1301 and while a peace – a very fragile peace – exists between England and France, all is not well in the English court. A promise has been made that the future Edward II will marry Philip IV of France’s daughter Isabella, but the existence of Edward’s former mistress, Lady Belmont, is something of a problem. She has been consigned to a nunnery for the past two years, but when she is found at the bottom of a flight of stairs with a broken neck, Hugh Corbett is despatched to find the truth of the matter.

Was she the target of Prince Edward himself? Or Edward’s favourite, Piers Gaveston? And why are their French spies, including Corbett’s nemesis de Craon, circling the nunnery? As more deaths occur, Corbett finds himself the target of more than just the murderer…

Well, I said in my last review it was time for an old favourite and they don’t get more favoured than friend of the blog Paul Doherty. Long-time readers will know how much I love Paul’s work, especially his medieval mysteries featuring Brother Athelstan and Sir Hugh Corbett. 125 reviews in total on the blog for Paul’s work, of which 17 are re-reads. Make that 126 and 18 with this one.

I’ve always thought that this book is the one where Paul finds his style. It feels a lot more confident that the first four Corbett titles (which I must re-read). Corbett here doesn’t have the rank of later books (although he still fulfils the same role). He’s less embittered and cynical than in later books, although the events of the final chapters might help start to explain where that attitude stems from.

Having read the later books, I’d forgotten how immature Ranulf, Corbett’s right-hand man, is, whether it’s stealing trinkets from the nunnery, selling fake medicines to gullible locals or trying to sleep with anyone with a dress or a wimple. Reading this, I have the urge to re-read the series in order to chart his evolution.

But you’re probably not interested in the character development across the series, you want to know how this holds up as a mystery novel. Really, really well, as it happens.

Paul knows how to keep things moving – a second nun is dead before Corbett arrives, and there are two more murders to come, along with a dead couple from a couple of years previously to sort out. It’s probably a “work out what makes sense” mystery, but there are clues. No locked room, unlike most of Paul’s work, but it didn’t feel missing here. Yes, the murderer is bit guessable, but there’s so much going on to catch you out, you’re not going to catch all of it.

Add in Paul’s wonderfully descriptive writing, that somehow transports you back in time while making things perfectly comprehensible, and you’ve got a marvellous historical mystery. At some point, I’m going to have to work out which of Paul’s books I still haven’t read. And read them…