The King's Bishop: An Owen Archer Mystery

Robb has a real knack for taking an unexplained (and little known) moment from medieval history and building a mystery around it. This time around she's also managed to make two of the most frustrating characters in previous stories, the Archbishop of York and Alice Perrers (the king's mistress) much more sympathetic to the reader, while still layering both with an undercurrent of deceit and treachery. It's one thing to see these two veteran players of the system caught up in their own webs and at the mercy of others. It's another to realize that at least one of them might not have learned their lesson from it. Without moralizing heavily, Robb shows us that the idea of the political whims of the powerful impeding the pursuit of justice is not a modern concept, but has been around throughout the ages. Entertaining light reading, yes, but with just enough "mental meat" to chew on for a while after the book is done. That's the best kind of reading. And that's what this book is.

I started reading Candace Robb's Owen Archer series at the suggestion of one of my patients, beginning with her favorite The Cross Legged Knight. I was immediately entranced. The King's Bishop was my second visit to 14th Century York and the home of Lucie Wilton and Owen Archer. I was not disappointed.Ms Robb is an historian just shy of her PhD and specializes in Medieval History. She is also a consummate storyteller. Her characters are multidimensional; their actions are plausible; and their setting is believable. As a mystery writer, she excels in complex motives. In the Cross Legged Knight, she was able to pull a Collin Dexter out of the hat by producing two possible endings. In The King's Bishop she is able to recreate the ambiance of court intrigue and the murders that arise when ambition is the ultimate measure of an individual and where everything rests on the success of plot and counter plot. One of the things that took me a while to get used to was the ending to these tales. Not everything comes out happily ever after. The sleuth is not always able to denounce the villain at the end as one is accustomed to reading in stories of this sort. What the ending is, however, is very realistic. Even in modern times, the guilty are not always punished according to the dictates one would expect of "justice;" even justice itself is designed to support the class structure. It is precisely for this reason that we usually enjoy murder mysteries: the guilty are brought to justice, their crimes are made manifest to society, and they are punished accordingly. In Owen Archer mysteries, the guilty sometimes get away with their miserable acts just as they do in our own times. The stories are wonderfully detailed with respect to historical accuracy, yet they do not overwhelm the reader. Ms Robb is not a pedant. She seeks to create a venue for the actions of her characters without making the reader feel as though there is a test at the end of the story! Most of the unfamiliar terms are understandable from context, although she does supply a glossary for those of us who like to have more information. She also includes a small bibliography and a short history of the period and the characters. And yes, many of the characters were real people from history. These short texts are generally at the end of the book so one needn't feel obligated to read them, but I've taken to reading them first. I enjoy a little background material before I get into the meat of the work. Very impressive. I would recommend the book to anyone from advanced junior high to adult readers.

The fourth book in the series does not disappoint. It has an intriguing story line with one of Owen's friends falling and love, and murder ensuing... My favorite is still no. 2, The Lady Chapel, with Nun's Tale and this one right close behind.I cannot say enough about how well the author Candace Robb writes these characters. I am not only interested in the plot and mystery of each book, but also the continuation of the lives of Owen, Lucia, Thoresby, Sir Robert, Jasper, Brother Michaelo, Riverwoman, the kids and even Lucie's Aunt. I am now reading A Gift of Sanctuary, having just finished the Riddle of St. Leonards. These books are delicious reads truly.

I have enjoyed all of her books. If you like historical fiction that is light reading but entertaining this is the book you want.

I must admit that I started the Owen Archer series in mid-stream and was immediately hooked! I hunted down the first three books and set about devouring them over the Christmas holidays. The King's Bishop, book 3 in the series, struck a chord with me. Ned Townley has lost his lady love and is driven fairly mad. Candace keeps you wondering through out the book as to whether or not Ned was capable of killing the young page he thought was flirting with his beloved Mary. And did he kill those he felt were responsible for her death? Ned leads Owen on quite the chase as Owen searches for the truth. As the body count grows, so do the suspicions that Ned is the murderer. Even Owen doubts his close friend. True to form, Ms. Robb keeps you going until the end when Owen returns to his soulmate, Lucie. Defintely two very enthusiastic thumbs up and five very well deserved stars!