[VF2]≡ PDF Straw Men The A Brother Athelstan Medieval Mystery Paul Doherty Books

Straw Men The A Brother Athelstan Medieval Mystery Paul Doherty Books

Download As PDF : Straw Men The A Brother Athelstan Medieval Mystery Paul Doherty Books

Straw Men The A Brother Athelstan Medieval Mystery Paul Doherty Books

Brother Athelstan, the humble priest of St. Erconwald's in Southwark, is celebrating Mass and feeling despair over his congregation's rude treatment of Humphrey Warde and his family. A spicer from Cheapside, Warde has moved to Southwark because there is less competition. St. Erconwald's parishioners, let by Watkin the dung collector, Pike the ditcher, and Ranulf the rat catcher together with others claim Warde is a traitor, not to the king, but to the Upright Men, a secret society of peasants and commoners led by Wat Tyler. The Upright Men are committed to revolt against the King and John of Gaunt, his guardian. Brother Athelstan is terrified that his parishioners will become embroiled in the coming bloodshed and hanged, but he can only warn them against being caught up in politics, he can't stop them.

Brother Athelstan himself is also caught up in the political turmoil whirling around John of Gaunt when Sir John Cranston, Lord Coroner of London, tells the priest that they have been invited to the Tower of London by Gaunt himself to watch a play performed by the Straw Men, the personal acting troupe of Gaunt. Brother Athelstan is reluctant but no one turns down John of Gaunt, not without risking his head. When two of Gaunt's guests are murdered one after the other, and two mummified severed heads are left on the stage, Sir John and Brother Athelstan are ordered to investigate and bring the murderer to justice, meaning the hangman's noose at best, and being drawn and quartered at the worst.

Among the many questions Brother Athelstan and Sir John must answer are: to whom did the severed heads belong, and who is the closely guarded female prisoner in the Tower? What part, if any, do the Upright Men play in the murders, and what secrets do the Straw Men know that they are not telling? Most important of all, is there a spy at John of Gaunt's court who is passing information to Wat Tyler and his rebels? But more important to Brother Athelstan is whether there is a spy at St. Erconwald who is passing information back to John of Gaunt? The body count rises as the priest and the Lord Coroner grapple with questions no one wants to answer.

As usual, Doherty's use of the medieval London setting evokes its dirty, crowded, fog-shrouded streets and its populace, both rich and poor. Brother Athelstan's involvement with John of Gaunt and his entourage and politically inspired murder is a change from the priest's concern with primarily domestic murder. The wonderfully eccentric characters of St. Erconwald's parish, such as the aforementioned Watkin and Pike and Randulf, play a much smaller part in this Twelfth adventure of Brother Athelstan. Even Sir John Cranston, he with the never empty wineskin of claret, is more often absent than present. In Doherty's defense, it is almost impossible to write of London in 1381 without the plot involving the political situation at the time. This book is just as well-written and plotted as the previous Brother Athelstan mysteries, but missing the doings of the humbler members of St. Erconwald's. Still, Paul Doherty's Brother Athelstan series are must reads for any lover of medieval mysteries.


Tags : Amazon.com: Straw Men, The (A Brother Athelstan Medieval Mystery) (9781780290379): Paul Doherty: Books,Paul Doherty,Straw Men, The (A Brother Athelstan Medieval Mystery),Crème de la Crime,1780290373,London, Greater London,Mystery & Detective - Historical,Athelstan, Brother (Fictitious character),Athelstan, Brother (Fictitious character);Fiction.,Great Britain - History - Richard II, 1377-1399,Historical fiction,John,Murder - Investigation,Mystery fiction,Priests;Fiction.,Relics;Fiction.,Tyler, Wat,ENGLISH HISTORICAL FICTION,ENGLISH MYSTERY & SUSPENSE FICTION,England,FICTION Historical Medieval,FICTION Mystery & Detective Historical,Fiction,Fiction - Mystery Detective,Fiction-Mystery & Detective,FictionHistorical - Medieval,GENERAL,General Adult,Great BritainBritish Isles,Historical mysteries,Historical mystery, Medieval mystery, John of Gaunt, Wat Tyler, Brother Athelstan, London,Historical mystery; Medieval mystery; John of Gaunt; Wat Tyler; Brother Athelstan; London,John,London, Greater London,Monograph Series, any,Murder - Investigation,Mystery & Detective - Historical,Mystery fiction,MysterySuspense,Priests,Priests;Fiction.,Relics,Relics;Fiction.,Tyler, Wat,c 1000 CE to c 1500,FICTION Historical Medieval,FICTION Mystery & Detective Historical,FictionHistorical - Medieval,Fiction - Mystery Detective,English Historical Fiction,English Mystery & Suspense Fiction,Priests,Relics,Fiction,MysterySuspense,c 1000 CE to c 1500,Historical mysteries

Straw Men The A Brother Athelstan Medieval Mystery Paul Doherty Books Reviews

I like the intrigue, the many characters who could possibly be the murderers. This is a great series! I will enjoy re-reading this again.
Happy with my shipment. Came in when told and in great shaoe. Love this series.
Doherty has a way of crafting unusual things into his stories. This time a great white bear. Who even knows that there was a royal zoo. The ending in his books are always a surprise.
An excellent story which started with a mysterious woman wearing a hood over her face and surrounded by guards taking her to the Tower. Murder and mayhem followed. Brother Athelstan investigated the various murders that followed and you were kept in suspense until the very end. A thoroughly enjoyable book which I found hard to put down.
love all of doherty's books and this moves the athelstan series forward to turbulent times of the great revolt. doherty is wonderfully deft in painting the characters and the context while keeping it lively.
I love this series and this is an excellent contribution to it. The lead characters are very human but essentially true to their times in their attitudes and their behaviors (I hate it when a historical character acts like they just stepped out the 21st century). This story line was quite interesting and had excellent (or is it terrible) page turning qualities. I had a hard time putting it down. Realistically, it isn't great literature but I enjoy the genre and this series and book and excellent members of it.
This excellent book by Paul Doherty emphasizes the razors edge people walked as tensions built between the peasants and the ruling class personified by John of Gault. The book skips from one catastrophe to another with murders interspersed with seemingly no connection to each other. It is up to Brother Athelstan to unravel the traitors from the loyalists, connect the many crimes together and trap the perpetrator. If you are interested in medieval history with emphasis on the political and societal fissures that culminated in the Peasants Revolt of 1381, this book is for you. The one criticism I have is that Sir John Cranston, the London Coroner, does not appear very much at all in this book, other than as a silent appendage to brother Athelstan. I'm sure this is due to the complicated plot, but I missed him.
Brother Athelstan, the humble priest of St. Erconwald's in Southwark, is celebrating Mass and feeling despair over his congregation's rude treatment of Humphrey Warde and his family. A spicer from Cheapside, Warde has moved to Southwark because there is less competition. St. Erconwald's parishioners, let by Watkin the dung collector, Pike the ditcher, and Ranulf the rat catcher together with others claim Warde is a traitor, not to the king, but to the Upright Men, a secret society of peasants and commoners led by Wat Tyler. The Upright Men are committed to revolt against the King and John of Gaunt, his guardian. Brother Athelstan is terrified that his parishioners will become embroiled in the coming bloodshed and hanged, but he can only warn them against being caught up in politics, he can't stop them.

Brother Athelstan himself is also caught up in the political turmoil whirling around John of Gaunt when Sir John Cranston, Lord Coroner of London, tells the priest that they have been invited to the Tower of London by Gaunt himself to watch a play performed by the Straw Men, the personal acting troupe of Gaunt. Brother Athelstan is reluctant but no one turns down John of Gaunt, not without risking his head. When two of Gaunt's guests are murdered one after the other, and two mummified severed heads are left on the stage, Sir John and Brother Athelstan are ordered to investigate and bring the murderer to justice, meaning the hangman's noose at best, and being drawn and quartered at the worst.

Among the many questions Brother Athelstan and Sir John must answer are to whom did the severed heads belong, and who is the closely guarded female prisoner in the Tower? What part, if any, do the Upright Men play in the murders, and what secrets do the Straw Men know that they are not telling? Most important of all, is there a spy at John of Gaunt's court who is passing information to Wat Tyler and his rebels? But more important to Brother Athelstan is whether there is a spy at St. Erconwald who is passing information back to John of Gaunt? The body count rises as the priest and the Lord Coroner grapple with questions no one wants to answer.

As usual, Doherty's use of the medieval London setting evokes its dirty, crowded, fog-shrouded streets and its populace, both rich and poor. Brother Athelstan's involvement with John of Gaunt and his entourage and politically inspired murder is a change from the priest's concern with primarily domestic murder. The wonderfully eccentric characters of St. Erconwald's parish, such as the aforementioned Watkin and Pike and Randulf, play a much smaller part in this Twelfth adventure of Brother Athelstan. Even Sir John Cranston, he with the never empty wineskin of claret, is more often absent than present. In Doherty's defense, it is almost impossible to write of London in 1381 without the plot involving the political situation at the time. This book is just as well-written and plotted as the previous Brother Athelstan mysteries, but missing the doings of the humbler members of St. Erconwald's. Still, Paul Doherty's Brother Athelstan series are must reads for any lover of medieval mysteries.