Brother Athelstan is the priest of St Erconwald’s in Southwark in the 1380s during the reign of Richard II, and, to pass the time, he is also the secretary of Sir John Cranston, the coroner of the City of London. Having had training not just in matters of the church but also in logic, needless to say he fills in the gaps in his day solving crimes as well. In this instance, he’s got two to deal with – Sir John asks him to assist him in the case of some dead bodies unearthed in a field outside the Paradise Inn, with all the evidence pointing towards the strangely reticent landlady. Athelstan also has to deal with three dead bodies found in his parish, one of whom is the King’s messenger – and the law dictates that if the killer of a servant of the King is not found, the entire parish will be punished. Cue dramatic musical sting!
The Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan is Paul Doherty’s second longest series of novels, after the ones featuring Sir Hugh Corbett, and are set a century later. They are altogether a more thoughtful affair – both Corpse Candle and Nightshade had bodies dropping left and right, whereas this one only has one murder taking place after the opening salvo. The images of medieval London and the characters therein are beautifully realised and you can visualise easily the locale, unappetising as most of it seems. There is a slight problem that I found in that this is the ninth (I think) Athelstan novel and a couple of the characters who wander into the action, such as the so-called “vicar of hell” could have done with more of an introduction or explanation to the novice reader, but to be fair, it wasn’t difficult to follow and all it meant was that I was inclined to seek out the earlier books.
As for the mysteries, they’re not the most complicated I’ve ever come across. The royal messenger one is obvious – it’s more of a howdunnit than whodunnit and I’m baffled that Athelstan takes as long as he did to figure it out. The other case, which becomes like a ticking clock as the landlady’s trial approaches, is the more interesting of the two, and the murderer is fairly clued. There is a dreadful shortage of suspects though, which makes the
murderer very guessable.
However, the blurb writers need a kick up the backside. I quote “Certain of the widow’s innocence, yet convinced the two incidents must be related…” No, they’re not and at no point in the book does anyone suggest that they are. To be absolutely honest, I got the suspicion that Doherty came up with a couple of plots, realised that neither would fill a whole book and hence put them in the same one. Usually with two disparate crimes in a story, there is at least a thematic link if nothing else so it was something of a surprise that there wasn’t one here – at least not one that I noticed.
So to summarise, a well-written tale invoking the feel of medieval London, but don’t expect the most puzzling mystery that you’ve ever read. I will be on the lookout for more of Brother Athelstan, so I’ll report back on another of his Sorrowful Mysteries later on.
WHERE CAN I GET IT?
Still in print, I think, unlike some of the earlier books in the series, so ask at your local bookshop.
In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel 
It’s been interesting to see your interest for Doherty develop. I’m keeping an eye out from now on!
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Well, there’s more to come – the postman delivered six cheap paperbacks yesterday… I’ll try to ration them out, though.
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Hah, the irony- I came across two of his books in a bookstore after posting that. I just entered there to hide from the rain while waiting for the bus and saw them. But I forgot my gift certificate to the place, so I had to pass… Next time! 🙂
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And I finally get the chance to visit the only big bookshop near me – centre of Liverpool – and despite even having a Rex Stout novel, not a sausage by Doherty. Still, this makes tracking down the rest more of a challenge…
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I have a huge collection of Paul Doherty books under all his various pseudonyms. I’ve read many of them and I like Brother Athlestan, the Canterbury Tales series and the ancient Egypt ones the best. The best of the Brother Athelstan’s that I’ve read is one that deals with a rash of stolen cats and a murderer some villagers claim to be the Devil himself — THE HOUSE OF CROWS. I left a comment about Doherty’s books on your review of NIGHTSHADE but realized after I hit the button that your review for that book was posted in July. So I’ll repeat something in case you don’t see that comment: You ought to investigate the Lord Amerotke series set in ancient Egypt. Most of them are locked room or impossible crime mysteries. And similar to your issue with the book reviewed above, while not terribly earthshaking in terms of plot construction they are very well clued and often have echoes of JDC. Speaking of Carr : Doherty has a character called Sir Roger Shallot that he created under his “Micheal Clynes” pseudonym. Sir Roger is something of a medieval Sir Henry Merrivale. You might like those as well.
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I am so pleased to have discovered Doherty and plan to explore his whole range. Thanks for recommendations – I’ve a feeling that the blog’s going to have a real Doherty bias for a while…
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In fact, just sent off a large-but-cheap order to Abebooks getting at least one from each range. Thanks for the advice on the more obscure ones…
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John, as the resident impossible crimes lover (what would that term be? Carr-o-phile?), I particularly thank you for your suggestions on Doherty, however indirectly it applied to me. The doc’s enthusiasm has got me interested and I intend to take a look at Doherty, possibly as the final book before I take off for Spain. I have already acquired a book: “The Season of the Hyaena”, all for the low, low price of $3.50. There are several others in bookstores and libraries, so we’ll see how this one goes (as I’ve had to return everything to its respective library).
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Back from holiday to find a couple of packages from Abebooks – now have about fifteen Doherty’s from most of his ranges, most of which cost a massive 61p each! I’ll be working my way through them soon – I have a fair few reviews to write…
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[…] a little odd. Having so far read from Paul Doherty a few of the Hugh Corbett mysteries and one Brother Athelstan, I was expecting a straightforward murder mystery – nothing in the cover blurb led me to believe […]
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[…] most recent of Doherty’s Rome series featuring Claudia and friends, and, just like the Corbett, Athelstan and Roger Shallot books (first review coming very soon), his description of life in a far-off time […]
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[…] mild reservation is that the three stories have little in common – similar to the later The Field of Blood. To be fair, though, Doherty does a very good job of keeping the three ticking over and handles the […]
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[…] so far, the first four are amongst the best of Paul Doherty’s output. I was less enamoured with The Field of Blood, the ninth book, so I was a little cautious about the resumption of the series. Did I have cause to […]
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[…] where this is going. The fourteenth book in a series where I’ve loved every single entry – OK, The Field Of Blood was a little under-par, but I probably need to re-read it – and this is one of the strongest […]
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