January 1313, and the shadow of the robbery of the Royal Treasury ten years earlier led by Richard Pudlicott still falls on Sir Hugh Corbett. One of the leaders of the robbery, Sarasin, fled overseas and eventually returned with a pardon. He immediately took control of the underworld, but when he kills a squire of Queen Isabella, Corbett has him tried and hanged from the sign of The Twilight Tavern.

Almost immediately, the people who helped send Sarasin to his death begin to die in gruesome circumstances. The underworld has aligned behind a man called the Immortal – is it possible that Sarasin somehow survived and is wreaking vengeance? Corbett and his coterie are clear targets of the Immortal’s vengeance, but there is far more at play here – things that will reach all the way to the thrones of England and France…

If ever you want evidence of how busy June 2025 was for me, then here it is. Immortal Murder, the latest Hugh Corbett mystery, one of my favourite series from one of my favourite authors, was released on the June 5^th and I’ve only just found time to get round to reading it. It’s a combination of NetGalley overload, my plan to review the CWA Whodunnit Dagger shortlist, and trying to sort out the timetable for next year for my school – a fun task, but it does sap my brainpower a tad. But I’ve managed to squeeze it in before the end of the month and, guess what, it’s exactly what I expected and needed – a top-notch historical mystery.

As this point in history, the future Edward III has been born and also has the potential to be the future King of France, given that his mother, Isabella, is the daughter of the current King. This is but one of the many seemingly disparate threads that Doherty, as ever, weaves together into a tapestry of a murder mystery.

There is a locked room here, but it’s hardly rocket science as to how it was worked – indeed, my first thought was “Surely…” and I was right. Even the who isn’t a massive surprise because there aren’t that many viable suspects. Having said that, it didn’t bother me one jot. The story gripped me from the start, and by bringing in elements such as the French succession and the Templars, it just makes the story richer and richer. The way that Doherty never sugarcoats how ruthless someone like Corbett needs to be, while still making him a sympathetic character is another real strength.

For long-time fans of Doherty’s work, there is a mention of the fate of one of his other characters – I think it’s supposed to be the same person – and an early mention of another, possibly. Both of them are fairly obscure, but I won’t spoil their identity for fans of all of Paul’s books. Because they are going to want to read this – and so should you, if you’re a fan of historical mystery and intrigue. One of my favourite series of books, now twenty-five and still going strong…