Book review - "Satan in St. Mary's" by P. C. Doherty

I decided to read P.C. Doherty’s medieval mystery series featuring Hugh Corbett, starting with the first novel, Satan in St. Mary’s, and read almost all of it on a plane ride.  I enjoyed the story but it does address some disturbing topics.

Hugh Corbett is a clerk in the employee of King Edward I, in the mid-thirteen hundreds.  Some thirty years prior to the story, Edward I had to battle Robert de Montfort for the crown and eventually won.  

De Montfort was hacked to death.  Apparently, de Montfort was a devil-worshipper and was a member of a large group of such vile people.  Despite de Montfort’s death, his fellows carry on their religion and plot the assassination of Edward I.

The Royal Chancellor assigns clerk Hugh Corbett to look into the suicide of the Chancellor’s spy.  Corbett quickly discovers the man was murdered and sets out to find the people responsible.  During his investigation,, he becomes the target of the devil-worshippers and falls for a beautiful woman, known to be very dangerous.  That part of the story is rather predictable.

Although the final solution is not a big surprise, the story is exciting and a fast read.  Doherty gives Hugh intelligence and tenacity, but also a soft side.