The Sacred Stone
The Medieval Murderers – Book VI
By The Medieval Murderers
A
band of Norse settlers come upon a piece of meteorite while out
hunting in 1067. The sky stone has the power to heal, but it also
brings strife and death. Down the centuries, it comes into the possession
of many people including crusaders on a visit to Chepstow, the manor
lord of a Devon village, a group of Jewish kabalists in Norwich,
the dying King Henry III, actors from Shakespearefs time and
a modern explorer.
This is the sixth of these volumes containing linked stories by
a group of popular historical mystery writers. This time it is the
turn of newcomer Karen Maitland to join in the fun, and with her
are usual suspects Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson and
Philip Gooden. Gregory and Gooden have chosen to write about their
series characters Sir Geoffrey Mappestone and Nick Revill, while
Bernard Knight tells us about an incident in Thomas de Peynefs
later years. The other writers opt for new settings and characters
and, unlike the other books, none of the stories are labelled so
you have to guess who has written them; an interesting touch. I
was impressed with the quality and inventiveness of pretty much
everything on offer, and would say that the tales are of an even
quality making it hard to single out one as standing above the others.
There is plenty of history – more than mystery in some of
the stories – and each tale manages to plunge the reader into
the setting immediately. I am not usually a short story fan but
continue to be impressed with this unusual and imaginative series.
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The
Book |
Simon and Schuster UK |
8 July 2010 |
Trade Paperback |
1847376770 / 9781847376770 |
Historical Mystery / Various times Various locations |
More at Amazon US
|| UK |
Excerpt |
NOTE:
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The
Reviewer |
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewed
2010 |
NOTE:
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