A return to Sarah Hawkwood's Historical Mysteries

It is nearly three weeks since I last posted a Blog - the longest gap yet. There are two reasons. First, I have started on the mammoth task of putting my Library on a database. Cleverly, it not only records the author and title, but also the condition (dust wrapper or not?), edition, number of pages, publisher and, very usefully, a 'tag' system whereby books can be grouped under headings: e.g. the West Indies, The Anarchy, Scottish authors. I have reached 1075 inputs - the database can hold 5,000. I will not be putting my Oxford World's Classics series or most of my paperbacks on, so will not get near my actual total of just over 8,000. Scanning, then inputting onto the database, takes up considerable time; but I am enjoying the process, as it reunites me with/reminds me of so many tomes I had forgotten or not browsed in for some years.

The second reason is that I decided to read the remaining four Bradecote and Catchpoll Historical Mystery novels one after the other.

  

 

The four books range over the period October 1143 to June 1144. Sensibly, the timescale is a short one (like the Susanna Gregory Matthew Bartholomew and Thomas Chaloner series), so Sarah Hawkswood can go on ad infinitum. Gregory is on her 24th and 15th books respectively. Hawkswood calls herself a 'wordsmith' and she certainly has the skills to carry a tale forward, coherently and with pace when needed. She is developing the three main characters - Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin - realistically and brings in a host of supporting players effectively enough (e.g. the lord Sheriff, William de Beauchamp). She also pays attention to the passing of the seasons and the resulting problems the weather throws up (the hard winter and frozen River Severn in Hostage to Fortune, for instance). The actual mysteries are well-knit, even if the 'culprit' is often known or guessed early on. The baddies are suitably 'bad' and get their comeuppance. Hawkswood inserts the occasional nod to the Anarchy's greater mortals, such as King Stephen, Matilda and Robert of Gloucester. Her next book in the series - River of Sins - is due out in November and I am looking forward to reading it.

I find such Historical Mystery series good for relaxing and untaxing on the brain.  Susanna Gregory has already been mentioned and I have loyally bought each Matthew Bartholomew and Thomas Chaloner episode, even if they have inevitably become mildly repetitive. I also enjoyed Shona (S.G.) MacLean's four novels (2008-2013) of Alexander Seaton's exploits, mainly set in Aberdeen in the 1620s and 1630s. She appears to have called this series to a halt, to turn to the Captain Damian Seeker series (5 novels 2015-2020), which I have not as yet read. I much enjoyed Ariana Franklin's (aka Diana Norman) series (2007-2010) featuring Adelia Aguilar (England's first anatomist!) set in King Henry II's reign. Alas, the series of only four books ended all too quickly due to the author's death.  Another writer I collected was Candace Robb, whose Owen Archer series (1993-2008), was set mainly in York from 1363 to 1373. Robb seemed to have ended the tales in 2008 but restarted them in 2016 with The Bone Jar. The most recent, A Choir of Crows, set in 1374, was published only last month. I haven't, so far, read any of these later three books. I mentioned in my earlier Blog that I had collected and read Edward Marston's sixteen-volume Nicholas Bracewell series (1988-2006), set in Elizabethan theatre days. All the above are a pleasant way to while away the hours, whether on a recliner in the garden, on a train or plane journey, or on the beach.

Of course, a much 'meatier' series is that of C. J. Sansom's (2003-2018) with the lawyer Matthew Shardlake battling his way through the dangerous times of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I's reigns. His first book, Dissolution (set in 1537) was a mere 456 pages; his most recent, Tombland (set in 1549), challenges the reader's concentration with 866 pages; admittedly, it includes an Historical Essay, Endnotes and a Bibliography. I still found the story enthralling!