This is the first book in the author’s Oxford Medieval Mysteries series and was published back in 2016. A young bookseller, Nicholas Elyot, finds the body of William Farringdon floating in the River Cherwell. It looks like suicide but is soon revealed as murder, and Nicholas starts to investigate. He learns that the victim (a promising student) had been innocently caught up in a criminal plot involving the university, town and abbey. It's a good mystery but Ann Swinfen’s writing isn’t nearly as evocative as C.J.Sansom’s and in places her style feels rather self-conscious. Nonetheless this was interesting to read.
Review by: Juno, Oundle Crime
