Buena en el estilo de los anteriores, hay varios crímenes en paralelo, y mientras recorren y pintan un londres medieval muy interesante Athelstan y Cranston van cimentando una amistad. Los campesinos estan inquietos, la pobreza se agrava el regente se pelea con el rey y en el medio los grandes burgueses. ( )

This is the fourth in the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan, once again pairing Dominican friar Athelstan and Jack Cranston, Coroner of London, during John of Gaunt's regency for Richard II.

It's a serviceable enough mystery, better than some of the historical offerings. Unfortunately, this series suffers from the fact that it's impossible not to compare it to Ellis Peters' series featuring Brother Cadfael. Though separated by two centuries in their settings, the premise of a monk/friar hero investigating murders during the Middle Ages demands the comparison.

The latter are minor gems in the mystery world and it takes something good not to pale beside them, and I don't think these reach that mark. While I haven't finished the series, the individuals I met in the first book, The Nightingale Gallery, while colorful and amusing, have not deepened significantly by this fourth. I enjoy them for what they are, but they're more shallow.

So, in summary, a perfectly adequate, but unspectacular, historical mystery...only recommended for fans of the genre. ( )