that this is Paul's first book in this series and there may have been teething problems - but unfortunately too many for me to return back to them.
The premise of the story is good - an apparent suicide to be investigated, the church, devil worship, a secret sect, conspiracy and treason against the King. The problems begin as the actual plot of the story pans out. It is very very disjointed. We have a LOT of emphasis on the historically accurate backdrops (places, streets, clothes, food) and a very rushed story with the characters - using many random cliché's such as relaying to the reader that the main character has discovered something integral to the plot but not actually revealing what this is for another few pages...why? It only serves to annoy not to encourage reading - especially in such contrived scenes that basically did not leave any room for guess work - I had the main villain (easily, folks) figured out by chapter 4 and the author does not reveal this revelation until the end (of course) in an embarrassing build up.
I also felt the actual execution of the novel was extremely poor. On one page alone the character had moved to around 3 different places in London and the author tried to cram in a series of events that occurred in each. It was like watching a film on fast forward.
The characters had potential but again their development was rushed, and where you were given a background to induce some kind of empathy this was lost really as the book delved into another "well researched" historical tangent.
It is clear that Paul Doherty is a researcher in this field and has a definite passion for it - he even added an authors note at the end saying that "some of the characters actually existed" - wow, I only hope their true story was better executed than this.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
More like a short story than a novel
Firstly, the book is less than 200 pages long, so could hardly say that this was a novel it's more a short story. Read more
Published 17 months ago by I. Vanburgh
The history was better than the story
First Sentence: A savage, cold wind had sprung up just after dark.
Simon de Montfort, considered traitor to the king, is dead but his supporters, many of whom are... Read more
Simon de Montfort, considered traitor to the king, is dead but his supporters, many of whom are... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2009 by L. J. Roberts
Satanism in Medieval London
This is the first book in the series of medieval mysteries featuring Sir Hugh Corbett. Obviously this is one of Paul Doherty's earlier offerings and he has since written many more... Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2006 by J. Chippindale
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
