Review:- Paul DOHERTY – “The House of Shadows”

Year Published: - 2003
Where the book was from:- Pensby Library
ISBN: - 0 7553 0776 3
Pages: - 312pp
Genre: - Historical crime
Location:- London 1380
How I came across it: - Looking for Paul Doherty novels
Rating: - ***** ***

One sentence summary:-
Brother Athelstan investigates murders which may have their source in a daring robbery twenty years earlier.

Describe the plot without giving anything away:-
A series of brutal murders at a Southwark tavern interrupts Brother Athelstan's rehearsals for the annual Christmas mystery play. He resolves to solve not only these grisly deaths, but also their source - the Great Robbery of the Lombard treasure, which occurred in Southwark some 20 years earlier.

General comments:-
This is the first Brother Athelstan book I have read but it won’t be the last. A cut above the average cosy crime.

The previous list of -
Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan
1. The Nightingale Gallery (1991) (writing as Paul Harding)
2. The House Of The Red Slayer (1992) (writing as Paul Harding)
aka The Red Slayer
3. Murder Most Holy (1992) (writing as Paul Harding)
4. The Anger Of God (1993) (writing as Paul Harding)
5. By Murder's Bright Light (1994) (writing as Paul Harding)
6. The House Of Crows (1995) (writing as Paul Harding)
7. The Assassin's Riddle (1996) (writing as Paul Harding)
8. The Devil's Domain (1998)
9. The Field Of Blood (1999)
10. The House of Shadows (2003)

AUTHOR Notes:- see Paul Doherty