Hymn to Murder

Hugh Corbett, Book 21

By: Paul Doherty

Narrated by: Richard Burnip

1312. The shadows around the English Crown grow ever darker in the 21st instalment of the much-loved Hugh Corbett series by Paul Doherty. An enthralling medieval mystery not to be missed by fans of C. J. Sansom, E. M. Powell and Bernard Cornwell.

Hugh Corbett returns in the 21st gripping mystery in Paul Doherty's ever-popular series. If you love the historical mysteries of C. J. Sansom, E. M. Powell and Bernard Cornwell you will love this.

Secrets simmer in the lonely wasteland of Dartmoor.

Spring, 1312. At Malmaison Manor, Lord Simon is concealing a dark secret - one he arrogantly assumes will never catch up with him. But someone knows about the crime he committed, and they've found a way to make him pay. And he's not alone. When he is found mysteriously slain, other deaths soon follow. Meanwhile, ships on the Devonshire coast are being deliberately wrecked, their crews slaughtered, their cargoes plundered.

Sir Hugh Corbett and Lord Simon are bound by the Secret Chancery and their search for one precious ruby - the Lacrima Christi. So, when Corbett learns of Lord Simon's death, he is once more dragged into a tangled web of lies and intrigued, and it's not long before secrets of his own start to surface. As the Hymn to Murder reaches its crescendo, can Corbett confront his past and live to see another day?

©2020 Paul Doherty (P)2020 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

Another well done work!

Good story, if a little confused at times, but solid and well written as always. Definitely worth your time if you enjoy murder mysteries set in a close to historically accurate 13th C London. I find the Medieval murder mystery a great genre and Doherty has created characters I love. The first time I read a Hugh Corbett book I became a devotee. When Ranulf came along well that was just another brick in the wall of my desire to read them all. Doherty has had some average books over the years in the Corbett series, but if you love the characters and the world of Edward I’s England to play around in, it never matters. This book is certainly a good one in the series, definitely well above average, but I would encourage anyone to go back and read the early ones, especially if you found this to be at least passable or mildly entertaining. If you did, I promise that reading the early works will make every subsequent book a pleasure, simply because you get to rejoin Master Long Face and his Clerk of the Green Wax. The addition of the Welsh Archers to the group over the last couple of books has been nice as well, although their role in this particular book was more limited. The part I love in most of the Corbett series is the tie ins to actual history and the explanation Doherty always gives at the end so you know what real events inspired his story and how they worked out. I love those explanations and this one is really fantastic for how much of the inspiring story he was able to capture in his own. Enjoy this!