Reviews for The Alehouse Murders (Templar Knight Mystery Series #1)

The average rating for The Alehouse Murders (Templar Knight Mystery Series #1) based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-06-11 00:00:00 Zoe Craycroft So I'm doing some catch-up reading for the Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge. I started the year off good and then immediately got behind. C'est la vie. My second read is The Alehouse Murders by Maureen Ash, part of the Templar Knight mystery series. As you may have already guessed, it's a medieval murder mystery set in Lincoln, England, in the year 1200. I chose it mostly for the setting. As you may know, I love medieval mysteries and I especially like anything from that particular time period. It's the age of Robin Hood, and my favorite era. My overall impression of this story was that it's rather - quiet. The story is subdued and the sleuth, Bascot de Marins, is almost in the background compared to the other characters, particularly the suspects. That might sound like a bad thing but it's really not. It's actually fitting when you think about it. What should a sleuth do but listen and watch, staying a little apart from everyone to see what's really going on. I think this contrast actually makes Bascot stand out a little more. Plus, he's a likable character with a scarred history and personal turmoil over his past choices and future decisions. He's compassionate and you can tell without a lot of smoke and flash that there is more to him than meets the eye. (That was actually an unintentional pun - he lost one eye in the Crusades.) And I really enjoyed the relationship between Bascot and his young, mute charge, Gianni. Gianni, despite not saying a word, is also a lovable character from his behavior alone. As to the actual murder mystery, I had no clue whodunnit until the tale end. I did guess before the reveal, but it could have worked out differently. I have to say I was not into the story that much until the middle when an exciting twist is revealed. At the start, I had no idea how it would all connect and it took me until about the half-way point to really care that much. Thereafter, Ash had my attention, and she kept it going with the palpable tension among the suspects. There is very little action apart from the actual crimes, but you don't miss it. There's so much tension between the characters from the start, and even between races with the included historical import of the Jewish community in England at the time. With all historical-based novels, setting detail is important to inform the reader and ground you in that world and Ash does a stupendous job of doing just that. It's easy to imagine the land, castle, and town. I know different readers may prefer varying amounts of historical detail, but I eat up specifics, especially for this time period. Along that line is a subplot that's entirely unrelated to the murder. Bascot orders custom boots to relieve pain in his foot from an old injury. It's a small thing, but the details and the personal nature of that side story has stuck in my mind. And Ash does tie it in to the murder mystery via information from the shop owner's son. All-in-all this is a murder mystery grounded in details and subtleties. It's a quieter read with a lot of personal touches that draw you to Bascot and his companion. But the tension and unexpected twists really make this a mystery worth reading.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-02-02 00:00:00 Isabel Pereira Bascot de Marins is a Templar Knight battling with his faith and the decision of whether to stay in the order or leave. While he is contemplating his future, he is sent to stay with the sheriff of Lincoln (England) and his wife. A string of murders occurs during his stay and he his charged with the task of discovering the murderer. It was such a pleasure to be transported to the times of Knights, castles, feasts and tournaments in England. I think these kinds of settings are magical for me. And Ash does a wonderful job of bringing them to life…from the hubbub of the castle during the festivities, to the "segregated" elements of society: the Jews and the lepers. Bascot de Marins is a great protagonist, once again, a character battling internal conflict at the same time he's battling external conflicts. I absolutely love Gianni. Ash created him in such a way that you can't help but want to take care of him yourself, but he and Bascot seem to have a symbiotic relationship; it's hard to imagine them parting ways. I was equally entranced by Nicolaa de la Haye. A strong, assertive female in this time period is attractive. Since I'm planning to follow this series, I hope to see more development of her character. Ash seemed to start to develop her, but then not really take it anywhere. There were also great supporting characters that played rather minor roles. Roget I found to provide some humor, even though he was supposed to be feared by all the people of Lincoln. The way he used that fear was rather cunning. And Lady Hilde played a great spy. While I could see the end coming, I wasn't really paying a lot of conscious attention to it because I was very caught up in the development of the characters. Language more in sync with the time period would have been nice, but for many that would probably be a drawback. I really enjoyed this novel. Parts of it made me think of The Sound of Music. I will be checking into the next of this series.