Death and the Devil (original 2003; edition 2010)

It is 1260 and the new cathedral of Cologne is beginning to dominate the skyline of the city. Jacob the Fox, a petty thief, is the only witness to the murder of the cathedral's architect and has to run for his life. Finding shelter and support with Richmodis von Weiden, her dyer father and her uncle Jaspar, the dean of St Mary Magdalene's and a physician, they uncover a conspiracy involving one of the city's wealthiest and most respected families.

This was an unexpected find in a bookshop while on holiday last year, and as I was born near Cologne and spent my formative years there, I just had to get it. I wasn't familiar with the author's name before and, dare I say it, I would wager that this is his first foray into the historical murder mystery genre. As such, it doesn't work terribly well, as the identity of the assassin and the conspirators is known from the start, and even though the intended second assassination target isn't revealed until the last 100 pages, I had guessed it well before that. The interest for the reader lies in the well constructed and researched atmosphere of medieval Cologne, which also covers recent history including the Seventh Crusade, the then current political scene and the philosophical and religious schools of thought prevalent at that time. With Jacob on the run from the assassin, the characters still have time for lengthy philosophical discussions and history lessons, something that felt a bit incongruous to me but which I enjoyed nevertheless. The characters are for the most part well drawn, even though I could have done without the love story angle.

If you like intelligent historical murder mysteries with the emphasis on the history and not the mystery, then I suggest you give this one a go. ( )

Beautifully researched and presented in such a way as to keep me reading straight through until finished!

Like Ken Follet's "The Pillars of the Earth", one of the main characters of "Death and the Devil" is a cathedral. Unlike Follet's book, we are not taken through different generations to a conclusion but we are rather taken for an exciting ride of only a few days.

The characters are almost caricatures at the start. But Jasper driven by insatiable curiosity, and Jacob driven to undo what he perceives as an unforgivable sin both become heroes. It's quite an exciting trip that the reader is taken on as these two men come to grips with "Death and the Devil". ( )

Spannender Mittelalterkrimi (Köln) mit gut recherchierten Hintergründen. ( )

A fascinating thriller set in Cologne of 1260, which works fantastically as a dramatized audio book. ( )

roman, mittelalter