Chambers of Death

A Medieval Mystery

By: Priscilla Royal

Narrated by: Vanessa Benjamin

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

When one of her company falls ill on a return journey to Tyndal, Prioress Eleanor accepts lodging at a nearby manor. There, Master Stevyns's wife is having an affair with the groom, while a local widow acts more like the lady of the manor than the lady herself. The master's eldest son and spouse are obsessed with sin and heaven, while his youngest son, bound for the church, unexpectedly returns with more interest in lute playing than the priesthood.

It is no surprise when someone's throat is cut, but the sheriff does all he can to avoid offending the family rather than seeking the real killer. When he arrests a servant, she herself is stabbed before she can either prove her innocence or be taken away for hanging. Eleanor must discover the dark secrets that have led to this string of killings before the murderer strikes again.

©2009 Priscilla Royal (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Absorbing....Once again, Royal combines a well-executed plot with authentic period detail." ( Publishers Weekly)

Intrigue, historical facts and a bit of passion...

I love the main charactets and the story with history and little known facts throughout. The postlogue is also quite fascinating!

Engaging

I have been enjoying this series. I like the main characters and the plots are very engaging. Although the politics of the day are not but hinted at in the story itself, I like that the author explains it after the story has concluded.

A good read

This is an engaging story both on the level of mystery and reality of medieval life. I also liked the narrator, even better than the one of previous books in the series.
As for the life back then, gosh! Those women had it hard.

Couldn't finish due to narrator

I really wanted to finish this book as it was the sixth book in the series but I got about halfway thru and gave up. The main protagonist is female but the voice Vanessa Benjamin chose was very deep and sounded male. Her narration was also painfully slow. I didn't buy the fifth book as it also had the same narrator. I always feel kind of bad about giving a low rating over someone's performance. But another reviewer loved her narration so maybe we even things out? And performance is very subjective. I recommend listening to the sample first.

I came to these books due to my love for Ellis Peters and Mel Starr. Priscilla Royal's mysteries are quite good.

Another complex tale

I enjoy this series, , there is a good deal of social history and the daily lives of the characters seem well drawn and accurate. The various threads of the tale interweave into a complex picture and are brought to a satisfying conclusion. The doubts and uncertainties of the main characters and the very different ideas about religion and religiosity add to the story. Why no one realized the murderer was insane earlier in the story remains a mystery. His fate points out the different view of life world nowadays.
I don’t care for this narrator. The mealy mouthed accent she gives Eleanor ( known for her forthrightness ) made me cringe. There are other ways of conveying nobility!

I love the history...

I love that the first book had a lot of history info & that at the end of each book there are "writer's notes" that further explain how she used the history research to create the story just read.

Much better narrator

This series of books is quite good. This one has interesting characters and a good plot. This narrator is much better than one on the previous novels.

As advertised...

This series delivers on its promise of being Brother Cadfael quality. Thank you for a great series.