Servant of Death

Bradecote and Catchpoll

By: Sarah Hawkswood

Narrated by: Matt Addis

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

The much-feared and hated Eudo - the Lord Bishop of Winchester's clerk - is bludgeoned to death in Pershore Abbey and laid before the altar in the attitude of a penitent. Everyone who had contact with him had reason to dislike him, but who had reason to kill him?

The Sheriff of Worcestershire's thief taker, wily Serjeant Catchpoll, and his new and unwanted superior, Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, have to find the answer. And as the claustrophobic walls of the abbey close in on the suspects, the killer strikes again....

©2014 Sarah Hawkswood (P)2017 Isis Publishing Ltd

Enjoyable

It was a good book, I have hopes book 2 will be great but this is a good start and enjoyable read!

Medieval armchair mystery

Not a lot happens even though four people are killed. We don't see any of the murders and much of the book is taken up by interviews of a long list of suspects. each of the suspects is in turn determined to be the killer, only to have our two law enforcement officers spend more time discussing why their conclusions are wrong, and then move on to the next suspect. i almost stopped after the first chapter which felt like a stream of consciousness introduction to the cast of characters. the author moves from one to the next so rapidly, they began to run together.

The narrator improved as he went along. His individual voices were fine but his narration lacked was flat in the beginning.

It’s okay

As other reviewers have implied, this story took a while to hook my interest. Lots of fractured set up, and I didn’t find the characters interesting enough at that point to peek my immediate attention, except maybe the large stranger who came into town. However, once the murder happens, things pick up nicely. Positive: the setting, time, and descriptions were atmospheric and well done. Negative: the two key investigators did not get along, as stated in the title details. That was fine, but often, steps of their discord were over-explained by the writer. When something was said or described or asked, we readers then got a summary of how that affected one or both of the investigator’s thoughts about the other. We already knew they didn’t get along, so it would have been more interesting to have those things shown rather than explained. Thankfully, that issue eased up a bit, and the pace picked up, making the rest of the novel more engaging. Now that I know the characters I may get the second one, as a reviewer on book two said it was better than book one.

Great reader and series

This is my third time to listen to this series. Love the characters and story lines.

loved it

I thought the same as Bradecote. LOVED the way the possible suspects were dealt with. Good narrator, story well told. Enough history to be well set in the period, no obvious errors that I found on the historical accuracy -- but you aren't hit over the head about "THIS IS IN THE PAST" as some historical mysteries do. And I liked the two main characters --believable. Good people with flaws without any mystifying powers, magic, etc. As soon as I finished this one, I bought the next one. Hope that there are more after that.

it was just ok.

Second half was better, but just didn't connect with any of the characters. I like Sgt. Catchpoll. Matt Addis was so soothing in his narration at the beginning that I was getting drowsy listening. not sure I will listen to second book or not.

what a wonderful read

My first exposure to this author and I am so looking forward to reading more. The beginning of chapter 9 describing the sights and sounds of daybreak was pure poetry, Thhe writing style and language used is magnificent. the narrator 's voice was perfect and lent an extra dimension to the novel.

Good Narration

I recently became addicted to Brother Cadfael. Listened to all the unabridged titles in the series and am gradually reading the remaining titles. Have been trying other mysteries in the general time period. I love Fridgyth the Herb-Wife and Dame Frevisse. I really wanted to like this book, too...

But I just can't. I don't like any of the characters - and I especially don't like the main characters. They bumble their way through the investigation, fix om one suspect after another, keep being wrong, and don't have the sense to realize they're incompetent.

Full disclosure: I have just over an hour and a half to go before I finish this mess, and if I didn't think the narrator would be brilliant reading the phone book, I'd have given up on it by the end of chapter 2.