Reviews for A mortal bane

The average rating for A mortal bane based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-01-16 00:00:00 Travis Berg What a slog... if ever a book needed an abridged version, this is it! I stuck with it out of stubbornness, as well as some interest in the resolution of the murders; unfortunately, that came through as a rushed anti-climax. The "hook" here of the womens' profession, and (various) disabilities, grew old fast. Actually, it grew creepy with them defining themselves as, and being regularly referred to as, "whores" every few minutes. Rounded up to three stars, though that's generous from my experience.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-11-17 00:00:00 Arthur Frommes As you probably already know I am one of those people who thinks Roberta Gellis cannot write a bad book, some less good yes but never a bad one. I am glad to report then that I really loved reading A Mortal Bane and it definetely joins the group of her good books. It is a medieval murder mystery set in a whorehouse located in an old priory that the Bishop of London has let to Magdalene La Batarde. Magdalene was once a whore herself but now she just controls the business, checks that everything is in order for her "guests" who come and visit her women. All of the women have some disability, one is deaf, another is blind and so on... Madalene provides them with a ceiling and they all seem reasonably happy with their lot. But one day one of their visitors is murdered in the church next door. Magdalene just knows that the whores will be the first ones to be blamed so she decides to conduct a private investigation. When the victim is revealed as a papal messenger even the Bishop of London is called upon to discover the culprit. I really enjoyed reading about these people, Magdalene was a bit reserved at first and we get to know her better as the action progresses. The whores are treated more superficially and we don't know all of them all that well although I suppose that can happen in future books. Sir Bellamy of Itchem is the Bishop of London' man, charged with investigating the crime he starts to feel a bit jealous of the visits to Magdalene's house till he discovers she only manages the business. And there's also William of Ypres, Stephen's man in the war against Matilda which gives us a glimpse of the politics of the period, he is also Magdalene's protector which pleases Bellamy a bit less... The characters were interesting and engaging and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. I have no idea if whores could rent from the church but I think Gellis wrote a compelling story that seemed to me with a believable medieval atmosphere. The morals of the time, from church members and otherwise are called into question and there are several twists and turns before the culprit is finally found. As a whole a really interesting story. I will be looking forward to read the next books in the series. Grade: 4/5