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Sorry to see the end of this series

mick dubois 16 april 2020
This story takes place in 1545, near the end of Henry VIII’s reign. The infamous king is fighting 2 wars, on the continent against the French and the other one closer to home against the Scottish. Those military campaigns drain the country of its money and of its young men who’re being conscripted. Bianca’s and Cammie’s husband and paramour are fighting in the borders, while Fisk’s father is away in France. News is scarce and unreliable. The fate of a loved one is only clear when they return, or not.
The religious reforms the king made when he decreed it to be sinful to wed his brother’s widow didn’t fall well with the priests who saw a large part of their income abolished or with the monks who were all pensioned off while the abbeys’ possessions got confiscated by the crown. Some still secretly held on to the old religion despite all papists being persecuted for treason. But for some that listened to the sermons of Maarten Luther, the English reforms don’t go far enough.

When a young boy is found hanging from a grotesque (gargoyle) on the outside wall of St Mary Magdalen’s church, Constable Patch is one of the first officials on the site. Despite it not being in his own ward, he sends for Bianca Goddard, an herbalist who helped him in the past with solving other murders. There’s a paternoster (rosemary) wound around the boy’s neck but he died from hanging and looks abnormally peaceful. Nobody seems to know who this child is. Most likely he was living on the streets and survived by stealing. There are vague rumours about “the deft drigger” a Fagin-like figure, which organises and lives off child-thieves. But no-one seems to know if he really exists or if he’s a figure of imagination.
Bianca wants to offer an apprenticeship to young Fisk, who assisted already in previous cases, but he’s disappeared and she’s worried when another child is found hanged from another church.
Between the chapters about the murders, we get flashes how reluctant pike man John fares in the army. Warfare was very brutal and cruel in those times (when are they not?) and conflicts between arise the archers and the pikemen who protect them but aren’t respected

I must say that the author meticulously researched this period. Not so easy as this story is about ordinary commoners, working-class people whereas most historical documents involve the higher classes with the politics and drama of the grand courts. The sights and even smells of the extremely filthy refuse filled and rat-infested streets are in vivid contrast with the palaces and their rich occupants.
Because I didn’t read the previous books, it puzzled me why she keeps referring to Hobs, a cat as immortal but all became clear over the course of the story.
The story itself is very well constructed, but the eventual explanation and motivation for the murders felt a bit light and unrealistic. It was definitely original and well found but a bit rushed as if the deadline was near and the story in need for an ending.
There’s a useful glossary at the end of the book and I wish that I noticed that at the start as it would have saved me from looking up certain unknown archaic words.
Not long after I started reading, I noticed that –with all the references to previous adventures- this story was part of a series. Not that I had problems to understand what goes on in this story, but there are ease and familiarity between the characters that speak of an older acquaintance. It can be read perfectly as a standalone, but that would be a shame because I also discovered that this was the last book in this series. Why stop when you have a good thing going? Who knows, maybe she might reconsider.

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