A Choir of Crows (Owen Archer Series #12)

by Candace Robb

Overview

When two bodies are discovered in the grounds of York Minster shortly before the enthronement of the new archbishop, Owen Archer is summoned to investigate.

December, 1374. With the great and the good about to descend on York for the enthronement of Alexander Neville as the new archbishop, the city authorities are in a state of high alert. When two bodies are discovered in the grounds of York Minster, and a flaxen-haired youth with the voice of an angel is found locked in the chapter house, Owen Archer, captain of the city bailiffs, is summoned to investigate.

Tension deepens when an enigmatic figure from Owen's past arrives in the city. Why has he returned from France after all these years - and what is his connection with the bodies in the minster yard and the fair singer?

Before Owen can make headway in the investigation, a third body is fished out of the river - and the captain finds himself with three mysterious deaths to solve before the all-powerful Neville family arrives in York.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448304455
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	07/01/2020
Series:	Owen Archer Series , #12
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	490,573
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Candace Robb has read and researched medieval history for many years, having studied for a Ph.D. in Medieval&Anglo-Saxon Literature. She divides her time between Seattle and the UK, frequently visiting York to research the series. She is the author of eleven previous Owen Archer mysteries and three Kate Clifford medieval mysteries.
Candace Robb has read and researched medieval history for many years, having studied for a Ph.D. in Medieval&Anglo-Saxon Literature. She divides her time between Seattle and the UK, frequently visiting York to research the series. She is the author of eleven previous Owen Archer mysteries and three Kate Clifford medieval mysteries.

Editorial Reviews

05/11/2020

Set in 1374 shortly after the events of 2019’s A Conspiracy of Wolves, Robb’s solid 12th Owen Archer mystery finds the future of the English royal family uncertain. Edward III and his heir, Prince Edward, are in poor physical and mental health, and the next in the line of succession, Prince Richard, is only a child. Owen, now the captain of bailiffs for the city of York, is serving as Prince Edward’s “eyes and ears in the North.” Meanwhile, a monk arrives at Owen’s house with “a fair young woman” disguised as a male pilgrim. The woman, whose name and background are unknown to the monk, is accused of fatally stabbing a vicar in the churchyard and of climbing up the chapter-house stairs to the roof and pushing another man to his death. Owen investigates, concerned that the deaths might pose a risk to the realm. Owen’s worries that his children may have the pestilence add some emotional depth. Robb once again effectively blends crime with the politics of 14th-century England. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

A multitude of new and old supporting characters round out the delightful cast and contribute to the twists and turns of the compelling plot

Booklist on A Company of Wolves

2020-05-18
In the winter of 1374, a new archbishop, about to be enthroned in York, brings with him disharmony and death.

Having watched Ronan, the vicar of incoming archbishop Alexander Neville, exchange cloaks with a stranger, Brother Michaelo hears an angelic voice singing and then rescues a disheveled youth accused of pushing an unknown man off the chapter house roof and then killing Ronan. When Michaelo takes the youth to the home of local lawman Capt. Owen Archer and his apothecary wife, Lucie, for questioning, they discover that the youth is an exhausted young woman whose tale will entangle Archer, who, aside from his duties in York, is also a spy for Prince Edward, in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the powerful Neville family. At the cottage of Magda the healer, Archer meets the musician Ambrose, an old friend returned from years in the French court, who’s come to warn that Edward’s physicians have been slowly poisoning him. On Ambrose’s return trip from France he met and protected the woman posing as a lad, and it was Ambrose who exchanged cloaks with Ronan, muddying the investigation, since both men had murderous enemies. The young woman finally reveals herself as Marian, a nun stolen away from the life she loves. Hers is just a piece of the puzzle Archer must solve in an atmosphere of distrust and fear.

A mélange of medieval political plotting and returning characters sure to please fans of historical mysteries.

Kirkus Reviews