As I like this series very much (and as promised in my review of A Bone of Contention) (see also Kate's review of A Personal Devil) I wanted to read the first one to see how it all started - and finally managed to get hold of a copy.
A Mortal Bane is the book in which Magdalene first meets Sir Bellamy of Itchen, and we watch them dance round each other, he entranced by her (she is a genuine femme fatale) but not trusting her (she is also a whore), while she is deeply suspicious of him and his motives.
What has happened is that a certain Baldassare, a papal messenger, has been murdered on the step of the church adjacent to the up-market brothel known as the Old Priory Guesthouse. Unfortunately for Magdalene, he had visited her establishment and spent a happy hour with one of her girls (Sabine, for those of you who already know the series) before he left in the middle of the night to keep an appointment.
Even more unfortunately, he was carrying a pouch containing important documents destined for King Stephen. Only Sir Bellamy (soon to be known as Bell) now stands between Magdalene and Sabine and a horrible death at the hands of the executioner.
A fanatical monk, a worldly but tolerant bishop - all the usual wondeful characters, and all vividly portrayed, especially the girls themselves (you almost see them, touch them, hear them laughing); Roberta Gellis even manages to make Magdalene's aristocratic protector, the loutish William d'Ypres, seem tolerable.
If you have read the others but not this one, read it. If you have not read any of them, start with this one. Whatever you do, if you "love all things medieval", DO NOT MISS THIS SERIES.
JM
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