THE SAINT JOHN'S FERN by Kate Sedley
Headline - Sept. 1999
ISBN 0747274967 - Hardback

Reviewed by Rachel Hyde, MyShelf.Com
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Roger the Chapman may be newly married but he is off on his travels again in this ninth book in the series.  This time he returns to Plymouth where he hears that the neighbor of the people he is staying with was murdered a few months before and although everybody knows who killed him the culprit is still at large.  For people say that he ate St John's Fern and this is supposed to make the eater invisible.  Of course Roger cannot resist finding out whodunit so he embarks on an investigation.

One thing I enjoy about these books is the fact that they are told in the first person by Roger himself.  Late 15th century England is seen through his eyes rather than those of the contemporary writer that I find most effective.  Sedley writes a well-paced and lively mystery with some engaging characters and plenty of plot twists and turns.  I look forward to reading the tenth adventure.