Tag: historical mystery

#ThrowbackThursday The Meonbridge Chronicles by Carolyn Hughes

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Meonbridge Chronicles Carolyn Hughes

I was first introduced to The Meonbridge Chronicles series when I won a lovely signed copy of the first book, Fortune’s Wheel, in a giveaway.  Opening in the aftermath of the Black Death (or the ‘mortality’ as it is referred to), the books are set in the fictional Hampshire village of Meonbridge and follow events in the lives of its inhabitants, with the emphasis on the female inhabitants. I’ve read all the books in the series – A Woman’s Lot, De Bohun’s Destiny and Children’s Fate – and very much enjoyed all of them. You can read full versions of my reviews by following the links from the titles however here are a few snippets…

FortunesWheel2Fortune’s Wheel – I loved the detail of village life which gave the story a real feeling of authenticity and is clearly the result of an incredible amount of research. It introduced me to new terms – merchet, legerwite, heriot – and the many different roles necessary to village life – bailiff, steward, reeve and (my favourite) ale-taster. I thought it was an accomplished, fascinating historical fiction novel – and an impressive debut.

AWomansLot2A Woman’s Lot – The book provides another fascinating insight into day-to-day life in a period when people lived without many of the things we now take for granted: being able to dry your clothes easily when they get wet; a house that doesn’t let in the wind and rain; a slice of bread that doesn’t involve a trip to the communal bakehouse; not having to exist only on what you can grow. And it brings to life the small joys of life such as the travelling market coming to the village green, Christmas and Midsummer festivities, music and dancing at a wedding feast.

De Bohun's DestinyDe Bohun’s Destiny – The focus in this book shifts from the villagers to the residents of the Manor – Sir Richard and Lady Margaret De Bohun – and to the future of the demesne with drama and intrigue a little more to the fore.  Events move along apace and no sooner does it seem that one threat to Meonbridge’s future has been averted than another one appears in its place, if anything in deadlier form.

Children's FateChildren’s Fate – The year 1361 sees the return of the plague and its indiscriminate nature causes the people of Meonbridge to search for answers as to why some live and others die.  Some, fuelled by grief, despair and fear, look for scapegoats. As is often the case, suspicion falls on outsiders.  Full of authentic detail of daily life, in Children’s Fate you don’t so much read about the folk of Meonbridge as dwell amongst them for a few precious hours.

Carolyn HughesIf my thoughts have piqued your interest in reading The Meonbridge Chronicles for yourself, you can find purchase links on Carolyn’s website where you can also sign up to her newsletter. If you do, you’ll receive e-copies of two free Meonbridge Chronicles novellas – Maiden’s Chance and Maiden’s Hap. You can also find a glossary of terms used in the books, blog posts from Carolyn about all things medieval and much, much more…

You can follow Carolyn on Facebook and Twitter.

#BlogTour #BookReview Crow Court by Andy Charman @RandomTTours @unbounders

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Crow Court PB BT PosterWelcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Crow Court by Andy Charman. My thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the tour and to Unbound for my digital review copy. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Peter at Peter Turns The Pages and Lizzie at chapmanschaptersandpages.

Crow CourtAbout the Book

Spring, 1840. In the Dorset market town of Wimborne Minster, a young choirboy drowns himself. Soon after, the choirmaster – a belligerent man with a vicious reputation – is found murdered, in a discovery tainted as much by relief as it is by suspicion. The gaze of the magistrates falls on four local men, whose decisions will reverberate through the community for years to come.

So begins the chronicle of Crow Court, unravelling over fourteen delicately interwoven episodes, the town of Wimborne their backdrop: a young gentleman and his groom run off to join the army; a sleepwalking cordwainer wakes on his wife’s grave; desperate farmhands emigrate. We meet the composer with writer’s block; the smuggler; a troupe of actors down from London; and old Art Pugh, whose impoverished life has made him hard to amuse.

Meanwhile, justice waits…

Format: Paperback (336 pages)         Publisher: Unbound
Publication date: 3rd February 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

A cross between a historical crime novel and a collection of short stories, Crow Court is inventive in structure and style. If, like me, you don’t get on with the first chapter which is written in the present tense using short, clipped sentences, do stick with it because, with a few exceptions, subsequent chapters are more conventional in style.

Set in the small Dorset town of Wimborne, the story unfolds over 20 years starting in 1840 with the murder of a choirmaster. If you’re looking for a conventional whodunnit, you won’t find it here. Crow Court is less about finding the solution to the murder of Matthew Ellis, Wimborne’s choirmaster, than the consequences of the event over the months and years that follow. In fact, although the reader knows that a murder has occurred, the rest of the locals don’t. They just know the choirmaster has disappeared. Since he was known locally as ‘Buggermaster’ and was thought to have caused the suicide of a choir boy, not many people are that bothered by his disappearance. However rumours are the currency of a small village and because of their actions or their connection to the choirmaster, four men come under suspicion.

What follows is a kind of 6 Degrees of Separation as various characters appear in a series of interlinked stories. Some of the connections are quite tenuous – they know someone who knew someone else who got their boots made by the village cordwainer – whilst others are more direct. It was fun spotting names that sounded familiar and then thinking, ‘Ah, I remember, he’s the brother of so-and-so’s friend’. Along the way, we learn quite a lot about Dorset life in the 1840s and 1850s, as well as about the local landscape.

One of the interesting features of the book is the way the author plays with different narrative styles. A good example is in the chapter, ‘The Third Person’. Divided into three parts, the first is written in the second person, the second in the first person and the final part – you guessed it – in the third person. And some of the stories, such as ‘Art’s Last Laugh’, feature Dorset dialect. (There’s a helpful glossary at the end of the book for those who don’t know a gawk hammer from a doughbeaked cowheart.)

Some of the stories border on digressions and could easily be read as standalone short stories. ‘The Voice O’ Strangers’ which describes the experience of a ferocious storm in the South Atlantic is one example. However there’s (just) enough of the mystery threaded through each of them, or connections with key characters, to maintain the reader’s interest and they are all carefully crafted. When the culprit is revealed I suspect I won’t be the only reader to go back and read the opening chapters again.

In three words: Inventive, engaging, characterful

Try something similar: The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey

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Andy Charman Author PicAbout the Author

Andy Charman was born in Dorset and grew up near Wimborne Minster, where Crow Court is set. His short stories have appeared in various anthologies and magazines, including Pangea and Cadenza. Crow Court is his first novel, which he worked on at the Arvon course at The Hurst in Shropshire in 2018. Andy lives in Surrey and is available for interview, comment and events.

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