Blue Blood

Galeran de Lesneven #4

by Viviane Moore

Chartres, 1145. Ten years earlier, a fire destroyed the town, and the culprit is yet to be found. While passing through Chartres, the Chevalier Galeran de Lesneven is drawn into the mystery surrounding the drowning of a man, which curiously harkens back to the fire a decade earlier. In an effort to discover the truth, Galeran lives among the master craftsmen and artisans who are painstakingly rebuilding the cathedral. There, he falls in love with Dame Ausanne, a beautiful young physician. Laden with fascinating detail, including maps and recipes, this first Chevalier Galeran mystery contains not a hint of the modern world. A seamless medieval tale of betrayal and bloody revenge.

Genres: Fiction, Historical, Mystery, France

200 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Viviane Moore was born in 1960 in Hong Kong where her father was an architect and her mother a stained-glass artist. At 19 she became a photographer and worked as a journalist for Paris Match. Her main area of interest has always been the Middle Ages and for some time she has devoted herself to writing her novels featuring the Chevalier Galeran de Lesneven full-time. She lives in La Rochelle in France.

Reviews

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine if Brother Cadfael had never left his military life and taken his vows and you would have the Chevalier Galeran Lesnevan, the Breton knight of Viviane Moore's stories. Galeran is a soldier, if a very chivalric one towards the ladies and people of his own status. He is quite fond of his drink, fond of women - sometimes foolishly so - and fond of his sword. He sometimes has a swagger to him, not unlike a haughty samurai or a brash Venetian bravo, and he can brush aside the lower orders if they dare to intrude into his investigations. For Galeran is a medieval detective who occasionally is called by the high and mighty to solve mysteries and bring criminals to justice.

Blue Blood is set in the town of Chartres at a time when the great cathedral was being built. Galeran is on his way to the court of Thibaud IV, Count of Blois, but decides to call on an old friend in Chartres, Audouard the master of stained glass. While in the town Galeran is sucked into investigating the murder of an old jeweller whose naked and battered body has been pulled from the River Eure. What follows is a fairly straight-forward murder mystery which becomes increasingly mysterious as the body count rises. Red herrings a-plenty, villainous people who are not villains at all, and innocents who are ready to stab you in the back or cut your throat. Galeran must work his way through a maze of suspects each of whom seems to have at least one motive to murder, as well as the fears and memories of the Great Fire that ran through Chartres a few years earlier, and the ruthless nature of medieval justice.

While the mystery itself is not complicated it is more than made up for by the author's ability to bring the period to life. The characters and their natures are believable as people from the twelfth century, even if having a twelfth century private investigator stretches things a bit. Everything is shaded by the Church and its saints. Judgements are made and forgiveness of evil is prayed for with Christian intensity, even criminals might cross themselves before plunging the knife home. It all sounds very medieval.

As a bonus the author provides some recipes of the period at the end of the book. Hippocras, a spiced wine, Potage a la Vierge and Taillis aux Epices sound delicious, Sauce de Trehison not so much: a stock of red wine and vinegar flavoured with a cinnamon stick and allowed to rest overnight, then chopped fried onion and lardons added with mustard and a large dollop of honey and served with a slice of toasted bread that has been dipped in the stock. I'll stick to melted cheese on toast with a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

[Martina Sartor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nella copertina di questo libro è rappresentata una vetrata con la stilizzazione di un uomo solo, che presumo sia un cavaliere. Infatti il protagonista di questo libro, che fa parte di una serie, è Galeran de Lesneven, cavaliere bretone che ha combattuto nelle crociate e che per la sua erudizione e abilità ora è spesso chiamato a fare da investigatore. Stavolta si trova a Chartres, nel 1145, dove è in corso la ricostruzione della cattedrale di Notre Dame, dopo il grande incendio che ha distrutto la città nel 1134. In visita all’amico mastro vetraio Audouard, Galeran si trova coinvolto in una serie di incidenti e omicidi inspiegabili avvenuti nella cattedrale e nei dintorni della città. Il libro va avanti con capitoli brevi e veloci da leggere, addentrandosi non solo nelle indagini, ma anche nelle descrizioni della città e dei suoi abitanti. Ci si forma così un quadro ben delineato della Chartres medievale, cosa molto interessante. La brevità è tipica di libri che fanno parte di una serie e che quindi completano il quadro ambientale di libro in libro. Sarebbe interessante e piacevole poter trovare anche gli altri libri della serie, ma come spesso accade non tutti sono stati tradotti e i pochi tradotti in italiano sono ormai fuori catalogo. Non resta che sperare nei mercatini.

[Alain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pour le quatrième volet de ses aventures, ce brave Galeran de Lesneven va faire étape dans la ville de Chartres pour passer quelques jours avec un ami maitre verrier sur le chantier de la cathédrale. Mais ce qui devait être un agréable séjour tourne rapidement au cauchemar car les morts suspectes se multiplient dans la ville. Notre héros va donc devoir une nouvelle fois faire preuve de sa perspicacité légendaire pour seconder des autorités passablement dépassées.

Comme pour les tomes précédents, on se laisse rapidement emporter dans le moyen-age et dans l'enquête. le style est toujours fluide, l'ambiance agréable et l'intrigue, encore une fois relativement simple et courte, n'en reste pas moins efficace.

[Timothy Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book and I enjoyed reading it but I would argue it isn't really a mystery. More like a tragedy with murders. Our hero Galeran is more swept along by events rather than investigating them and at times just as bewildered as I was til all was revealed. All that said though the characters amazingly crafted despite the fact that this book is so brief and that the chapter lengths never went beyond five pages. The next book will probably get a higher rating since I know what kind of books these are.

[Maxabb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fa parte di quella categoria di "gialli medioevali" dove nonostante tutto il medioevo non si percepisce piu' di tanto. Cambiando un po' di termini si potrebbe spostare l'ambientazione in avanti o indietro nel tempo senza grossi problemi. Il giallo è di quel genere dove il protagonista gira piu' o meno a vuoto per tutto il libro e nelle ultime dieci pagine c'e' qualcuno che gli spiega come sono andate le cose. Se vi piace il medioevo ed i gialli, cercate altrove.

[Isil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ce roman policier sur fond de construction de la cathédrale de Chartre au Moyen-age est agréable à lire mais s'oublie vite.

[Elerwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

bello, lettura scorrevole, si finisce in fretta.
La storia è abbastanza avvincente, ma non molto complessa.
Consigliato per chi non vuole una lettura troppo impegnativa

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roman historique sur la Cathedrale de Chartres ....