A unique take on a medieval murder mystery. Plenty of intrigue and suspicion, but the plot focuses on the why rather than the who, which is never really in doubt.

The writing style is good, solid, and the switches in character keep the story flowing. Due to the character shifts however, there are fewer mysteries, as the suspicious characters clear themselves through their own thoughts.

There is a particular character that stands out as very intriguing/well written, as he is disliked and distrusted by almost all but the lead character. This was another unique device that I enjoyed. His presence did speed the plot along, but I felt his ending was a bit abrupt.

Would recommend as worth a read, but not up to the standards of some other authors I have read in this genre. ( )

I found The Apothecary Rose interesting to read since it I'm not that used to read historical mystery books that take place in the 14th century. This mystery was especially interesting since it involves the church. John Thoresby, Lord Chancellor of England and Archbishop of York sends out one-eyed spy Owen Archer to find out if the two suspicious death at the infirmary of St. Mary's Abbeys are murders and if so who's behind it. Could it be the Master Apothecary Nicholas Wilton or his wife? Or someone that works at St. Mary's Abbeys? Owen Archer takes a job at the Wilton's apothecary in a way to learn more, but the soon finds himself both in danger and in love.

It was a good book, but there were two things that just didn't work for me. First, the love thing, I was just not that interested in reading about Owen falling in love with Lucie, Master Apothecary Nicholas Wilton wife. I would have preferred a slower approach to their growing fondness for each other, instead of dreaming about each other, and thinking about each other, looking longing at each other. Perhaps something growing more over time than during a book. I just didn't find that interesting and every scene that in any way was about their feeling just made me mentally sigh and hope the story would return to the crime instead. Sometimes love stories work for me in historical fiction/mystery and sometimes they don't. This time, it didn't.

The second thing was that it took forever to get somewhere in the book, at last it felt like that. It just didn't happen that much in the middle of the book after the interesting beginning and frankly I was not that surprising to learn who the culprit was. But I found the last part of the book interesting when everything started to come together and the truth about the deaths were revealed.

I would like to read more books in this series. Owen Archer was an interesting character and I enjoyed reading about crimes in the 14th century.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a blog tour at TLC Book Tours. ( )

Good story. Found it a bit slow at times. However, the characters intrigued me and I liked the age in which it occurred, so I am now reading the next in the series. ( )

1363. Owen Archer has been recommended to John Thoresby, Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England. Thoresby decided he needs his help when there are two suspicious deaths in the infirmary of St. Mary’s Abbey. One of the dead was Thoresby's ward Sir Oswald Fitzwilliam, a man with many possible enemies.
Archer is placed in as an apprentice to Master Apothecary Nicholas Wilton, a possible suspect.
A very enjoyable well-written historical mystery, with its interesting and likeable characters.

( )

This could have been a mediocre-to-average historical murder mystery (though of more the whydunnit than whodunnit variety), with a decent sense of place to compensate for the absolutely rote central romance. However, having the murder's villainy and queerness be so explicitly linked, complete with flashback to childhood sexual abuse and incestuous desires, was gross and ruined whatever mild interest I had in seeing how things unfolded. I won't be seeking out the rest of the series. ( )