Customer Reviews

Nightshade (Hugh Corbett Mystery 16)

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
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I have come to expect nothing but the best historical information from Paul Doherty and his Hugh Corbett mystery series. Mr. Doherty is an English historian, and he knows his field. His Hugh Corbett series is an absolute winner. Lots of true historical facts and heart-stopping action and a first-class mystery to boot. This book (the 16 in the series) is no different. This time Hugh and his two retainers are sent to Essex to try to find what has happened to his King's treasure. They find a community that is in terror because of an unknown long bowman who is terrorizing the community, and they find a Lord who is truly evil, and who appears to be hiding some grievous secrets. There is lots of murder and mayhem, and the book is so cracking good that I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this wonderful historical series. The time of the series is the late 13th and early 14th centuries. This book is set actually set in January of 1304. If you love historical mysteries, this is not a series to miss.

I thought "Nightshade" was going to be similar to "The Waxman Murders," Doherty's preceding Hugh Corbett mystery, because of the jacket copy, publisher's review, etc. But the use of a bow as the murder weapon turned out to be the major similarity. This was another good Corbett mystery that reinforced why it's my favorite mystery series. Basing it on an historical event, Doherty draws the reader into the medieval world, evoking street life, home life, and even unsparing in his vocabulary (I always pick up a few new obsolete terms after reading one of these books). The mystery is enigmatic, the solution complex, and there's an unusual twist at the end. I look forward to more adventures of Hugh Corbett.

Paul Doherty is my favorite British author, anything he writes is always a pleasure and informational of the period he is writing about.

Sir Hugh Corbett, an emissary to England's King Edward I in the year 1304 has been issued a mission. The king's treasure trove has been breached. A vast wealth of royal gold and gems, and a glorious jewel encrusted dagger known as the Sanguis Christi, the legendary dagger that pierced Christ's side, was among the items of theft. Also, there have been murders. In a small town named Mistleham, people are showing up dead brutally killed by arrows, shot dead by a crossbowman going by the name of Sagittarius.

Sir Hugh and his assistant Ranulf travel to Mistleham to find much trouble brewing amongst a den of thieves, an elusive murderer, and band of town residents with much to hide. Lord of Mistleham, Oliver Scrope, is on the rampage. His town is being slowly slaughtered one person at a time, and he wishes Sir Hugh to bring the feared forest bowman, who is acting akin to Robin Hood, to justice.

But Ranulf and Sir Hugh soon realize as more people are murdered each day, that all is not as it seems in this quite country village. Villagers, priests, wife, and sister of Lord Scrope, all hate the man and wish him dead. Only process of elimination after much investigation and interrogation can bring the murderer to the light. After much digging and daily interviews with every member involved, Hugh learns that Oliver Scrope, his illegitimate son, and two of the local priests were all Crusaders who fought many years earlier in the city of Acre battling against the Saracens. While there, they hatched a plot to murder a friend, and Templar treasures were stolen and brought back to Mistleham. One relic brought back was the Sanguis Christi. Both mischief in the past, and mayhem in the present, have Oliver Scrope hiding secrets of evil deeds and everyone around him praying for his demise.

This is a short mystery, the 16th installment in the Corbett Medieval Mystery series by Paul Doherty. The author is a seasoned historical mystery author with over 50 books written under his literary belt. For that reason alone I was shocked at the simplicity of the story, the formulaic plot lacking creativity, and what I would consider very poor character development. I have never read this author before, and jumped into this series not having read the earlier 15 installments. Hugh Corbett's personality was as flat as a pancake. We are given no information about him, he has no exceptional qualities, he has no flaws, no quirky idiosyncrasies that most literary sleuths covet, no charm, no wit, no NOTHING. He is just a man who has a duty to his king to solve mysteries, and with simple questions and answers asked to the background characters placed in the scenery of the story, interrogates and analyzes to then come up with his deduction. One particular specific gripe I found with this mystery was that within the story, right up to the end, Ranulf and Hugh have come up with no clues, and no answers as to who the murderer is. Then all of a sudden, as if a lightbulb went off, Hugh suddenly comes up with the answer, accuses the murderer,and tells him why and how he did it, but does not tell the reader how he came to these sudden conclusions. Sorry, this plot method doesn't fly with me and I found that tactic very lame. Most mystery lovers wouldnt care for that much.

I was very bored with this novel, I felt there was no action, no suspense, no humor, and nothing curious enough to say there was anything interesting about it. I was highly disappointed knowing this author is so prolific and is highly acclaimed in the historical mystery genre that is similar to Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael series, or Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma books. The book wasn't horrible, but it certainly was nothing to write home about.