Crouchback

The Welsh Guard Mysteries #1

by Sarah Woodbury, Tom Mumford (Narrator)

Book #1 from the series: The Welsh Guard Mysteries
🎧Listening Length = 8 hours and 18 minutes

A rich medieval mystery that kicks off a series: In 1284, Catrin serves as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Eleanor of England. Freshly widowed, she returns to Wales — and finds herself confronted with long-lost childhood friend Rhys, a court rife with political intrigue, and a dastardly murderer haunting the halls…

**Crouchback is a medieval word derived from crossed-back and indicates participation in a Crusade**
April 1284. As a newly widowed lady-in-waiting to the very pregnant Queen Eleanor of England, Catrin never expected to return to Wales again. She was definitely unprepared to be confronted with murder when she got there--or to find herself face-to-face with Rhys, the childhood friend she lost twenty years before. Rhys had never intended to return home either, but a lifetime of war has deposited him right back where he started--impoverished and owing service to Catrin's older brother.

With Wales having fallen irrevocably to England, and fearful of trusting anyone within the English court of King Edward, Catrin and Rhys join forces against the treachery and intrigue rife within the half-built Caernarfon Castle. And when the murderer strikes again, the task before them becomes increasingly clear: catch the killer, certainly, but also protect their people from a future that is becoming more dangerous and uncertain with every day that passes.
Crouchback is the first book in The Welsh Guard Mysteries.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Historical, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Medieval, Fantasy

Audible Audio

First published November 14, 2019

About the author

With over a million books sold to date, Sarah Woodbury is the author of more than forty novels, all set in medieval Wales. Although an anthropologist by training, and then a full-time homeschooling mom for twenty years, she began writing fiction when the stories in her head overflowed and demanded that she let them out. While her ancestry is Welsh, she only visited Wales for the first time at university. She has been in love with the country, language, and people ever since. She even convinced her husband to give all four of their children Welsh names.

Sarah is a member of the Historical Authors Fiction Cooperative (HFAC), the Historical Novel Society, and Novelists, Inc. (NINC).


She makes her home in Oregon.

Reviews

[TXGAL1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded to 4

Middle Ages mystery in Wales two years after its conquest by King Edward of England.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about some historic events in Wales while a murder mystery played out.

[PeterK B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this new series, and reading book 2 now. One problem with the first book: the author needs to set the stage and explain the history of what has recently happened (as of April 1284), and the people who were involved. Necessary, but gets boring quickly.

Otherwise, this series is as enjoyable as the Garth & Gwen series. I guess it was time to move on, to a new series with new characters AND in a different era. Rhys and Catrin, both Welsh, *after* the English defeated the Welsh resoundingly.

It's a sadder time, of course; not sure that all readers will enjoy that aspect.

[Reyna Favis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author managed two extreme challenges at the same time while writing this book. One was her mother's failing health and passing away; the other was writing in a historical period rife with uncertainty and abuse for a conquered people. Both circumstances change the world irreversibly for those experiencing it. My hat is off to the author for writing a fine mystery with enjoyable characters. The story answers the question of how a person can survive and go on when the world feels like it is ending.

[Booknblues · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I am thrilled that by completing this book I met my Goodreads Reading Goal! I am also thrilled to discover a new medieval mystery series. This is the first and only book of Sarah Woodbury's Welsh Guard Mysteries.

We are introduced to Rhys and Catrin, both of whom are back in Wales after a long absence. Rhys is the Crouchback referring to the cross he wore on his back during the ninth crusade serving Edmund the first Earl of Lancaster.

I really enjoyed the characters and the story of this mystery and look forward to more of the series.

Gah! I hate waiting.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1284 Caernarfon Castle. When a body is discovered in a barn, Rhys and Catrin investigate. But then another body is found. Is there a link between them, it seems impossible.
A well-written and entertaining historical mystery. With its varied and likeable characters. A good start to the series.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this author’s After Cilmeri series and have read all or most of her other series as well. Yet, despite my love of mysteries, her Gareth and Gwen Medieval mystery series just never drew me in. Despite that, I wanted to check out this newest series by Sarah Woodbury.

I will say that I enjoyed it more then Gareth and Gwen, though I can’t really say what it was I didn’t enjoy about that one. The reason I gave this book 3* instead of 4 is that I found it dragged (for me) at times, and I guessed the culprit fairly quickly.

The thing I love most about Sarah’s books is her dedication to research of the medieval era. This research was on full display here, and the reason that I will likely read the next book in the series. Plus, I really enjoyed Rhys and Catrin. It was refreshing to see a blossoming romance among two older, wiser characters that had endured a lot of difficulties in their lives and yet haven’t given themselves over completely to cynicism and regret.

[Infosifter · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Engaging characters, and interesting historical setting. I look forward to continuing the series.

[BookAddict · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story,wonderful characters and the history so well done! I liked this so much I got the whole series!

[Chrissie Whitley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Review to follow.

[Ken Jacobsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars is more accurate. Enjoyed this very much.

[Sheryl Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This looks like a good series. I don't usually read stories about this period in history because I tend to get lost in the storytelling, forgetting names of characters and what happened when and to whom. With this book, however, I found it fairly easy to keep track of the characters and the storyline.

The medieval period is fascinating in that it seems so foreign compared to other historical periods I tend to read about. It is a bit more engaging having to keep in mind the variety of ethnicities involved that we don't have today. In this book, it is pretty much the Normans v. the Welsh. Today, we don't have an ethnicity or race we refer to as "the Normans" so books like this expand my awareness of historical racial tensions.

The mystery itself is interesting and unusual. We get to see an untraditional triad develop involving a female that investigates along with the male authorities. What looks like one thing is really nothing of the sort. We also get to see classism at work as attitudes change when the people find out that an "average Welsh" man is really a person of importance. The social commentary of the period applies to today reminding us that although much has changed since this period of time, not that much has truly changed.

[Melissa Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the new series!

How we live in the face of great grief - didn’t expect to find that in fiction and did in this book. Love Sarah’s writing!!

[Luke Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book three stars for a variety of reasons. First being that the author only sets the exact time period of her novel in the historical background at the end of the novel. It left me to wonder when exactly it was. I figured it was around the time middle English was starting to form, but that was about it. Secondly, I felt that she treated her reader as an idiot in some instances. The example that most comes to mind is when the English villagers attack the Welsh village and a little girl get Rhys to help convince her grandma to move. The little girl calls her grandma mam-gu and immediately after that the author states that is Welsh for grandma. That is accurate, but it wasn’t needed especially since earlier on the little girl was asking for help to convince her grandma to read. The point is your readers are not so stupid as to not realize or infer correctly that what the little girl said in Welsh was grandma. The other thing is is in the scene where Rhys and Catrin finally discover where Tomos lived the word combrogi is used. It has no wikipedia entry and my kindle dictionary didn’t recognize it as Welsh. I even pulled out my Welsh dictionary app on my phone and the app which is developed by a Welsh university could not find a translation for it either. The third thing was, and I blame my English major for this, but for at least half the book I bet my money on Guy being the killer way before some of the characters did. I wanted to be surprised, but I wasn’t able to be because I already knew. There’s also an unresolved plot point in that one of Catrin’s son’s squires/retainers was riding to give Catrin a message, but is killed before he can. Catrin mentions wanting to know the mwssage several times but by the end of the novel we still don’t know it. It also doesn’t show up in the preview to the second book at the end. The author’s book was enjoyable, but these are some of the reasons why I gave it three stars as opposed to four which is what I usually give to books that I find enjoyable.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh I love the way Sarah Woodbury writes! She makes the past come alive, and I feel like I can hear the sounds going on around the scenes because I am so fullHonestly Id.

In this book Cartrin is in the village she grew up in because the queen is at her time of confinement. While there she finds an old friend Rhys there. She thinks badly of him because he spends time with the English, and not the Welsh that are their people. Rhys quietly and quickly proves he is not who she thinks he is.

Then the murders start. That is part of Rhys ' s job because he works with the coroner. He is also the crouchback hence the title, but since I had no idea what that was when I started the book, I want to make it clear that you don't have to know to love this book.

Catrin follows along with Rhys because the first man murdered was a man of her son's. So it doesn't seem out of place. Also very soon Simon who even as a Norman is Rhys's best friend is also involved. He lends credibility to the entire case and search.

Before the third murder my mind was turning around two possible suspects. The last murder made it 98% clear which of my suspects it was. Honestly I still wouldn't have been surprised if it was the other suspect.

The mystery in the book is very good but honestly it is the lasting friendship and budding romance that really pulled me in. I really want to read other books in this series just to join the gang again.

[Venetia Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging murder mystery set in a very interesting historical place and time. King Edward I of England has just conquered Wales and the first English Prince of Wales (the future Edward II) is about to be born in the newly-built Caernarvon Castle. Rhys, a minor Welsh nobleman and ex-crusader who barely survived the English conquest, must solve a series of murders to keep the English conquerors from putting the blame on innocent Welsh men.

I really enjoyed the evocation of this time and place--a massive English castle stamping its authority on the Welsh landscape, and the tensions between the conquerors and conquered. I had a few niggles along the way: I'm unconvinced at the division Woodbury draws between "Norman" and "English". This was over 2 centuries after the Norman conquest of 1066, and I don't believe the ruling class of England was viewed as "Norman" by this point. There were also occasional irregularities of plot and character, the anachronistic mention of a map, and I was regularly irritated by the author's resort to the clumsy phrase "as to"! That said, overall I found the setting very believable and enjoyed the unfolding of the plot. There was also a nicely understated relationship developing between Rhys and Catrin, and an interesting psychological exploration of coming to terms with conquest.

[M.L. Dunker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sat on my TBR shelf for 2years and now I regret all that wasted time. Sarah Woodbury has created a compelling duo in Rhys de la Croix, a Welsh crusader turned King’s liaison and Catrin, a widow and lady in waiting to the Queen.
Rhys was the best friend and childhood companion to Catrin’s older brothers in Wales during the Welsh battle to remain independent. The war was lost, Catrin’s older brother bent the knee to the new English king, Rhys went to Jerusalem on Crusade, and Catrin was married to a Norman nobleman at the tender age of 16.
We catch up to the characters as Rhys is in his late 30s and returns to Wales. He speaks French, English, and Welsh, works for a nobleman who supports the King, and sees the suffering of his fellow countrymen. Catrin is also in her mid thirties, a widow after almost 20 years of marriage, her son is master of his own holding, and Catrin serves at the whim of the Queen.
The Royal Family is not well loved in Wales and a series of murders have everyone on edge. Rhys investigates to protect his countrymen as the English are quick to grab the first man around and call him the villain. Catrin assists as she can and gives insight to the court’s decisions.
The debut is very well researched and the language fits the time and place. I have already picked up the second book and will be continuing this series.

[Linda Rorex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Welsh Guard Mysteries series by Sarah Woodbury. Catrin is a widowed lady-in-waiting to Queen Eleanor of England and is sent back to Wales in 1284. She is confronted with murder, secrets, and Rhys, a childhood friend she hasn’t seen in twenty years. Rhys, a former crusader, impoverished and bound to serve Catrin’s brother. Together, they navigate the treachery within Caernafron Castle, a half-built fortress symbolic of England’s conquest of Wales. A second murder strikes, this time within the royal court, they must uncover the killer before he reaches the king or his newborn son. The title Crouchback refers to a medieval term for someone who participated in a crusade, hinting at Rhys past and the burdens he carries. This is a medieval mystery set in 1284, during a turbulent time in Welsh history. This immersive historical mystery captivated me with its richly layered narrative and unforgettable characters. Set against a backdrop of intrigue and hidden truths, the story delves deep into emotional complexity while delivering a suspenseful plot that kept me hooked. With powerful character arcs and a strong sense of time and place, it's a compelling journey through history and heartache.

[Linda Rorex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Welsh Guard Mysteries series by Sarah Woodbury. Catrin is a widowed lady-in-waiting to Queen Eleanor of England and is sent back to Wales in 1284. She is confronted with murder, secrets, and Rhys, a childhood friend she hasn’t seen in twenty years. Rhys, a former crusader, impoverished and bound to serve Catrin’s brother. Together, they navigate the treachery within Caernafron Castle, a half-built fortress symbolic of England’s conquest of Wales. A second murder strikes, this time within the royal court, they must uncover the killer before he reaches the king or his newborn son. The title Crouchback refers to a medieval term for someone who participated in a crusade, hinting at Rhys past and the burdens he carries. This is a medieval mystery set in 1284, during a turbulent time in Welsh history. This immersive historical mystery captivated me with its richly layered narrative and unforgettable characters. Set against a backdrop of intrigue and hidden truths, the story delves deep into emotional complexity while delivering a suspenseful plot that kept me hooked. With powerful character arcs and a strong sense of time and place, it's a compelling journey through history and heartache.

[It's Me - Yvette · Rating 1 out of 5]

So has this ever happened to anyone besides me? You play an audiobook and let all 8+ hours of it play in your ears. But you're not actually digesting the story - at all. When you feel you've missed something, you don't rewind because you don't care enough. When you start the playback after pausing to run errands and its playing something you don't recall (this is normally when you'd rewind), you just let it play in your ears. Again, you just haven't been drawn in enough to rewind. So you just let it play. Well now that I've finished, I don't actually know much about what happened here. I don't care to rewind and most likely won't go back to listen to this one again. My star rating is low because of the above reasons. Perhaps if I'd paid more attention, I could have given this a higher rating. So don't necessarily go by my review -- it may be just a bit unfair because I didn't really pay attention that much. And when I did pay attention, I didn't really know what was going on anyway.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

#1 in the Welsh Guard mystery series.
April, 1284 and Catrin, 36 years old, Welsh and a widow for 2 years, a lady in waiting to the queen of England, finds herself back in Wales with the royal party at Caernarfon Castle. The English are in complete control of Wales and look down upon the Welsh with no real loyality to them by Welsh. She is back to her older brother's after 20 years only to be confronted with murder and finding Rhys, the childhood friend she lost twenty years before. Rhys after a lifetime of war returns to Wales which he never thought he would. He also back where he started--impoverished and owing service to Catrin's older brother.

He and Catrin find themselves joining forces against the treachery and intrigue rife within the half-built to find the murderer and protect their people from a future that is becoming more dangerous and uncertain.

Rhys is the "crouchback" because he wore a cross on his back when he served Edmund I during the 9th crusade.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This historical mystery is set in medieval Wales, where Edward I is flexing his power. Former crusader Rhys is 'hiding in plain sight,' as he has let the English believe him to be dead at Cilmeri, along with Welsh Prince Llewellyn Ffar.

Rhys can't hide anymore, though, once dead bodies start showing up in Caernarfon. The king is building a new castle there, so there are many Norman and English folk in town. And, there's also Rhys' former sweetheart Catrin, who is indentured to Queen Eleanor.

When Rhys discovers a clue connecting the three murders to his days in the Crusades, he and Catrin begin an investigation of their own. Edward Longshanks' coroner, after all, seems to only care that a Welshman is punished for the crimes, and doesn't appear to care which one.

Part fair-play historical mystery and part thriller, as Rhys and Catrin try to smoke out the killer before he strikes again, this was an entertaining read. Nicely done.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder mystery involving a former crusader who returns to his native Wales to try to help countrymen to accept their subjudgecation to England, since they have no hope of regaining their independence.
The English court comes to the area to view the partially completed castle being built there to await the birth of the queen's child and hopeful heir. One of her ladies-in-waiting has had a relationship as a child with the crusader until her father her married off to an English lord. Although now a widow, she still retains certain suspicious doubts about the Crouchback as he was with the Welsh king as he was betrayed and slaughtered and, while severely injured, still survived the attack.
They ultimately get together to work to solve a mystery as several deaths occur.
Enjoyed a time in history that I haven't read much about before.

[Lizette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully detailed picture of two Welsh protecting their people in dangerous times

I was immediately drawn into this realistically detailed, exquisitely nuanced story. The world-building is excellent. The varied characters (Welsh villagers, and Norman and English conquerors) are believable and interesting. The dangers of the English royal court in Wales for the birth of King Edward's child challenge the progress of the muder investigations and the ability of the two Welsh investigators to trust each other.

This book is uplifting, for as its author says:
"...why write a book set in such a dark time? The answer, for me, is because Crouchback isn’t about grief, as it turns out, but about hope and perseverance, courage and love—and finding joy in the darkest moments of our lives."
I completely agree and am grateful to her for writing it.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘April 1284. As a newly widowed lady-in-waiting to the very pregnant Queen Eleanor of England, Catrin never expected to return to Wales again.’

And when Catrin arrives back in Wales, she also did not expect to become involved in investigating a murder. Catrin also finds herself face-to face with Rhys, a childhood friend she had not seen for twenty years. Catrin is initially suspicious of Rhys: where was he when Wales fell to England? And Rhys himself had not intended to return to Wales …

There is plenty of intrigue within the court of King Edward in the half-built Caernarfon Castle. Add two murders to the equation, the deep suspicion felt by the Welsh against the English invaders (and reciprocated by the English) and the scene is set for an absorbing mystery.

I enjoyed this novel and have started reading the second in the series.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Cas Strohmaier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoy reading historical novels and historical mysteries are even better though I was disappointed with this one. It was hard to get into this book as it concerns historical facts with Wales that I am not familiar with. Also disappointed in that the author had period dialogue but no period details so you did not get the feeling you were in that certain historical time frame. As another reviewer mentioned, it would be nice to have gotten more of the flavor of what was happening at the time (the historical background) and somehow I must have missed the part of what a "Crouchback" means as I had to look it up after finishing the novel. I have two other books from this author and my disappointments does not deter me from reading (listening) to those.

[Wendy Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. Enjoyable mystery set in 13th century Caernarfon Castle. Murders occur while the new overlord Edward 1 and his queen are in residence awaiting the arrival of a baby, the future Edward 11. Responsibility for solving them falls to a Welsh knight and former crusader, formerly in the service of the king's brother and keeping a low profile after fighting against the English for the defeated Prince Llewellyn. He's reunited with Catrin, a childhood friend, now lady in waiting to the Queen and they investigate together. This was an entertaining start to a new series and I particularly liked the insight into the lives and internal conflicts of Welsh people struggling with life under conquest.

[Dean McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

CROUCHBACK by Sarah Woodbury -- A medieval mystery set in 1284. English King Edward has defeated and now rules Wales as part of the empire. Catrin is a widowed lady-in-waiting to the pregnant and demanding Queen Eleanor. Catrin is now back in her childhood home of Wales but now serving the English rulers. Catrin unexpectedly finds her childhood friend, Rhys, now a knight also in service to the English king. Together they are confronted with three murders that threaten reprisals by the king against the Wales people. They work to solve the murders, catch the killer, and yet protect the conquered Welsh people from future reprisals and danger. Lots of good and interesting history....strong characters....a good plot.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book deserves more than three stars but I couldn’t QUITE push it to four. It’s pretty entertaining, even though it’s not particularly fast-paced. My knowledge of medieval Welsh history and customs is pretty limited (ok, I know nothing about it) so it intrigued me a lot for some of that stuff to pop up in the book. But it by no means guides the book…just acts as the setting. This book is a good ol’ fashioned murder mystery with one of the main protagonists, Rhys, solving a crime like a 13th century Hercule Poirot. While there was no huge surprise at the end who the murderer is (you start to piece it together towards the end of the book) it was still entertaining nonetheless.

This book is very clean and suitable for ages 10 and up.

[Angie Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely surprise this book has been! I really like the complexity of the main characters and their interplay and I didn’t work out who the murderer was until about half a chapter before I was supposed to. The historical description is plenty detailed enough to build atmosphere but doesn’t ~ as befalls so many others, to their great cost ~ become overbearing leaving the reader feeling like they have inadvertently stumbled into a history lesson masquerading as a story. The story itself is really engaging and compelling, with just enough twists and turns to keep me sitting on the sofa long after I should have been somewhere else. In short, I’m off to buy the next instalment.

[ForestGardenGal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Police procedural mystery wrapped in a medieval historical fiction wrapper

Excellent writing, the historical Welsh narrative and factual and mythological history combine to powerful effect. The attention to significant historical details was stunning. Great characters, with the main characters fairly well developed and the minor characters a bit two dimensional but still believable. Pace was compelling and quick, but not abrupt. Good plot and storyline. Mystery was well written with adequate details to draw you along and suggest various possibilities without giving anything away until just before the characters figure it out.

PG for violence. No sex, no language.