Back in the days when King Stephen still ruled a troubled and divided kingdom, and Henry II and Queen Eleanor were still buried deep in the tarot pack, one small part of London had its own queen, the beautiful Magdalene la Bâtarde. She was all that Eleanor was to be, and more so, but the paths of their lives were utterly different and Magdalene ended up as a whore, a madam with her own up-market whorehouse, and the proud mistress of William of Ypres, King Stephen's right-hand man. She also often acted as Lord William's agent, for she was well placed to hear of men's doings and learn their secrets. As she observes somewhere in this book, much is revealed in pillow-talk.
Chains of Folly is the fourth in the Magdalene la Bâtarde series ... I remember reading of Magdalene for the first time in Chapter One of A Mortal Bane:
Magdalene la Bâtarde, whoremistress, she who had been Arabel de St. Foi until her husband died of a knife in the heart and she had fled before she could be accused of his murder ...
I was hooked. I read Bone of Contention and A Personal Devil – then waited – and waited – for the paperback edition of Chains of Folly. I don't think there ever was one. I now have in my hand an ex-library hardback I came across in a charity shop.
I think I understand the problem. For Magdalene addicts like me it is essential reading, and I loved it. But I have to say that it is a bit slow compared with the others, a bit of a pot-boiler, and I wouldn't recommend it unless, as I say, you are already hooked.
A dead prostitute is found in the Bishop of Winchester's bed-chamber. We know already, from the Prologue, that she was dead when she was placed there to embarrass and be a source of scandal about him, and that the Bishop knows nothing of her. Telling the reader this in the Prologue is probably a mistake. If we hadn't been sure, and Magdalene and her friend, the Bishop's Knight, Sir Bellamy of Itchen, hadn't been sure, that might have added to the mystery.
It turns out that the woman was also a thief, and concealed on her body is a treasonous letter from the King's enemy, Gloucester, to the Bishop, obviously intended to incriminate him. How did she come by this letter? Who killed her and put her in the Bishop's room? And more to the point, will Magdalene and Bell (Sir Bellamy) who have quarrelled (he adores her, but can't cope with her being a whore and Lord William's mistress) ever get together again? Not just working together to solve the mystery, but in bed together.
As I say, I wouldn't have missed it. And if you are already a Magdalene la Bâtarde fan, try to get hold of a copy.
MBG
