Satan in St Mary's

Great for anyone wanting a fast paced murder mystery in a historical context. All of the background was conveyed in such a fun and interesting way. Also the characters flew off the page.

This is the first book in the series of medieval mysteries featuring Sir Hugh Corbett. Obviously this is one of Paul Doherty's earlier offerings and he has since written many more books and is now an established author of medieval novels and has also added a number of novels on Egypt to his ever growing list of titles. Having said that it is one of his earlier offerings does not mean that it is inferior to his current books, quite the opposite. The Hugh Corbett mysteries were and are extremely popular and Paul Doherty is still adding to them. Lawrence Duket, a goldsmith murders a moneylender called Crepyn and then flees to find sanctuary in the church of St. Mary Le Bow. Duket is found hanged inside the church the following day, but the church is locked up, so surely the goldsmith must have taken his own life. The Chancellor of King Edward I, Bishop Burnell, assigns Hugh Corbett to investigate. Corbett is threatened and attacked while probing into the so called suicide. Things are obviously not as they seem. The hanging only masks a trail of treason, sorcery and rebellion. Corbett find that a Satanist cult are using the Mitre tavern a place owned by the lovely Alice atte Bowe. A beautiful and welcome distraction for Corbett.

Although I have read other books written by P.C. Doherty and enjoyed them immensely, I have never read a Hugh Corbett mystery. This is the first in the lengthy Hugh Corbett series and I intend to read all the rest (in order of course as I always do). If you love medieval mysteries, than you can't go wrong with P.C. Doherty. He does a bang-up job of outlining the time and place and the settings that he pens are nothing if not realistic. In this book Hugh is asked by the Chancellor to uncover a treasonous plot against the king, and this he does along with his trusty and unique manservent - Ranulf who Hugh rescues from the gallows. As he and Ranulf set out to solve the mystery of what happened to a goldsmith found hanging in a church, they are drawn swiftly into a huge treasonous plot that involves a dangeours coven, and it's up to Hugh to single-handedly subvert that plot. Like all P.C. Doherty mysteries, the plot moves swiftly, and the descriptions of the cold, dank and dangerous streets of London are very realistic and put the reader right into the mayhem.

I am a fan of medieval literature, especially mysteries. Mr. Doherty has written an excellent mystery set in 13th century London.The King has enemies all around wishing to remove him from office. Hugh Corbett, a clerk in the King's Court, is chosen to discover why Lawrence Duket was killed in the church of St. mary LeBow and who has perpetrated the deed. By doing this, Hugh will also discover the underground satanic movement which wishes the death of the king.I recommend this book highly if you like visiting medieval times or even if you just like a good mystery. I would also suggest you check out Sharon Kay Penman if you like historical mysteries.