The Service of the Dead
A Novel
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
Political unrest permeates York at the cusp of the fifteenth century, as warring factions take sides on who should be the rightful king--Richard II or his estranged, powerful cousin in exile, Henry Bolingbroke. Independent minded twenty-year-old Kate Clifford is struggling to dig out from beneath the debt left by her late husband. Determined to find a way to be secure in her own wealth and establish her independence in a male dominated society, Kate turns one of her properties near the minster into a guest house and sets up a business. In a dance of power, she also quietly rents the discreet bedchambers to the wealthy, powerful merchants of York for nights with their mistresses.But the brutal murder of a mysterious guest and the disappearance of his companion for the evening threatens all that Kate has built. Before others in town hear word of a looming scandal, she must call upon all of her hard-won survival skills to save herself from ruin.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in York in 1399, this series launch from Robb (A Vigil of Spies) works better as a historical novel than a mystery. Richard II's decision to forfeit Henry Bolingbroke's inheritance raises the prospect of a civil war. Against this backdrop, Kate Clifford, who operates a guesthouse, is put in a difficult position by the real-life mayor of York, William Frost, a cousin of hers. Kate was expecting William and a lady friend to use one of her rooms for a discreet rendezvous, but instead, the mayor persuaded her housekeeper to accommodate a stranger and a well-known prostitute. The deception would have been a trivial one had the unknown man not been strangled. When Kate confronts William, he refuses to identify the corpse, though he agrees to dispose of the remains to avoid a scandal. Kate's search for the man's identity and killer is prosaic, but the novel resonates with its compelling portrayal of an England on the brink of crisis.
