I think Corpse Candle
was the first Hugh Corbett medieval mystery I read, so it is probably why I’m
enjoying the whole series. The title of
the 13th story in the series refers to a natural phenomenon similar
to the Marfa Lights in southwest Texas, a release of swamp gases that glow in
the dark. Apparently, they were once
known as corpse candles, and people thought they were spirits of the dead.
Actually, corpse candles have very little to do with this
novel. They are part of the landscape
around the monastery St.-Martin’s-in-the-Marsh, where Abbot Stephen has been
found in a locked room with a dagger in his chest. Since the abbot was a close friend of Edward
I, the king sends his chief clerk Hugh Corbett, his manservant Ranulf and
Chanson, horse handler to St. Martin’s to figure out what happened.
Corbett finds out that all is not well within the walls of
the monastery. The monks had wanted to
develop a meadow to raise cattle and sheep, which could help St. Martin’s
become much more profitable, but Abbot Stephen was dead set against it, raising
the ire of his brothers. St. Martin’s
was also at odds with a wealthy widow over the ownership of a small pond that
was not an important resource. And Abbot Stephen was about to perform an exorcism
on a man who claimed he was possessed by a demon.
Shortly, after Corbett arrives the monks start dropping like
flies as an assassin seems bent on killing everyone in the monastery.
I think this one is probably the most fast-paced novel of
the series. Not that the other ones have
not been, but this one has more action that previous books. This one also reads easier than the others
because it is much better edited. Some
of the annoying aspects of the writing aren’t not as prevalent as before.
Another reason I liked this book is the scene where Ranulf
acts out his own sense of judgment on some outlaws who tried to ambush him and
Chanson. I really fell in love with
Ranulf during that scene.
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