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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
mysterious
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
1282 Arriving at Wynethorpe Manor to escape the Welsh and to allow Robert's wife to peaceful give birth. Prioress Eleanor and Brother Thomas are soon engaged in another mystery. A twice hanged man is seen to have committed murder. How is that possible.
An entertaining historical mystery
An entertaining historical mystery
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Twice Hanged Man follows Eleanor, Prioress of Tyndale. The story opens with the Prioress, her brother, his wife, a nun and a priest. Accompanied by Robert, her brother, Elizabeth, her sister-in-law, Sister Anne and Brother Thomas, she was fleeing Wales for the safety of Wynethrope in England. Elizabeth goes into labor on their trip. Sister Anne and Prioress Eleanor help Elizabeth through the harrowing ordeal of childbirth that existed particularly at this time in history. Elizabeth bears her second child, a daughter, but her fight for her life is not yet over.
Eleanor interrupted by the local abbot, Abbot Gerald, seeking an audience. Father Payn, the abbot's priest, has died and someone has declared that they saw a dead man kneeling over his body. What ensues is the efforts of the Prioress, Sister Anne and Brother Thomas to discover what happened to the Father and send the spirit back to hell.
I found the writing to be juvenile and the plot predictable. It took much longer for me to complete this book than it should have. I continued to read out of principle - trying to give the author and the storyline the benefit of the doubt. I figured it was possible that the issue was that I had come into the series on book 15 rather than starting at the beginning.
The book is a stand alone story, but I found little character development and less to love about the individual characters as I continued to wade through the pages. I have no doubt that some of the internal struggles the reader is privy to existed in the "Religious" (as Eleanor and Thomas were called in the book) at that time, but I found the amount of time spent on relating those struggles in print off-putting. Overall the books was readable, but I'm not inclined at this point to read anything further by this author.
Eleanor interrupted by the local abbot, Abbot Gerald, seeking an audience. Father Payn, the abbot's priest, has died and someone has declared that they saw a dead man kneeling over his body. What ensues is the efforts of the Prioress, Sister Anne and Brother Thomas to discover what happened to the Father and send the spirit back to hell.
I found the writing to be juvenile and the plot predictable. It took much longer for me to complete this book than it should have. I continued to read out of principle - trying to give the author and the storyline the benefit of the doubt. I figured it was possible that the issue was that I had come into the series on book 15 rather than starting at the beginning.
The book is a stand alone story, but I found little character development and less to love about the individual characters as I continued to wade through the pages. I have no doubt that some of the internal struggles the reader is privy to existed in the "Religious" (as Eleanor and Thomas were called in the book) at that time, but I found the amount of time spent on relating those struggles in print off-putting. Overall the books was readable, but I'm not inclined at this point to read anything further by this author.
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Full review can be found here: https://www.criminalelement.com/review-twice-hanged-man-priscilla-royal/
A well written, engrossing and entertaining historical mystery.
It's well written and well researched and I loved the historical setting and the fleshed out characters.
The mystery is full of twists and turns and kept me guessing.
Even if it's not the first in this series it can be read as a stand alone as it's full of details.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
It's well written and well researched and I loved the historical setting and the fleshed out characters.
The mystery is full of twists and turns and kept me guessing.
Even if it's not the first in this series it can be read as a stand alone as it's full of details.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I DNF this book. Its is a latter book in a series that I have never read before. Perhaps if I knew these characters from the beginning I would have enjoyed this book. The characterization was good but the story development was sooo sloooow I just lost interest.
This may be an "it's not you, it's me" thing. Reading a random book in the middle of a series is always a dicey proposition, since you don't know the characters and haven't been there for the earlier parts of their arcs.
That said, I didn't warm to the main characters, particularly Eleanor, whose judginess is really off-putting. I'm also not really sure how I feel about the handling of homosexuality in the story. It felt both inconsistently handled and there largely for the angst, which isn't exactly a great reason for adding representation. But it might seem less that way to someone who'd read all the previous books. IDK.
All in all, there was nothing here to make me want to rush out and read more of these.
That said, I didn't warm to the main characters, particularly Eleanor, whose judginess is really off-putting. I'm also not really sure how I feel about the handling of homosexuality in the story. It felt both inconsistently handled and there largely for the angst, which isn't exactly a great reason for adding representation. But it might seem less that way to someone who'd read all the previous books. IDK.
All in all, there was nothing here to make me want to rush out and read more of these.
Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal, Brother Thomas and Sister Anne return in The Twice-Hanged Man, latest in the medieval series from Priscilla Royal.
Eleanor and her fellow Christians hardly have time to rest (she’s with her pregnant sister-in-law, who’s just about to give birth and so they have fetched up in a tiny village) before she’s asked to find a murderer -- who everyone is convinced is a ghost. Hywel is dead, it can’t be him that’s terrorizing people -- can it? The first dead man is a priest, which means asking her for help is probably doubly necessary. She’s the one with “the gift of visions” -- and no one will let her forget it. Since the prioress believes there is no such thing as ghosts, she must seek an earthly explanation.
Thomas is struggling from the beginning, as he has throughout the series. His secret must be kept from everyone, obviously, and it is a heavy burden, especially for a religieux. Priscilla Royal has always handled this subject with care and quiet understanding.
Sister Anne thinks it was a natural death for Father Payn, as he was older and unwell, and it was probably a heart attack -- perhaps from seeing this “ghost.” But how to convince the abbot of this?
Bardolph was the hangman -- not well-liked, but then what hangman ever is? Soon the hangman himself is dead. And then, there is another murder. We’re not short of bodies in The Twice-Hanged Man.
As in many mysteries, family members are likely suspects. In the author’s hands they are troublesome characters, with unpleasant personality traits and secrets they are loath to reveal.
All the while this is going on Thomas is in torment. He has met a townsman -- and begins to wonder if anyone saw them. His suffering is as deep as the mystery that surrounds the murders.
The prioress saves all -- a diabolical cover-up! and gets a murderer to confess -- but not before that murderer accuses Thomas of a foul deed. Eleanor then serves God in the best way possible, to her mind. For some, given these books take place in the medieval world, Eleanor’s thinking may be too modern a response. Readers will have to decide on their own.
The trial is over, a murderer condemned. The travelers from Tyndal are ready to make their way home. But there’s more coming, a way to finish out the story and bring a form of conclusion to Eleanor and Thomas. She has personal and indeed professional decisions to make. What she decides forms the end of the book, and puts the story of a ghost to rest, too, for Abbot Gerald and his village.
An author’s note explains the true historical precedents behind the plot -- how a twice-hanged man can actually become something miraculous.
To me, it was pretty obvious who the murderer was -- the book was just a means to an end, a vehicle to reveal Brother Thomas’ secret. It’s about time, really. Time for it to come out and for Eleanor to know.
Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for a copy of this book in advance of publication, in exchange for this review.
Eleanor and her fellow Christians hardly have time to rest (she’s with her pregnant sister-in-law, who’s just about to give birth and so they have fetched up in a tiny village) before she’s asked to find a murderer -- who everyone is convinced is a ghost. Hywel is dead, it can’t be him that’s terrorizing people -- can it? The first dead man is a priest, which means asking her for help is probably doubly necessary. She’s the one with “the gift of visions” -- and no one will let her forget it. Since the prioress believes there is no such thing as ghosts, she must seek an earthly explanation.
Thomas is struggling from the beginning, as he has throughout the series. His secret must be kept from everyone, obviously, and it is a heavy burden, especially for a religieux. Priscilla Royal has always handled this subject with care and quiet understanding.
Sister Anne thinks it was a natural death for Father Payn, as he was older and unwell, and it was probably a heart attack -- perhaps from seeing this “ghost.” But how to convince the abbot of this?
Bardolph was the hangman -- not well-liked, but then what hangman ever is? Soon the hangman himself is dead. And then, there is another murder. We’re not short of bodies in The Twice-Hanged Man.
As in many mysteries, family members are likely suspects. In the author’s hands they are troublesome characters, with unpleasant personality traits and secrets they are loath to reveal.
All the while this is going on Thomas is in torment. He has met a townsman -- and begins to wonder if anyone saw them. His suffering is as deep as the mystery that surrounds the murders.
The prioress saves all -- a diabolical cover-up! and gets a murderer to confess -- but not before that murderer accuses Thomas of a foul deed. Eleanor then serves God in the best way possible, to her mind. For some, given these books take place in the medieval world, Eleanor’s thinking may be too modern a response. Readers will have to decide on their own.
The trial is over, a murderer condemned. The travelers from Tyndal are ready to make their way home. But there’s more coming, a way to finish out the story and bring a form of conclusion to Eleanor and Thomas. She has personal and indeed professional decisions to make. What she decides forms the end of the book, and puts the story of a ghost to rest, too, for Abbot Gerald and his village.
An author’s note explains the true historical precedents behind the plot -- how a twice-hanged man can actually become something miraculous.
To me, it was pretty obvious who the murderer was -- the book was just a means to an end, a vehicle to reveal Brother Thomas’ secret. It’s about time, really. Time for it to come out and for Eleanor to know.
Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for a copy of this book in advance of publication, in exchange for this review.