Doherty opens his 8th Hugh Corbett novel, The Song of a Dark Angel, explaining to the reader that the Song of a Dark Angel is the sound the night wind
makes as it roars off the sea and into Norfolk, England. Then
he describes two bodies, which have yet to be discovered, swaying in the Song
of a Dark Angel. A pretty awesome way to start a book!
The Song of the Dark
Angel has stories of King John, lost treasure and more naughty nuns. Hugh, Ranulf and Maltote are sent to Norfolk
to investigate the decapitation of a man on the beach, and the hanging of the
baker’s young wife. Hugh soon hears the
legend of King John losing almost all of his fortune when he and his retinue tried
crossing the Wash. The tide came upon
them suddenly, catching them unaware.
John and his retainers made it across safely but the pack train carrying
his treasure was lost. Although the
event happened almost 100 years before, the people in the area are still
looking for the lost treasure.
Thrown into the mix is the Pastoureaux, a cult, teaching
enlightenment and freedom across the seas.
How are all these connected? More
murders occur and an attempt is made to kill Corbett.
I found this one to be a bit more exciting than some of the
previous novels. It moves at a pretty
good pace. However, there are a couple
of scenes in which Corbett seems to pull a conclusion to a situation out of
thin air. Also, Maltote is just a periphery
character as in the past novel. He is
usually sent on an errand for which he is gone for long stretches of the
story. I hope he gets more “air time” in
the next few novels. And Maeve doesn’t
even appear.
Other than those couple of items, The Song of a Dark Angel was a fun read. I liked reading Doherty’s notes at the end of
the novel. Apparently, King John’s
treasure has never been recovered so it might still be out there, waiting to be
found.
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