Cruel As the Grave: A Medieval Mystery [Hardcover]

Sharon Kay Penman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

She was young--barely fifteen. A poor peddler's daughter newly arrived in London, she was loved as much for her good heart as for her good looks. Someone had taken advantage of that sweet nature, leaving her dead in a churchyard, a ripped bodice testimony to her struggle, a bloodstained cross the solitary witness to her end.

England, 1193: A land awash in intrigue. While Eleanor of Aquitaine searches vainly for her eldest son, imprisoned by his enemies, her youngest plots to capture the crown. In her service: young Justin de Quincy, the Queen's Man. What has he to do with common murder, with the death of a poor man's child? Despite himself, Justin becomes ensnared in the case, seeking to unmask a killer. But can he also bring that killer to justice?

Hailed "an impressive debut" (Houston Chronicle), nominated for an Edgar for Best First Mystery, chosen by the ALA as a Best Book for Young Adults: The Queen's Man established a tradition that Cruel as the Grave upholds splendidly.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Readers of The Queen's Man, Sharon Kay Penman's first book about young Justin de Quincy, will feel right at home as Justin--the bastard son of a bishop--continues to help England's aged Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine find out if her son Richard Lionheart is still alive in a German prison while trying to keep another son, John, from usurping the throne. Newcomers might take a few more pages, but Penman's skill at making the daily life of 1193 England so immediately accessible should soon have them equally comfortable. Why would a messenger grab his mantle but not his boots before jumping out of a Winchester bawdy house window on a mild April night? Because that's where a traitorous message is hidden. What would Justin and his friend Luke have for supper at a Thameside cookshop? "Pork-filled pie and ginger wafers, washed down with cider." Why was "breakfast the day's dubious meal, not quite respectable?" Because, Penman tells us, "people were supposed to be able to satisfy themselves with a hearty dinner and a lighter supper." Details like these bond us quickly with distant ancestors--and make us wonder what particulars of our own lives will be fodder for future writers of historical fictions. --Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly

Penman, known for her historical novels, delivers a sequel to her first mystery, The Queen's Man (1996), an Edgar nominee for Best First Mystery Novel. Young Justin de Quincy, bastard son of a highly placed clergyman, toils as a special agent for Eleanor of Aquitaine. The dowager queen is attempting to hold the throne for her beloved son, Richard the Lionheart, held captive by the Holy Roman Emperor, against the machinations of her youngest son, John. A neighbor asks Justin to investigate the death of a young Welsh girl named Melangell. Two brothers from a wealthy mercantile family, nephews of Justin's neighbor, are the chief suspects in the murder. Justin balances snooping into the murder with his duties as the queen's agent, at one point risking his life to carry a message to John, besieged in Windsor Castle in his bid for the throne. Penman ably links two main story lines, the one about ordinary folk caught up in a drama of passion and power effectively echoed by the second, about aristocrats maneuvering for power at the highest levels. Despite the occasional anachronistic word or concept, Penman has a good feel for the period. This mystery may lack the depth and detail of Penman's longer historical novels, but it delivers atmosphere, plotting and nicely modulated characters.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co; 1st edition (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805056084
• ISBN-13: 978-0805056082
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,327,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an American of Irish-English-Welsh heritage, and I currently live in New Jersey, although many of my readers imagine I am happily dwelling upon a Welsh mountaintop--but no such luck. I was once a tax lawyer, which I looked upon as penance for my sins. Like most writers, I was born with a love of the written word, although I never expected to be able to support myself as a writer; when you read about starving artists in their garrets, most of them have starving writers as roommates. But I was very lucky and I have been blessed to make my living as a writer for the past twenty-seven years or so. All of my novels--eleven at last count--are set in the Middle Ages, and focus upon England's most colorful dynasty, the Plantagenets. It is almost as if they lived their dramatic and often wildly improbable lives with future historical novelists in mind, and I am very grateful to them--especially to the Angevins,Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine and their equally famous children, known to their contemporaries as the Devil's Brood.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Queen's Man Rides Again, August 11, 2002

By 

Richard R. Carlton (Ada, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cruel as the Grave: A Medieval Mystery (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

A 2nd episode for DeQuincy, Queen Eleanor's "man" from the mind of Sharon Penman. Her feel for the medieval England of Henry & Eleanor from her previous historical novels form the basis for this unique historical murder mystery set in England in 1193, which also serves as a nice encore for the first murder mystery "The Queen's Man".

Penman emerged long ago as one of the best historical novelists and continues to solidify her reputation with each new release. The "Queen's Man" novels are unique side trips where she plays with fictional characters based on her strong historical story lines. Penman's special genius lies in the bright and shining historical detail that she can weave into both plot and dialog (she's a very good student of history and at
times is absolutely brilliant in conveying to us the workings of medieval minds).

Penman's true genius is the broad historical scope that is painted on top of the shimmering details of brief moments. It truely does feel as if you
are living the story yourself, and it is this bringing us readers in as witnesses that stands as Penman's contribution to the art of the historical
novel.

If you prefer to read in chronological order:
1101-1154 When Christ And His Saints Slept (Vol 1 of Trilogy)
1156-1171 Time And Space (Vol 2 of Trilogy)
12th Cent Devil's Brood (Vol 3 of Trilogy)- not yet released
1192-1193 The Queen's Man
1193 Cruel As The Grave
1183-1232 Here Be Dragons (Vol 1 of Welsh Trilogy)
1231-1267 Falls The Shadow (Vol 2 of Welsh Trilogy)
1271-1283 The Reckoning (Vol 3 of Welsh Trilogy)
1459-1492 The Sunne In Splendour

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as previous works, May 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cruel As the Grave: A Medieval Mystery (Hardcover)

But readable still. The author has got some very interesting characterisations going on and I like seeing how they interact with each other.

However other readers don't worry as Ms Penman's next book, Time and Chance, is a return to her big historical novels. It's about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine and will be published next year. Then she'll follow it up with the conclusion to the trilogy, The Devil's Brood, and her next Justin de Quincy mystery, Dragon's Lair, which takes him to Wales to cross swords with the young Llewellyn Fawr of Here Be Dragons. I for one can't wait for these books!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Readable, but not as good as Penman's historical novels, October 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cruel as the Grave: A Medieval Mystery (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (Paperback)

This is another Justin de Quincy mediaeval thriller, a series which started with "The Queen's man". Justin de Quincy is a young mediaeval knight in the service of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine who solves crimes in his free time. For those who liked "The Queen's man" this is along the same lines if slightly better. Whereas I feel Penman is the queen of mediaeval historial romance, she is just a mediocre mystery writer. The characters are rounded and without depth, the plot pedestrian, the pace too slow. I do wish she did not waste her time in fictional murders and went back to do what she does better than anybody else: Historical fiction. After all she still has the "When Christ and all the Saints slept" (brilliant book) saga to complete.