Murder's Snare

Murder's Snare is one of those mysteries that's actually multiple mysteries so, which solutions keep appearing at points in the book, *the* solution doesn't arrive until the end. Sometimes this frustrates, but in the case of Murder's Snare, I found it deeply enjoyable. Hovering on that knowing.not knowing brink can be an entertaining place for a reader to spend some time.

Let me backtrack for a moment to say a bit about the Brother Athelstan mysteries. Brother Athelstan is the long-suffering, mostly good-natured priest for St. Erconwald's, a church is one of the less salubrious neighborhoods of 14th Century London. Much of his parish live "mostly legal" lives, while moving into the occasional illegal activity when risk seems low and show more reward likely. Athelstan serves as secretarius to coroner Sir John Cranston, so he often finds himself helping in criminal investigations, which sometimes involve members of Athelstan's parish.

The first victim in Murder's Snare is a tax collector (and that's never been a popular sort) who is stabbed and left dead inside a locked room in an Inn close by St. Erconwald's. The issue isn't who might want to kill him, but how to narrow down the generous list of suspects. And, of course, how did the victim wind up alone in that locked room?

That murder is followed by the killing of a former member of the Via Crucis—an English "free company" that made its members wealthy by running riot during the 100 years' war, murdering, torturing, and assaulting at will, seizing and riches they came across. The members of Via Crucis are now living in England, enjoying the wealth they brutally gathered.

This first killing of a Via Crucis member is essentially an execution. The victim's household is gathered to see him quickly beheaded by a group of unidentified attackers who first announce the crimes he committed in France. There's another similar killing. But then, other members of the Via Crucis are being killed in much more unusual and vicious ways.

Is the same group behind all the killings or are two different groups/assailants involved? Are the killings connected to the members of the "Society of Babylon," French children who were orphaned during the war, then taken to England and raised there?

Murder's Snare is one of my favorite recent Brother Athelstan volumes. The multiple intersecting plot lines provide alternating moments of reward and frustration, the cast of characters is broad, and, as always, St. Erconwald's parishioners seem to be involved, but to what extent.

This is a series that is probably best read in order, but if you're good at picking up contextual information, you can begin with whichever volume you want. You'll be in for an engaging time with a wide cast of characters.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. show less

Murder's Snare is the next book in the long-running Brother Athelstan mystery series and I impressed with the way the author can still come up with a mesmerizing mystery that really embodies the time period. This is actually a multi-layered story with several solutions to different plots all leading to the main plot at the end of the book, but in which all the plots are interconnected. Just when you think you have things figured out, the author throws in some twists and turns that make you question your thinking. And even though I did figure out who the culprit was pretty early on, there were times I was questioning my main choice although I did not quite figure out some of the secondary plots.

Brother Athelstan is the priest of St. show more Erconwald's, a church located in the more salubrious section of London, and his constituents tend to largely flirt with the law. Brother Athelstan is quite aware of the activities of his flock, but manages to reign in their activities as much as possible and the humour that is exhibited through these tales is quite interesting and the author manages to describe quite a bit of life during this time period through these characters. Athelstan also works for coroner Sir John Cranston, so when there is a crime to investigate, he is often caught up in those circumstances as well. Because this the twenty-third book of this series, I don't think there is a lot of character development for these characters, so a lot of the attention was on the secondary characters which suited me just fine.

For a shorter book, the mystery itself was actually quite complex and rather interesting. I had just finished a non-fiction book about this time period, so it was fascinating to follow that book with this one and immerse myself in the time period through the eyes of the characters. To say ti was a brutal time period doesn't go far enough, but there was also warmth and loyalty as well. All the plot threads do interconnect so you have to pay attention to everything that is discussed, and there is even some deeper political intrigue happening below the actual murder mysteries, something I was expecting to happen at some point considering the political climate of the time period. There is a wide array of characters and the author doesn't waste time reacquainting readers with familiar ones, so I was glad I had read all the previous books in the series. I did find the mystery itself quite fascinating as I love it when there are consequences for actions that happen in one's past that impact one's present and you can't just brush it off with 'it was war'.

Verdict
Murder's Snare was a fairly fast-moving mystery that had layers upon layers of mysteries within it. Part of this could be frustrating, but in a good way, as you had no idea which thread the main characters were following or solving, and the author was great at including twists and turns that made you keep guessing. I loved the descriptions of the time period and often felt like I was walking beside Brother Athelstan as he was walking down the streets and seeing what he was seeing, reminding me of how comfortable we are in this modern world. I highly recommend this series if you love historical mysteries and want to immerse yourself in world full of strife and political intrigue. show less

Murder and justice!

Brother Athelstan and Sir John Cranston, Lord High Coroner of London have a truly horrific problem to solve. In 1358 Free Companies were formed by English lords who ravaged their way across Normandy unchecked, pillaging, robbing and killing all before them, including women and children. Now some thirty years later those same lords are being dealt with, in appalling and horrific circumstances.
The French government has sent a diplomatic party to claim justice against one company, the Via Crucis, but someone is beating them to it.
It’s the Feast of the Epiphany and masques are to be held at Athelstan’s parish of St Erconwald’s in Southwark. Later King Richard is viewing a masque performed by the men and women show more who’d been children taken from Normandy to England at those times of the Free Companies rampage.
Brother Athelstan has his hands full governing his unruly flock. He’s frequently attending to them at what he calls his second parish church, The Piebald Tavern.
The horrendous deaths of so many lords is puzzling and frightening. The little friar and Sir John are looking for murderers and traitors at every turn.
Another fascinating, yet awful look at the times. Athelstan’s prodigious ability to discern the truth just may save the day. Mind you he’s at risk as death stalks him just as vigorously as it does the Via Crucis.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. show less

1382 The killings have started and all seem to be connected to Via Crucis, 'The Way of the Cross', the free company that ravaged through France in 1358. But why now and there seems to be more than one mystery to solve. Brother Athelstan and Lord High Coroner of London Sir John Cranston investigate.
An entertaining and well-written historical mystery with its likeable main characters. Another good addition to this enjoyable series.