One of the pleasures of reviewing is picking up and thoroughly enjoying a book you’d never have given a thought to otherwise. For me, River of Darkness had a number of strikes against it: it’s set just after WWI (strike one), and the crimes’ perpetrator is a serial killer (two) who tends to stalk and then murder his victims in a rather gruesome fashion, graphically described (three). All this being said, however, this rather grim, carefully plotted novel quickly grew on me.
            As the story opens, Scotland Yard Detective John Madden, a battle-scarred veteran of the Great War, has just been called in to help solve a set of murders in the Surrey countryside. Colonel and Lucy Fletcher, young parents who were well beloved by their community, have been stabbed to death in their manor house, along with their servants. The condition of the bodies makes it appear as if the victims had no time to fight back. Madden is considered an inappropriate choice of detective by some who believe that his wartime experiences -- and the early deaths of his wife and child -- may have affected his objectivity. Needless to say, his opponents are eventually proven wrong.
            River of Darkness is more of a thriller than a historical mystery per se, as the identity of the killer (or is it killers?) is revealed halfway through the book. The real mystery of the novel then becomes the question of whether Madden and his compatriots can track him down in time -- before he strikes again. There’s a romance subplot as well, handled with equal emotional power and skill. Not a novel to read when you’re home alone, given the choice, but you may not be able to help yourself. I look forward to John Madden’s next investigative adventure.

Rumors of King Alexander’s death have been greatly exaggerated, to the dismay of Thebes, a recent conquest, and Persia, his foremost rival. Alexander has just returned from subduing the mountain tribes of Thessaly only to find himself and his army reported as dead and Thebes in revolt. His most trusted captain, Memnon, has died after falling (being pushed?) from his locked tower room. In addition, Alexander wishes to display his valor by obtaining the Iron Crown of Oedipus, the ancient King of Thebes, for himself.
           Miriam Bartimaeus, a young Israelite who serves as one of Alexander’s personal scribes, is charged with the tasks of finding Memnon’s murderer as well as discovering a way for Alexander to take the Crown without force. Obstacles are constantly thrown in her way, as the Crown is well secured and the murderer still at large: the body count increases almost daily. Furthermore, the ghost of Oedipus himself has been seen terrorizing Macedonians and Thebans alike.
           The nonstop action and suspense almost, but not quite, distracted me from the cardboard characters, Miriam and her twin Simeon in particular. Still, the Thebes of 332 B.C. as presented here is well imagined, with its olive groves, sacred shrines, and the city itself burned to rubble under Alexander’s orders. Apostolou (a pseudonym of P.C. Doherty) kept me guessing the murderer’s identity throughout.
           The paperback edition of this book, at least, desperately needs a better copy editor; I lost count of the number of typographical errors, grammatical mistakes, and misplaced punctuation marks throughout the book. (After finishing this review and reading an earlier review of A Murder in Macedon, which apparently had the same defects, it’s clear that this series desperately needs help.) Putting these problems aside - if you can - I recommend this series to readers of action-packed historical mysteries.

Queen of Ambition by Fiona Buckley
(Scribner, 2002)

Ursula Blanchard, lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth, is asked by Sir William Cecil to look into a possible threat against her mistress. It has been arranged that the Queen, upon arrival in the Protestant town of Cambridge, will be greeted by a playlet staged by the town’s loyal citizens. Or are they as loyal as they seem? To investigate, Ursula must set her noble bearing aside and disguise herself as a servant in a pie shop.
            The scenes involving the Jester family, the shop’s owners, are among the most fascinating, as they realistically depict the harsh life of servants in Elizabethan England, something rarely seen. Buckley has also done her research into the undercurrent of religious rivalries ever-present at the time. However, despite the intelligent writing and the lively heroine, I was left with the impression that this series may be running out of steam. The mystery’s solution was rather obvious, and I suspect that anyone with more than a little knowledge of Tudor-era history will feel the same. Although I haven’t read any others in this series, the author’s other historical novels (written as Valerie Anand) are wonderful. I know that she is capable of much more.

Lady Susanna Appleton is only somewhat surprised to receive a coded message from her late husband Robert instructing her to meet him at a disreputable London tavern. Always having suspected that he faked his demise, she now hopes that this will be the last she hears from him. The tavernkeeper mistakes her for the cloaked woman who had accompanied her husband earlier. Confused by this, Susanna then sees a man fall to his death from the top of the nearby Eleanor Cross: her husband Robert.
            Due to her knowledge of poisons, she’s accused of his murder. Within four months - unless she clears herself - she’ll be burned at the stake. Curious about the mysterious woman, with her servants and friends accompanying her she proceeds to visit her husband’s four mistresses - each of whom had a motive to kill him.
            Susanna is a sympathetic character, but she's not easy to know. She also hardly acts like she’s in danger, judging by the leisurely manner in which she investigates the crime. Would most people act similarly after being accused of murder by the Earl of Leicester, the Queen’s favorite? In addition, Susanna’s assumption that the crime was a domestic rather than an political affair is odd, given Robert’s involvement in international intrigue.
            Despite these flaws, the setting seems authentic, and Emerson’s descriptions of the Elizabethan justice system were particularly shocking. The conclusion was a mystery to me until the very end, and although I wasn’t intensely curious about the killer’s identity, it kept me reading.
            Though this book is fourth in a series, I didn’t feel at a disadvantage not having read the others. Not an author I’d seek out in hardcover, but since paperbacks of the first three novels are out, I may pick them up.

A Morning in Eden by Anna Gilbert
(Robert Hale, 2001; St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2001)

As it’s been over a year since I read Caroline Roe’s first medieval mystery, and since I haven’t read the second, it took some time for me to get reacquainted with the characters of this novel, the third in the series.
            An Antidote for Avarice begins in 1354 in Girona, Spain. Isaac of Girona, a blind Jewish physician, is trying to convince his sharp-tongued wife Judith that he alone must accompany the Bishop of Girona to a council in Tarragona. Judith, who wants to visit her sister and arrange a marriage for reluctant daughter Raquel, eventually gets her way. The family, their servants, the Bishop, his entourage, and three nuns all make their way to Tarragona via a slow-moving convoy of wagons and mules. Later in their travels, Isaac’s group encounters a badly injured young man who claims to be other than he seems. Elsewhere in Spain, a papal messenger clutching a letter is found dying by the side of the road.
            The sheer number of characters and multiple plotlines, particularly in the beginning, had me constantly checking the cast of characters to see who was who. I never did end up getting some people and their roles completely figured out. Still, I found fascinating the descriptions of people’s experiences travelling through medieval Spain. The squabbling amongst a large group forced to travel together for a considerable length of time provided some comic relief. The mystery itself is handled deftly, and the killer’s identity was carefully concealed until the proper moment. Though I found this mystery entertaining, I strongly recommend that the novels in this series be read in order, and preferably one right after another, in order to keep the characters fresh in one’s mind.

A Trust Betrayed by Candace Robb

In 1297, a year when Scotland’s loyalties are torn between England’s might and its own native monarch, Margaret Kerr travels to Edinburgh in search of her missing husband Roger and to solve her cousin's murder. The young and untried Margaret soon discovers that even seeming friends have their own political agendas that take precedence over her investigations and personal happiness. We slowly come to realize along with Margaret who can and cannot be trusted. After more facts about Roger are revealed, we also pity her, as he hardly seems to merit as much devotion as she shows him. The occupied Edinburgh, with all its danger and squalor, comes to life under the author’s pen, and the political background is effectively conveyed. While the story is suspenseful, the historical background and characters predominate, and it’s refreshing to read Scots dialogue that’s relatively free of Brigadoon-speak. At the end, not all the loose ends are tied up, leaving us anxious for the next volume. Readers of medieval fiction, even if not mystery fans, are likely to enjoy this novel.

The Monk Who Vanished by Peter Tremayne
(UK Headline, 1999; St. Martin's, 2001)

Colgu of Cashel, King of Muman (Munster) in Ireland of the year 666, finds himself accused of conspiring to assassinate a new ally and former rival, the Prince of the Ui Fidgente. At the same time, Brother Mochta of the nearby abbey of St. Ailbe has disappeared under mysterious circumstances, as have the saint's holy relics. Both sets of events have potentially dire consequences for the people of Cashel. Are the two connected? Fidelma of Cashel -- religieuse, advocate of the law court, and sister of Colgu -- teams up with her colleague, the Saxon monk Brother Eadulf, in order to find the missing relics and clear her brother's name.
            Only an author as steeped in Celtic history as Tremayne could have provided as much historical detail as is present throughout this novel. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, Tremayne weaves his historical fact with an entertaining plotline so well that the result seems effortless. Sister Fidelma, with her legal knowledge and royal connections, is an ideal protagonist, always carefully looking behind initial assumptions in order to ferret out the truth. By the novel's end, we are utterly confident that she will solve both crimes just in the nick of time. Neither she nor Tremayne disappoints.

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Questions or comments?  E-mail me at sarah@libraryjobpostings.org.

Last updated: March 17, 2002