The Nightingale Gallery: Being the First of the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan [Hardcover]

Paul Harding (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1992

Brother Athelstan, a young medieval Dominican monk who moonlights as a clerk to the coroner, assists in murder investigations and comes to understand how dark and villainous the human heart can be.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The stage of this atmosphere-drenched series opener is dominated by the city of London: a fetid, 14th-century melting pot brimming with all manner of life, high and low. Throughout Harding's supremely evocative, scrupulously researched portrait, the stench of the huddled masses is practically palpable. But there's more foul here than the city's streets: Sir Thomas Springall, a nobleman of the court, has been poisoned, and the servant who bore the fatal cup has apparently committed suicide. Enter Sir John Cranston, the London coroner who makes Jack Falstaff look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and whose appetite for drink is reflected in his ample girth. Together with his clerk, Brother Athelstan, a canny priest with a "nose for mischief," Cranston ferrets out a fiendish plot that reverberates with intrigue in high places. Minor flaws--the titular architectural feature has scant significance, and Athelstan's character lacks focus--barely detract from this vivid, intricately crafted whodunit. And the book is full of colorful characters such as Watkin the dung collector, Ranulf the ratcatcher and a constable at Tower Bridge who lovingly combs the hair of executed traitors and sings them lullabies.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Bursting with energy and drama, this 14th-century historical drama introduces an unlikely pair of sleuths: Brother Athelstan, friar at a poverty-stricken London church, and coroner Sir John Cranston. Their inquiry into the poisoning death of a powerful merchant takes them to mansion and hovel alike, facing deceptive nobles, crafty priests, and assorted felons. The pair's intelligence and wit call to mind Ellis Peters's more subdued Brother Cadfael, but they live in a rowdy city environment more reminiscent of Edward Marston. Great escape from the author, under the name P.C. Doherty, of The Whyte Harte ( LJ 1/89).
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; First Edition edition (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688112250
• ISBN-13: 978-0688112257
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,417,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First in the Series, October 24, 2006

By 

J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Nightingale Gallery: Being the First of the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan (Paperback)

This is the first 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.

This book brings together an unlikely pair of medieval detectives in Brother Athelstan, a friar at one of the many impoverished churches in London and coroner Sir John Cranston. They are called upon to inquire into the death of a powerful London merchant. The man has been poisoned and their inquires bring the pair into contact not only with secretive nobles crafty priests and the assorted dregs of London's gutters.

The book is set in 1376, at a time when the English crown is in the hands of a young boy, the future Richard II.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Nightingale Gallery, May 12, 2008

By 

Iris E. Cantlon - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Nightingale Gallery: Being the First of the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan (Hardcover)

Very well written and enjoyable to read. It contained a lot of actual history and a lot of humor. Right up there with Brother Cadfel.