MURDER OF A WINCHESTER GOOSE by Elizabeth Rose

Lady Vivienne Harlowe resides in a castle at Mablethorpe with family members. As a young widow with a child, she’s quite respectable and can venture out alone, though she’s better to take a servant. MURDER OF A WINCHESTER GOOSE is the sixth instalment in this intriguing series, which sees Vivienne still seeking the killer of her parents from years ago, and in peril from a more immediate threat.

Sheriff Zachariah Fitch is the second half of this historical crime-fighting duo. In this strict-minded fourteenth century town, one of his sisters took the veil, but the other one found legal employment in the stews. This is a polite way of saying she’s a tavern wench, sometimes called a goose, but a stronger word is used throughout. Cassandra and her friend Fanny work in Southwark outside the City of London, but when Lady Vivienne visits them one evening, a terrible deed follows. Poor Fanny is found dead the next morning, stabbed and thrown out of a high window. Because she was wearing Vivienne’s cloak, it’s possible she was mistaken for the better-class woman in the dark.

Sheriff Fitch and Lady Vivienne’s family, as well, won’t hear of her befriending a fallen woman or of Cassandra staying at the castle. But it’s likely that Cassandra is in danger until the killer is caught. With the usual assortment of children, hounds, horses and ferrets, the reader can be diverted, and the start of the book moves along slowly while Vivienne reasons with everyone in sight as to why she should help investigate, only to steal clues and conceal them. Eventually, the tale picks up speed. I think it’s likely the author deliberately obscured the issues at hand to build a background mystery.

This may be the last chapter in the Harlowe and Fitch Historical Mystery series. I have not read all the stories, but I would be keen to go back and fill in the gaps. The dastardly deeds Vivienne half remembers, from the night her parents were ambushed on the road, are brought to a conclusion in an unexpected manner. With these matters resolved and some chance of happiness, Lady Vivienne can take a well-earned rest. Elizabeth Rose has created characters who feel like friends, and castles we almost know. My favourite episode was MURDER AT THE JOUST, but each reader will choose her own favourite tale. MURDER OF A WINCHESTER GOOSE will be welcomed by fans of historical crime, and there are plenty of historical romance series by this author to keep us reading.

A haunting past. A deadly obsession. A race to unmask a killer before he strikes again.

England, 14th century. The brutal double murder of Lady Vivienne Harlowe’s parents has haunted her for seven years. When a new series of killings terrorizes Mablethorpe—each body marked by a white goose feather and a gold florin—Vivienne fears the murderer who destroyed her family has returned.

When Sheriff Zachariah Fitch’s sister, Cassandra, and her friend, Fanny, arrive from the brothels of Southwark, Zachariah’s anger turns to horror when Fanny’s dead body is found in a horse trough—wearing Lady Vivienne’s cloak. A killer has struck Mablethorpe yet again, and this time, Vivienne may have been the intended victim.

As panic spreads and suspicion poisons even the closest bonds, Vivienne and Zachariah must navigate a labyrinth of secrets, vengeance, and betrayal. But as the truth begins to surface, one horrifying realization becomes clear—the monster they hunt may be closer than they ever imagined.

Justice has waited seven years. Now, the hunter becomes the hunted.