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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
A Terrific Series, 2 Dec 2006
Edward Marston is the pseudonym of Keith Miles, a fairly prolific and extremely good writer of mainly Elizabethan and medieval mysteries. He has also written mysteries under his own name with both sporting and golf backgrounds. However it is primarily the books that take place earlier in history that I am interested in. He read modern history at Oxford and has had many jobs, including university lecturer, but fortunately for all his readers, he turned to the writing profession.
After reading the first book in the series, I avidly sought out all the other books by Edward Marston and not a single one has ever disappointed me. They are about a period of history that I love. His Elizabethan theatre series of books were wonderful and he has continued them through from 1988 to 2006. The Domesday series is also a great series and this is the second book in the series.
The Domesday series is about a period in England's history shortly after the Norman conquest , during the reign of William the Conqueror. It was King William himself who called for an `inventory' to assess taxes and survey landholdings. This inventory was called the Domesday book and was a tremendous undertaking, but one that brought stability to England. Edward Marston's Domesday novels are based upon actual entries in the Domesday Book.
Nicholas Picard is riding home in the gathering dusk. A journey he has made many times before, but this time he is attacked by a wildcat. His neighbours find his lacerated body in woodland, but when they discover the slit in his throat, it soon becomes apparent that it is human hands that have caused his death.
Picard's death causes complications in a difficult land dispute that Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret have been sent to settle in nearby Exeter. The murdered man had a stake in the outcome of the dispute and now his widow believes that she is the rightful owner of the land in dispute. However Picard's mistress and the mother of a previous deed holder of the land see things from a different point of view. Each woman is so determined to prove her claim that Ralph and Gervase begin to wonder if any or all of them are capable of murder.
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