The 11th novel in P. C. Doherty’s excellent
series featuring Clerk of the Secret Seal Hugh Corbett opens with Hugh
recovered from the arrow wound which he suffered at the end of The Devil’s Hunt. That might be a spoiler but with many more
novels afterwards, there wasn’t much fear that Corbett would pass away. Ranulf-atte-Newgate, his manservant, has been
promoted to Chancery of the Green Wax for his bravery in killing Corbett’s
would-be assassin.
In The Demon Archer,
Edward I calls upon Hugh and Ranulf to investigate some intrigue. Edward was about to send an entourage to
France to continue negotiations with Philip IV that Prince Edward and Princess
Isabella are to be betrothed. Before the
party can leave, the special envoy chosen by Edward, Lord Henry Fitzalan, is
killed by an arrow as he and his guests were about to being a hunt. Is this a plot to sabotage the treaty between
England and France?
Corbett and Ranulf discover that absolutely no one in
village liked Lord Henry, not his younger brother Sir William, or his
half-sister Lady Madeline, prioress of the wealthy priory of St. Hawisia. An outlaw in the nearby woods, calling
himself the Owlman, has been sending threatening notes via arrows to Fitzalan
with a cryptic reference. Lord Henry's chief verderer Robert Verlian has vowed to protect his daughter of which Henry has been lusting after and will not take 'no' for an answer. And, to
Corbett’s annoyance, his old adversary, Amaury de Craon is nearby and was in
the hunting party when Fitzalan was murdered.
This novel is slightly slower paced than the previous few
novels but it does rely a bit more on the mystery than action. An attempt is made on Corbett’s life but it
isn’t overdone to the point of almost ridiculousness as in Satans’ Fire, where he couldn’t go a day without someone taking a
shot at him.
A new recurring character (I think) is Baldock, who replaces
Maltote, the unfortunate messenger killed in The Devil’s Hunt. He has
many of Maltote’s mannerisms and looks, so why kill Maltote if you’re just going
to bring him back?
And Ranulf falls in love (again) but this time it might be
for real.
I did enjoy the ending though because Corbett doesn’t seem
to pull a solution from thin air, but uses clues that the reader also
sees. There is still some stretch of the
imagination but it was a satisfying ending.
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