Never Trust a Dead Man

Never Trust a Hanged Man is one of the many books that I originally checked out from my local library, but the building isn't big enough for them to keep books that are no longer popular. Luckily, I bought a used copy online this month. It had been so long since I read it that I couldn't remember much of the plot. Did I enjoy rereading it?

17-year-old Selwyn Roewson is a farmer. He lives with his father, Rowe, mother Nelda, and his maternal grandmother. Their village is Penwyth. Rowe is a strong and sturdy man who spent years in the King's Army, but Selwyn is short and slight. Selwyn had spent the summer courting the beautiful Anora, daughter of the village headman, Bowden. Anora chose Farold, nephew and heir of the wealthy Derian show more Miller, owner of the local flour mill. Selwyn and Farold fought. Selwyn was easily beaten

Now Farold has been found dead. The murder was done Selwyn's distinctive knife while Farold slept. Not even the fact that Selwyn had lost his knife before the murder can save him. Rowe is kept tied to a chair during Farold's burial because the villagers have decided to imprison Selwyn in the village's burial caves. He'll take longer to die than if he were executed.

While Selwyn is left in the dark with the stench of the newer corpses, insects, and bats, he is discovered by an elderly witch named Elswyth. Elswyth came for an ingredient she needs for an important spell. She's willing to help Selwyn, if he will serve her for a year. Selwyn agrees, but winds agreeing to serve her longer if she will bring Farold's ghost back to tell him who killed him. The spell goes wrong (it's Selwyn's fault). Farold's spirit is trapped in the body of one of the bats. Farold is displeased. So is Elswyth, who has a habit of swatting Selwyn when he displeases her.

Selwyn is given seven days to solve the murder before his service starts. He agrees to longer service if Elswyth will use a spell to disguise him. The first disguise does not go well. The second one (yes, more years of service are involved) is more successful. Farold was a real jerk. He's surprised to find out how many enemies he had. Selwyn learns some things about his beloved Anora, as well as the village's second most beautiful girl: Kendra, daughter of the local tavern keeper.

Even though the mystery is solved, there's the matter of those fifteen and a half years of service Selwyn owes Elswyth. Rowe has an idea about how to get his son out of that deal. Will it work? How is Farold to get back to his afterlife? He certainly is as annoying as a tiny bat as he was as a big human.

This is a fun little mystery-fantasy. The characters have their flaws, but I was entertained all over again. show less

Slight fantasy about a nebbishy, near-stalkery guy who is falsely accused of murdering his romantic rival, locked up to die with said rival’s corpse, and then self-indentured to a witch who promises to help him figure out the real killer in return for years of service. This ends up with the spirit of the dead guy in a bat disguised as a bird, with our hero disguised as a local girl. Basically everybody in it is a creep.

I picked this book up for 75 cents at work! I mean, seriously, how can you beat a new paperback for 75 cents? This book is some fantasy, some mystery, and some laughs. The main character, Slwyn, gets convicted of a crime he didn't commit, and loses his girl, all at the same time - sound familiar? The twist is, the dead man helps to prove his innocence. Yup, the dead man comes back to life, in the form of a bat, and later in the form of a songbird. In the end, the murder's been solved, Selwyn is free to live another day, but doesn't get the girl.

Not bad for a quick read, I give it 3 stars. Worth reading, but I wouldn't bother reading again.

First Selwyn's crush refuses to marry him--and then he's accused of murder! But luckily for Selwyn, he's saved from a slow death by a crotchety old witch. In exchange for years of service to her, she helps him disguise himself to find out who really murdered Farold. And with his disguise firmly in place, Selwyn is discovering some uncomfortable truths about people he thought he knew well...

VVV has a talent for showing us the world through a character's eyes, only to slowly reveal how deeply wrong their assumptions were. She used this to great effect in [b:User Unfriendly|372808|User Unfriendly|Vivian Vande Velde|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174251587s/372808.jpg|362729], but it works less well here, simply because she takes less show more time to do it. I don't think VVV earns the plot twists she uses--the reveal with the witch, for instance, was telegraphed from the start but didn't feel probable (even though it is one of my favorite tropes). If I'd spent more time inside Selwyn's head, or if there had been more scenes of interaction between the characters, I would be all over this book. As it is, it seems like a pale imitation of VVV's excellent [b:Dragon's Bait|372807|Dragon's Bait|Vivian Vande Velde|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174251586s/372807.jpg|1307970]. show less

Picked this up because I'd heard something good about the author... or maybe her name just stuck with me because it's such a beautiful name.
Anyway, this is a YA fantasy/mystery with a fairytale feel to it.

A young man, Selwyn, is accusing of murdering his rival in love, Farold. The men of the village quickly sentence him to death and seal him up, alive, in a burial cave with the body of his supposed victim. Luckily for him, the cave isn't quite as impenetrable as they believe, and a tricky witch finds Selwyn and makes a bargain with him. He and Farold's spirit, incarnated into the body of a bat, are given a limited amount of time to investigate the village and find the true murderer in order to clear Selwyn's name.

It's not a major show more work, but it's a quick and entertaining tale. show less

Selwyn has been accused of killing Farold, his rival for the hand of Anora. His punishment is to be put into the crypt with Farold's dead body, there to die. He is rescued by a witch Elswyth who changes his appearance to a traveling pilgrim, so he can go back to the village to figure out who the murderer is. Farold is also brought back to life, but in the form of a bat.
Selwyn's disguise does little to help him detect so he is changed once more into the body of the local pubmaster's daughter (who was sent off to the convent).
He learns more about Farold that is not good -- suspected of blackmail, fathering Kendra's unborn child (why she was sent to the convent) -- that give even more people the desire for Farold to be dead.
Selwyn finally show more figures out who is the murderer, becomes himself again, and even is forgiven all the servanthood time the witch charged him.
Farold remains alive and takes up Selwyn's servanthood time (except for one year).

Great story of medieval mystery, with much humor and great characters. show less

Read this for the May fiction review committee in Peel.
Selwyn Roweson is accused of murdering Faldor by the villagers, and found guilty after three pieces of evidence make him the logical suspect. First of all, Faldor and Selwyn both vied for the attention of Anora, but she chose to marry Faldor, secondly the knife found in Faldor's back happens to belong to Selwyn, and thirdly, when questioned about his whereabouts on the night of the murder, he lies and says he was home in bed, and then someone steps forward and reveals that he was seen close to Faldor's house. After hearing this, Selwyn recants his story, but by then it is too late, and he is sentenced to being sealed inside the burial cave with the dead man, and all the other show more bodies who have been buried there. How Selwyn survives and then tries to prove his innocence makes up the rest of a very entertaining story. show less