The Christmas Wassail
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
Christmas, 1483: Roger the Chapman is looking forward to twelve days of peace and celebration with his wife and children in Bristol. The family is particularly excited by the arrival of a troupe of mummers, who will perform their plays in the outer ward of the castle throughout the festival. But the gruesome murders of two of the town’s most prominent and venerable citizens, both veterans of the French wars, scupper Roger’s hopes as he is gradually drawn into the hunt for the killer.
Once again, Roger finds himself in grave danger, but it is someone else who pays the price of his inability to keep his nose out of matters that do not concern him . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sedley's 22nd Roger the Chapman mystery (after 2012's The Tintern Treasure), one of her best, perfectly blends action, detection, and period color. Although 1483 has been a tumultuous year for England with the ascension of Richard III to the throne (and the fate of the princes in the Tower unresolved), Roger is hoping for a bit of a break over Christmas, a wish that goes unfulfilled. Instead of quiet relaxation with family and friends, the occasional operative for Richard has a series of murders to solve. The violence begins with the stabbing death of an alderman, who utters the name "Dee" before expiring, a possible clue to the identity of his killer. When Roger tells the authorities of the dying man's declaration, Sir George Marvell, a well-respected war hero who was at the victim's side along with Roger, denies it was a name. Things play out in surprising ways, leaving the investigator in a moral quandary about not only others' actions but also his own.
