Book review - "The Magician's Death" by P. C. Doherty

The Magician’s Death, the fourteenth novel of P. C. Doherty’s Hugh Corbett series set in the fourteenth century, is tied to a mystery that lingers until today.  It involves a cryptic work, The Book of Secrets, written by Roger Bacon, noted scholar, which Doherty relates to the Voynich manuscript, the infamous book discovered in 1912 and written in a language no one has been able to decipher.

In this novel, King Edward I sends Hugh Corbett and Ranulf-atte-Newgate with a small retinue to Corfe Castle, a remote fortress in Dorset.  They are to meet with Philip IV’s envoy to see if the two groups can decipher the mysterious script.  Edward I is desperate to get out of the treaty with France that requires his son Edward to be married to Philip’s daughter.  He wants Hugh to find out if the strange cipher in his possession is the same as the one that is in Philip’s possession.  And find out what the manuscript says.  With any luck, he can find something to dissolve the treaty.

Corbett knows there is much more to this journey than Edward is telling him, especially because his arch-enemy and French counterpart Amaury de Craon will also be there.  De Craon would like nothing more than to put an arrow into Corbett’s chest.  The feeling is mutual.

Upon arrival, Corbett is made aware of a series of murders involving the young girls in and around the castle. The first one disappeared over a month prior and has not been seen since.  All the others have been found murdered by a crossbow.

While investigating these crimes, the elderly scholars accompanying de Craon start dying mysteriously.  Most people think they have died of natural causes or accidentally, but Corbett is not convinced, especially since one of the scholars is a previous mentor of his. 

As usual, Doherty ties two mysteries into one novel, keeping the reader guessing if all the crimes are connected or not.  He gives clues to the reader that something is going on but leaves it until the very last few pages to pull everything together. 

I really liked this one!