Customer Reviews

The Kings Evil (Christopher Redmayne Mystery 1)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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 series of books featuring Christopher Redmayne is equally as good.

This novel is a historical drama based on the turmoil caused by the great Fire of London. Christopher Redmayne is an up and coming young architect. Because of the devastation caused by the Great Fire, men of Christopher's profession are in great demand. Many people are wanting new houses, houses that are built of more substantial materials, such as brick and stone. But Christopher also begins to build a reputation as a solver of mysteries as well as an accomplished designer of houses.

After accidentally stumbling on this author, I took a chance and decided to give this book a shot. I was pleasantly surprised! I've read many books that take place during the restoration, but they were all from the point of Charles II or his mistresses. This is the first book I've read where I got to see what life was life for everyone else in England. The humble folks who work for a living and aren't surrounded by the opulence and grandeur of royal palaces.

Set in 1666 London, the book opens with the Great Fire that destroyed much of London. Our leads in this story, Architect Christopher Redmayne and Constable Jonathan Bale, are two very different, yet very likable men. They are brought together unexpectedly by the murder of Sir Ambrose Northcott and team up to try and figure out who killed him and why. Christopher has designed a house for Sir Northcott, and Jonathan is the Constable for the area he was murdered in. While the two get off to a rocky start (both personally and in their investigation), they start to see they work well together as a team. Using vastly different sources, they are able to get enough information to piece together the mystery at a satisfying pace.

As for the mystery itself, I was pretty satisfied with the ending. I thought the beginning of the book had a great pace, and right after the murder things were moving right along, but then towards the end I felt like I was being left out a bit. In the last chapter Christopher puts everything together, but he doesn't explain himself. The big reveal scene was slightly confusing to me as I wasn't sure who was who (I won't go into it since I don't want to give anything away). Overall though, aside from feeling a little rushed at the end, I really enjoyed this book. I'll definitely be reading the second book in this series, and look forward to exploring some of Mr. Marston's other novels.

This book had great character development and opening. The novel stays interesting unitl the end which seems very short and tacked on. Overall a good read for classic mystery fans

I have read most of Marstons various different character books (Doomsday-enjoy them, Elizabeth theater-love them,Captain Rawson-hated it, Railway Detective-somewhat enjoyable) with mixed results so it was with some hestitation that i gave this new series a try.
As it happens the two main characters,Christopher Redmayne and Constable Bale, play off each other quiet well. A little history is thrown in with a murder mystery for good measure. The inclusion of Redmaynes brother as a slight comic relief was a plus. I look forward to reading the second in the series.