Sorrow Without End: A Medieval Mystery

This is the third book in the series that features Prioress Eleanor at the Tyndal Priory. The author continues to add more flesh to the bones of her characters, so to speak and the tension between Eleanor and Brother Thomas continues. A tension that is exacerbated by the Eleanor's tender feeling for Thomas. One could I suppose draw parallels between the two leading characters of Priscilla Royal's books and those of Abbess Helewise and Sir Josse d'Aquin in the Alys Clare medieval mysteries or even with Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf in Peter Tremayne's Irish medieval mysteries. All of these characters are portrayed as real, honest to goodness human beings who have their frailties, i.e. sinful thoughts and sinful deeds and are far removed from the whiter than white, celibate characters that many of the clergy are portrayed as in books by other author's. The story revolves around the discovery of the corpse of a brutally murdered soldier near Tyndale Priory. There is a dagger in the man's chest and the knife is covered in strange designs and the body is wrapped in the cloak of a crusader. Crowner Ralf decides to take the body to the priory, but he may yet live to regret this decision. It is not long before Brother Thomas becomes a suspect in the murder and Ralf's loyalties begin to tear him apart. Who does he side with, his brother the sheriff, or loyalty to an old friend . . .

Prince Edward is in the Mideast determined to wrest Jerusalem out of the Saracen's hands; many wounded soldiers, in body and soul, are returning home and countless of them stop at Tyndal Priory where they hope to get rid of their afflictions in the hospital run by the monks and the nuns. One the road to Tyndal Priory, a man returning home kills a foot soldier in a very gruesome manner. Ralf the crowner (a man who hunts down criminals) brings the corpse to Tyndal Priory to have the nuns look at the body for clues. Brother Thomas, who has just returned to the priory, examines the body and thinks is his former jailer; he faints. When he comes to, he refuses to tell Ralf why he fainted. He is imprisoned in a cell until he is willing to tell Ralf the truth but the prioress Eleanor believe the real killer is hiding out among the patients. When a second murder occurs, a thorough investigation is undertaken. Fans of Sharon King Penman will want to read SORROW WITHOUT END a medieval mystery that captures the flow of the Middle Ages. The mystery is well constructed and thought provoking as readers learn about life inside the priory and the battle fatigue syndrome afflicting the soldiers who made it home. There are many suspects but nobody seems to have a motive for the killings. This book is made even more interesting then most medieval tales because it shows that the nuns and monks have human emotions that they are forbidden by their vows to act on. Harriet Klausner