Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to our Sept/Oct 25 buddy read of Vale of Tears The fifth book in the Bradecote and Catchpoll Investigation series was first published in 2019.

April, 1144. A body is found floating by Fladbury mill, a man who has been stabbed but not robbed. Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and their young apprentice Walkelin discover him to be a horse dealer with a beautiful young wife who strays. Did the wife or a lover get rid of him? What link is there to a defrocked monk who was hanged for theft, and where is the horse dealer's steed?

The trio must unravel the thread that ties together seemingly disparate deaths before even more people die.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

I think the summary is a bit misleading, as the widow of the drowned man is discounted fairly early on. The nasty brother-in-law (a lord but I forget his name) was almost cartoonish in his evil - he should’ve had a mustache to twirl! Got to be a bit much - I couldn’t figure out what the author was going for with him, he was so over the top evil, but then clearly loved and was mourning his wife. I think she was trying to make him a complex character, but as the body count rose and his responsibility became clear, I wasn’t believing he was a deeper character capable of love - he just seemed evil.

I think Wakelin is coming into his own as a member of the team, and I enjoy the camaraderie between the three. And the kind, decent hospitable priest who puts the three up for days in his humble home because the lord is too vicious and rude to do so was a great character.

I agree with all your comments, Susan - I was a bit disappointed with this book overall, although pleased that it wasn't as violent as the previous one. Again there wasn't much of a mystery element to the plot, and the villain is over the top, as you say. I'm also noticing that we aren't getting much sense of the historical background now, in terms of the war between Stephen and Maud.

I do like the camaraderie between the detectives and it is good to see Wakelin becoming a more confident member of the team, as you say, but I feel as if the series is falling off from the promise of the early books.

I agree - Brother Cadfael got me started down the historical mystery road, and more recently series like Matthew Shardlake and Sebastian St. Cyr have made my standards pretty high - not many writers can manage that level of sustained excellence!

Susan, thanks for mentioning St Cyr, I haven't tried them but must do so. I see my local library has the first book.

Finished. My review:

"A fun read for the interaction among the three main characters and the way they are learning to work together. The mystery itself was fairly obvious early on; the problem was proof. And preventing additional deaths."

I agree with all of the above comments: overly evil villain (and I will add impossibly good dead wife), wonderfully kind and thoughtful priest, and lack of historical flavor.

The next 2 - 3 books will cost me $8 on kindle, then I own a couple of the later ones. I may take a break from the series.

Judy wrote: "Susan, thanks for mentioning St Cyr, I haven't tried them but must do so. I see my local library has the first book."

I recommend St Cyr with the 'warning' that his backstory and love life can be overly dramatic and convoluted, especially in the early books. I never felt it interfered with the main plot and his life does calm down. A series I follow avidly.