A second installment in the mystery series based on the Canterbury Tales follows the Man of Law's story in which a trusted squire to the late dowager queen Isabella flees on the day of the queen's burial with an important document.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Swift, intriguing and sometimes bleakly comic, this "dark tale of blood and passion" is told by one of Chaucer's pilgrims, the Man of Law. As he regales his fellow travelers with the horrendous events of 1358, the well-defined pilgrims offer surprising revelations of their own. The lawyer tells of Vallence, a French courtier favored by England's dying dowager queen Isabella, who was fatally stabbed while trying to flee the country. After the respected judge investigating the killing is in turn foully murdered, the Sheriff of London calls upon his kinsman Nicholas Chirke, a struggling young lawyer, to discover what the secret was that Vallence was trying to convey to France. The story takes off with lightning speed. As Nicholas and his enigmatic assistant, Scathelocke, begin to pry, an appalling number of corpses fall in their wake and a lovely murderess is seen busily dispatching underworld denizens as well as respected citizens. The atmosphere is wonderfully thick, as medieval London is revealed in all its foulness?its fetid air, greasy fog and a populace of rogues and vagabonds. Despite Doherty's tipping his plot hand too early, this second in the Canterbury mystery series (after An Ancient Evil) remains an absorbing, richly detailed story of malevolent men?and women?in devious pursuits.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Doherty offers an original twist on The Canterbury Tales. While Chaucer's pilgrims agreed to amuse each other with merry tales told along the road during the daytime, Doherty's pilgrims entertain their fellow wayfarers with dark and sinister tales recounted during the evening hours. In the man-of-law's tale, young Nicholas Chirke, an ambitious lawyer of modest means, is solicited by Sir Amyas Petrie, member of Parliament and sheriff of London, to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the seemingly natural death of Dowager Queen Isabella and the murder of her loyal manservant. Caught in the cross fire of a delicate and dangerous probe involving possible treason and international intrigue, Nicholas begins to suspect that Sir Amyas is pursuing his own sinister agenda. An authentic and atmospheric portrait of medieval England, brimming with adventure and steeped in the irresistible aura of an enduring literary classic. Margaret Flanagan
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loaded With Action,
By
This review is from: A Tapestry of Murders: The Lawyer's Tale of Mystery and Murder as He Goes on a Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury (Hardcover)
This book is loaded with action and it is fun to read. Doherty has a doctorate in history from Oxford and obviously loves his subject.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
MEDIEVAL ESPIONAGE,
This review is from: A Tapestry of Murders: The Lawyer's Tale of Mystery and Murder as He Goes on a Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury (Hardcover)
This is another installment in the Chaucer pilgrim tales. This is the tale told by the Lawyer. The Lawyer tells a tale of Nicholas Chirke who is hired by the Sheriff to find out who killed a man named Berisford and save the man named Fromlich who is being framed for the killing. This tale was at first confusing with the amount of names being thrown about, but that subsided and it became a wonderful story full of greed, espionage, mystery, wanton women and of course murder. Not only is it a good tale, but you get to go back in time and dwell for a while in 14th century England. Enjoy your stay.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Lawyer's Tale,
By J. Chippindale (England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Tapestry of Murders: The Lawyer's Tale of Mystery and Murder as He Goes on a Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury (Hardcover)
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough and is the consummate professional when it comes to writing historical mystery novels. I for one do not know how he can be so prolific with his offering of books and yet make sure that each of them is well researched. Whether they be 13th, 14th, or fifteenth century they are always true to the period. He also writes about Ancient Egypt and Alexander the Great.
A group of pilgrims have joined together, both for company and also for protection as the roads and forests are littered with thieves and rogues, only too willing to relieve a traveller of their purse and most probably their lives as well. What adds even more spice to the journey is that several of the pilgrims know their fellow travellers but are not letting the fact become public knowledge. The pilgrims have agreed that at the end of each day's journey when they stop at an inn or other resting place one of them will entertain the others with a tale. Whether the story is true or not only the storyteller will know. In August 1358, the Dowager Queen Isabella, mother of King Edward III, lies dying. When death comes, she is buried next to her lover Roger Mortimer in Greyfriars, but violence continues and Nicholas Chirke, an honest young lawyer, is called in to investigate the strange events following her death. This one rings true but is it? And are any of the pilgrims involved in the tale.?
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
