Customer Reviews

The Bishops Brood

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I'm a fan of the mediaeval mystery fiction genre, and, on balance, I enjoy the characters and settings Simon Beaufort has created. But the Geoffrey Mappestone series is marred by badly convoluted plot development. With a little editorial discipline, Beaufort's writing could be much improved. Every one of these novels throws an abundance of unexplored clues at the reader. Beaufort repeatedly relies on a stale device, a show-down/confession in the final pages where the murderer at last voluntarily clears everything up for us, right before trying to kill Sir Geoffrey. Moreover, the murderer is, always, the one character who appears to be most sympathetic to the hero, Sir Geoffrey Mappestone. This makes for jarringly implausible character developments. Mr Beaufort (or whatever your real name is), if you read this, I beg you to try for more economical plots in your future novels, where clues are presented and explored as the book goes along, leading logically to the final conclusion, without deus ex machina endings. Also, the running gag about Sir Geoffrey's unknightly interest in books, and aversion to massacre of innocents, gets stale. Surely Sir Geoffrey could, now and again, come across some other somewhat conscientious intellectuals with whom he can commiserate and bounce ideas off of?

I brought this book to read on vacation because it seemed to be a historical mystery and I enjoy these. It certainly is that and talks about the building of a cathedral and abbey in Durham in the 11th century, and the importance relics of saints had as a draw for pilgrims to come and pray to these relics. The book however has a definite anti-ecclesiastical tone that is not at all believable for that time period, but that is the least of my complaints: the writing style used by the author is extremely tiresome and I swear that the various characters must be asking themselves and their friends and enemies at least 1000 questions throughout the book's 300-some pages. The plot is unnecessarily convoluted, and more than once I threw the book down in disgust, although I did finish it as I wanted to know how this extremely drawn-out story ended (and I had nothing else to read on the beach)! The most interesting part is the 3-page epilogue that describes what really happened in Durham during that time...

First Sentence: It was often said that if a wicked man had the temerity to touch the sacred relics of one of the God's saints, he would be consumed by holy fire and doomed to suffer the torments of Hell for eternity.

Sir Geoffrey and Sir Roger have had enough of England. They have come to Southampton to begin their passage back to the Holy Land. On the way into town, they witness and fight between two men, one of whom ends up dead from a cross-bow bolt. When one of Geoffrey's servants is similarly killed it becomes a personal matter to find the murderer.

Beaufort (aka Susanna Gregory) is a wonderful writer. The historical research is exacting the detail that goes into sense of place brings the period to life.

Beaufort very effectively erases any concept one might have of the glorious crusades and crusaders. She blends the strong superstitious beliefs with the greed of the church "[Turgot] is the head of a monastery...It is his job to be a greedy, grasping hypocrite."

Beaufort writes excellent dialogue and has a great voice, blending humor, villainy, the harshness of the time, and the suspense of the mystery. The characters are wonderfully created. The contrast between the two primary characters, Geoffrey and Simon, is interesting to watch, yet their friendship holds up in spite of their differences. It was interesting to see Geoffrey be attracted to a woman yet feel he was not suitable for her.

This was a well written, well plotted, very enjoyable read.