Another anthology of historical mysteries, this one focusing entirely on murder, with stories chosen by Maxim Jakubowski - an expert if ever there was one.
In our period, the tales range from Peter Tremayne's Who Stole the Fish? (Ireland, AD 664), in which Sister Fidelma investigates the disappearance of a large salmon from the monastery kitchen (along with the brother who was cooking it, but no one seems to care about him), to Paul Docherty's Id Quod Clarum (Oxford, 1441), in which the obnoxious professor of theology collapses and dies of henbane or belladonna poisoning while delivering a lecture.
Of the stories set between these two dates, I particularly liked Kate Ellis' The Fury of the Northmen (South coast of Devon, Britain, AD 997) where we see a young woman take the lead in unearthing the true facts of a killing in a male-dominated Saxon village, and Susanna Gregory's The Trebuchet Murder (Cambridge, 1380) in which yet another obnoxious professor of theology is the victim. (I am beginning to wonder whether it is characteristic of medieval mystery writers that they once studied theology and fantasised about murdering the professor? Yes, I too have a degree in theology, and theologians can indeed be an arrogant and obnoxious lot.)
Then there is a longer story, Raven Feeder by Manda Scott (Orkney/Norway, AD 999) that I particularly liked. Its theme is the clash between the old religion of Odin, Thor and Freya, and the religion of the White Christ which was being imposed on all and sundry by the brutal Olaf Trygvason, King of Norway. Excellently imagined and written.
Finally, I can't stop myself from drawing your attention to two wonderful stories which are set 2000 years prior to our period but which I enjoyed very much. First. Amy Myers' Who Killed Dido? (Carthage, 10th Century BC) - the culprit is one of the gods, and the investigator Aphrodite, the goddess of love herself! Then there is Investigating the Silvius Boys by Lindsey Davis (of Falco fame), in which the victim is Remus and the "perp" his brother Romulus; brother against brother "one of the oldest crimes in the world," as she says herself on the first page of the story. (I'm not giving anything away.)
A great collection.
JM
