Category: HF Reading Challenge

Book Review – A Shroud of Snow by Sarah Hawkswood @AllisonandBusby

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About the Book

December, 1145. Hamelin Isenmongere, a trader in iron and charcoal, is considered by many to be the most popular man in Worcester. Why then is he found on the quayside near his warehouse with his head beaten in?

As winter bites, Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin are on the trail of a killer. However, they must tread cautiously when the trail of evidence leads them back to Worcester Castle itself where William de Beauchamp is more concerned that they seek out a spy within its walls. It is up to the Sheriff’s men to discover whether the murder was an act of betrayal by someone close to home, or one that casts a shadow over the fight for England’s crown.

Format: Paperback (288 pages) Publisher: Allison & Busby
Publication date: 20th August 2026 Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

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My Review

A Shroud of Snow is the fourteenth book in the author’s Bradecote and Catchpoll mystery series set in 12th century Worcester. I only discovered the series when I read River of Sins, the seventh book, back in 2020. I then read and reviewed the next three books – Blood Runs Thicker, Wolf at the Door and A Taste for Killing – but for some reason it fell off my radar after that until the lovely people at Allison & Busby contacted me about this one. (I’m sure I’ll fill in the gaps at some point.)

It was a delight to be back in medieval Worcester with Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin, the latter soon to become a father, a prospect he is viewing with trepidation. The three of them make a good team, each with different skills. Wakelin is observant, intuitive and is able to mingle with the city’s residents, servants and traders. Catchpoll has a deserved reputation for knowing everyone and everything, something he uses to good effect. Only a fool would try to cross him, although that doesn’t stop a few trying. Meanwhile Bradcote’s rank invites respect and often opens doors that would otherwise be closed, unless they’re ones belonging to Simon Furneaux, Castellan of Worcester Castle, the only thing they share being a dislike of the other.

What I enjoy about the books is the way they transport you to 12th century Worcester, with its narrow streets, tiny houses, workshops, wharves and riverside warehouses, all presided over by Worcester Castle. The dialogue gives a sense of the local dialect, although Bradecote being a lord of the manor speaks Norman French to his peers – what the locals refer to as ‘Foreign’. The ability to converse in Norman becomes relevant to the case, as does the ability to read and write because even the Lord Sheriff William de Beauchamp, Bradecote’s irascible boss, relies on scribes to commit his commands to paper, or rather vellum.

What starts off looking like two separate cases – the murder of Hamelin Isenmongere and a possible traitor in the Castle – gradually begins to throw up connections. But are they just coincidences? As Catchpoll observes at one point, ‘Our problem be that we is like ‘ounds in the forest, followin’ a deer, and a second crosses its tracks to and fro and its scent keeps distractin’ us from the first ‘un.’ As the investigation progresses it becomes apparent the Sheriff’s men are on the trail of not just a ruthless killer but a cunning and truly evil individual.

A Shroud of Snow is a really enjoyable historical crime mystery with plenty of twists and turns, revealing both the best and worst of human nature. You can find more about the historical background to the books on Sarah’s website.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of Allison & Busby.

In three words: Entertaining, intriguing, atmospheric
Try something similar: The King’s Justice by E. M. Powell

About the Author

Sarah Hawkswood describes herself as a ‘wordsmith’ who is only really happy when writing. She read Modern History at Oxford and first published a non-fiction book on the Royal Marines in the First World War before moving on to medieval mysteries set in Worcestershire.

Connect with Sarah
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Book Review – Little Spark by Jess Kidd

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About the Book

A secret cannot stay locked away forever

Bodkin Bell, orphan, pickpocket and survivor, doesn’t know where she came from, but she knows she’s different. Gaslights flare as she walks past. Cutlery spins. Shocks fly from her fingertips.

For years, she was ‘Little Spark’, the star of an electrifying sideshow – until the act went too far and she ended up in a London gaol.

Now she’s been offered a way out. A chance to serve at Point Mote, a vast, desolate house marooned on the misty Kent marshes. There, she will assist a reclusive family of cunning inventors in the creation of automata: miraculous, lifelike machines for which gentlemen collectors will pay handsomely.

But this house of wonders hides mysteries too. As Bodkin starts to question why she is really there, she unearths secrets that have been buried bone-deep for years – and a truth beyond all imagining. One that was never meant to be found.

Format: Hardcover (352 pages) Publisher: Canongate Books
Publication date: 13th August 2026 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

If you’re freaked out by the idea of automata so realistic you could mistake them for the real thing or so grotesque you’ll wonder at the mind that conceived them, then prepared to be unnerved by some of the machines created by the former owner of Point Mote and its new heir, Ramshaw. And, as it turns out, that’s not the worst of it because there are even more sinister things going on.

This is the world in which Bodkin finds herself, chosen to serve part of her prison sentence – the result of a momentary loss of control – in a huge but rather dilapidated manor house on the Kent marshes surrounded by high walls to keep interlopers out – or perhaps to keep the inhabitants in.

Bodkin’s unclear exactly why she’s there, presuming it’s pure chance she was selected by the formidable Lady Hesperia Halsey, Ramshaw’s aunt. But even a gloomy old house is better than prison plus she’s confident that Cornelius Bell, the man who has been her mentor since she was a child, will arrive to rescue her. Indeed, she’s convinced her transfer to Point Mote is all part of his plan. But is Cornelius, a proven trickster, gambler and teller of tall tales, someone she can rely on?

I loved Bodkin. She’s determined, resilient and resourceful. However, the unique physical characteristic that made her such a theatrical marvel sets her apart from others, in more ways than one. ‘She lives with a chest which jangles like a fistful of spoons, hums like a hive, ripples like a bucket of eels. A heart that doesn’t beat so much as teeters and skids like a spinning top on a wet floor.’ In the course of the book Bodkin learns things about her early life, things that have up until now existed as mere fragments of memory.

Point Mote is a house of secrets – many of them macabre – and a place of tragic events. Its eerie atmosphere is combined with an element of madness and obsession. This is a time when scientific experimentation overlapped with the desire of the rich for sensation, the more excessive and outlandish the better. If you’ve read the author’s earlier book Things In Jars you’ll know the kind of thing I mean.

If you reckon you’ve got it all figured out be prepared for a few surprises. Little Spark is a brilliantly atmospheric, deliciously creepy mystery with a completely captivating main character.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of Canogate via NetGalley.

In three words: Atmospheric, sinister, engaging
Try something similar: The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner

About the Author

Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from County Mayo. She is the author of several acclaimed novels for adults including Himself, The Hoarder, Things in Jars and The Night Ship, and a book for children, Everyday Magic. In 2017, Kidd won the Costa Short Story Award and in 2020 she was picked by The Times as one of the best emerging Irish writers. (Photo: Author website)

Connect with Jess
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