Fatal Feast

The Merlin Mysteries

by Jay Ruud

When an Irish knight dies mysteriously at a banquet she is hosting‚ Queen Guenivere is charged with murder and faces death at the stake if found guilty. Her loyal page‚ Gildas‚ rushes to the woods to track down Merlin and convince him to take up the investigation and save the queen.



Fatal Feast is a fast-paced murder mystery set in the legendary court of Camelot‚ imagined as it might have existed in the high Middle Ages‚ with Sir Gawain‚ Sir Gareth‚ and Sir Lancelot in pivotal roles‚ and the young Gildas‚ enamored of the queen's young lady-in-waiting Rosemounde‚ an unlikely courtly lover focused on saving the queen and impressing his Rosemounde -- not necessarily in that order.

Genres: Arthurian, Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction

297 pages, Hardcover

First published January 21, 2015

Reviews

[C.]

Not the most carefully constructed mystery, but definitely an enjoyable read. I especially enjoyed this Arthurian re-telling by an author familiar with the subject matter. Having done a paper or two of the history of Arthurian myth, I was pleased to pick out a few details and names I would otherwise have missed. But being new to Arthurian myths would certainly not hinder the enjoyment of this book.

[Austin Stoffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading fatal feast I can say, for certain, it’s not a bad book. If you enjoy a Sherlock Holmes and Watson tale then this book may be in your direction, but I picked this up as I like tales of knights and chivalry. I knew it was a murder mystery but I was not prepared for 20 pages at a time of just describing where people sat at a dinner table. A very slow build up with almost no climax. When you read such a slow book the only hope is a satisfying ending which is hardly achieved in this case.

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't stop putting it down... Me, that gets sucker into books to the exclusion of tornado sirens, and I've put it down a dozen times in the 1st 20 pages. I try to always give a book a good 2-3 chapters to really get going, but this one just drags. I am sure the intent was to paint a thorough picture, but what it ended up being was bogged down in excess description. not even character description, but who sat next to whom, which was next to blah, next to blah, next to blah. I felt like I was reading about cardboard cutouts staged in a room painfully exactingly, and got no sense of connection to the characters, even the narrator, which was attempting some wit, but seems more a repetition of wit overheard.

[Lizzytish · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I saw this at the library in the new section, I grabbed it. A murder mystery set in Camelot, with Merlin, Sir Lancelot, and all the knights?? Yes!!

However, it wasn't what I expected. It wasn't bad, just slow going, too much detail showing the great research done, along with characters I could not care about. I was wondering if it was meant to be a YA, as that is how it came across.

As to the mystery, I don't understand why some clues were not picked up on right away or at least some questions pertaining to the murder that I was asking at the start.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good first book in a new series. Loved how he added modern phrases and speech into this medieval times. It was unexpected and fun!