Murder Most Holy (Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan) [Hardcover]

Paul Harding (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan | Publication Date: September 10, 1992

It is the early summer of 1379 and Sir John Cranston—Coroner of the city of London—has trapped himself in a wager with Signior Gian Galeazzo, Lord of Cremona, who has challenged him to resolve a certain murder mystery within two weeks. Men have been repeatedly found dead in the scarlet chamber of one of Cremona’s manors. They have no marks upon them, they have neither drunk nor eaten poison, and there are no secret passageways or entrances to the room. They are united only by the have awful expressions of terror upon their faces. Realizing that his reputation and future wealth now rest upon the solving of this mystery, Cranston seeks the help of his faithful secretarius Brother Athelstan in untangling the perplexing case.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Doherty is the author of several mystery series, including the Ancient Egypt Trilogy, the Ancient Roman Mysteries series, and The Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan series.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing (September 10, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747205450
• ISBN-13: 978-0747205456
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Third in the Series, October 30, 2006

By 

J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder Most Holy (Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan) (Paperback)

This is the third book in the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan series. This novel combined with the early books in the Hugh Corbett series is one of Paul Doherty's earlier offerings and he has since written many more books and is now an established author of medieval novels and has also added a number of novels on Egypt to his ever growing list of titles. Having said that it is one of his earlier offerings does not mean that it is inferior to his current books, quite the opposite. The Hugh Corbett mysteries were and are extremely popular and Paul Doherty has found another winner with the Brother Athelstan series.

Sir John Cranston, coroner of London, while at a diplomatic banquet is challenged by the powerful John of Gaunt to solve a murder mystery in the space of two weeks. Regretting his actions almost immediately Sir John turns to his friend and secretary Brother Athelstan.

Athelstan cannot however give the mystery his full attention as renovation work at St. Erconwald's has unearthed a skeleton, but who was the skeleton and when did they die? There is also the question of whether Athelstan's friend and secret love Benedicta is really the widow she believes herself to be. With his parishioners constantly squabbling amongst themselves it would seem that Brother Athelstan is in for a busy time.