Roberta Gellis Chains of Folly

Chains of Folly

Roberta Gellis

Five Stars, Apr 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 1594144729

In medieval England, the Bishop of Winchester turns in for the night only to find the corpse of a woman dressed like a whore. He calls for his trusted aid, Sir Bellamy of Itchen, who finds the woman holds a letter from Robert of Gloucester, the enemy of the King, addressed to the Bishop. Bellamy and the Bishop conclude that someone is setting up the religious leader, to discredit him on the eve of a religious concave that will probably scold the monarch for his actions against the Bishop of Salisbury.

Reluctantly Bellamy agrees to investigate who would commit homicide to deface the Bishop. He starts his inquiries by visiting his estranged former lover Magdalene la Batarde, the whore mistress of the Old Priory Guesthouse, as she knows all the girls and their customers. Her information not given with any cooperation leaves an open field from the king to any one of several nobles coveting the bestowal of royal favorite status, but she and Bell investigate together.

Roberta Gellis, the grand dame of medieval thrillers, is at the top of her game with this terrific historical mystery that uses the homicide and the social pecking order to tell a vivid tale. The storyline actually takes off rather quickly with Magdalene on the case from near the start, and never takes a break until the climatic confrontation with the knife wielding killer. Fans will appreciate how the sleuthing team know when to tiptoe with extreme caution and when to smash and crash, as who is the recipient of the inquiries is more important than what one learns if the detectives want to keep their heads about them. CHAINS OF FOLLY is a fabulous medieval who-done-it.