Owen Archer is once more the main detective in this historical mystery set in York. The medieval cathedral is still being constructed to become the York Minster, and figures as a location for strange deaths. The time is December 1374. A CHOIR OF CROWS hints at sadness for a musician.
I postponed the read, I admit, probably due to the sombre cover. During the last year, I’ve only really felt like reading cosy mysteries rather than hard crime. But historical fiction with a familiar hero or heroine is always interesting, full of detail, and so this proved. If you have followed Owen Archer, the series about a Welsh bowman who lost an eye at war and found a comfortable midlife love with apothecary Lucie (see The Apothecary Rose) you’ll now be facing the twelfth book. I believe we meet too many familiar and introduced characters for a newcomer to the series to dive in easily.
We begin with a party of minstrels who stroll to play in castles and acquire information, valuable in these tense times in England. Owen is now captain of the city bailiffs, so he is summoned when two bodies are discovered in York Minster and a young person is found locked in the chapter house. We already know that this is a young woman disguised as a boy singer, and in medieval days, women were not allowed to dress as the opposite sex, nor allowed to perform on stage. Owen is reluctant to leave the prisoner to keep her safe. Another concern for the bailiff is power falling into the hands of the Neville family; Alexander Neville will soon be confirmed as the new archbishop. Medieval music included much choir work, for such important religious ceremonies. While spies abound, Owen is also a spy working for the Black Prince, Edward, providing him with intelligence on the powerful factions in York.
Bitter winter weather is one of the most vivid facets of this complex tale, with heavy hooded wool cloaks and velvet hats frequently mentioned. The snow soon turns to dirt in town streets, as we walk past the silversmith’s to the York Tavern and St. Mary’s Infirmary. A map at the start helps keep locations straight. In the end, the author Candace Robb gives a note on her researches of medieval choral music. If this sounds like your cup of spiced mead, A CHOIR OF CROWSwon’t disappoint. I enjoyed the mystery, and look forward to the next adventure.
When two bodies are discovered in the grounds of York Minster shortly before the enthronement of the new archbishop, Owen Archer is summoned to investigate.
December, 1374. With the great and the good about to descend on York for the enthronement of Alexander Neville as the new archbishop, the city authorities are in a state of high alert. When two bodies are discovered in the grounds of York Minster, and a flaxen-haired youth with the voice of an angel is found locked in the chapter house, Owen Archer, captain of the city bailiffs, is summoned to investigate.
Tension deepens when an enigmatic figure from Owen's past arrives in the city. Why has he returned from France after all these years - and what is his connection with the bodies in the minster yard and the fair singer? Before Owen can make headway in the investigation, a third body is fished out of the river - and the captain finds himself with three mysterious deaths to solve before the all-powerful Neville family arrives in York.
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