This is the ninth tale in this series, but it was my first meeting with what is obviously a well-established cast of characters. The genre of murders in a cloistered religious community is well populated and, to be frank, there are many better ones about. The main theme in this one was anti-Semitism among the wider British community. The murderer was not particularly difficult to figure out, and there was a little too much religious muttering for my liking. I wasn't really sure what was going on for the first few chapters, but it could be treated as a stand-alone tale. The reader did a good job with a text that did not offer huge scope for engagement. Having said that, the Prioress and Father Thomas would seem to be interesting enough characters and, on that basis, I'd be prepared to try another in the series. ( )

As I come to this series with the ninth novel,I was somewhat at sea for some time. What we have is another in the endless number of Medieval Mysteries set within a religious community. There are to be frank,many better ones about. Mainly about anti-Semitism among the populous of the time. One or two murders of a not very interesting type and a lot of semi-religious spouting.
Not over impressed with this one. ( )

In Priscilla Royal’s ninth Prioress Eleanor mystery, The Sanctity of Hate, it is the summer of 1276 and the peace of Tyndal Priory has been disturbed by the discovery of a corpse in the millpond. Suspicion falls on a family of Jewish refugees and it is up to Prioress Eleanor to discover the murderer before the once tranquil village erupts into violence.

The greatest strength of Royal’s medieval mystery novels has always been her attention to historical detail and her latest book lives up to that tradition. Unlike many historical writers, Royal does not dump a mountain of facts on her readers in an effort to show off how much research she has done; instead, she subtly incorporates details of medieval life into the narrative, leaving the reader with a feel for the period without overburdening them with extraneous information.

This skill for historical situations truly shines in The Sanctity of Hate in the interactions between the Christian inhabitants of Tyndal and the Jewish refugees. Royal’s characters do not fall into the evil Christian/persecuted Jew stereotype that plagues so many historical novels. Nor does she give her characters 21st century sensibilities. She creates characters that are complex and compassionate, but still display the beliefs that are appropriate to the period.

On the negative side, the book’s central mystery isn’t as well developed as it could be. The investigation sometimes feels like it is intruding on the characters’ interactions and the murderer’s identity and motive are not very difficult to deduce. Luckily, it’s easy to get swept up in the rest of the story and overlook this minor flaw.

Received via NetGalley.

Originally written for The Tiger Print. I am the author of the review and it is reprinted with permission. ( )

Priscilla Royal has brought her fine historical and story-telling skills to a heartbreaking and complex period in medieval England: the treatment of Jews under Edward I. What I love best about Royal’s mysteries is their ability to hold me in captivated enjoyment while encompassing a subtle and nuanced historical world. She never simplifies the issues and ideas we can glean from the period, but your reading never feels burdened by this sophistication and depth.

Lord knows, the persecution of Jews in Edward’s England could get dreary in the hands of a lesser writer. Or it could get preachy or utterly anachronistic with characters spouting modern tolerant views to assuage the author’s discomfort at presenting such a shameful moment in time. Royal avoids these pitfalls. Over the course of this series Royal has developed two profoundly admirable human beings in Prioress Eleanor and Brother Thomas. Both are flawed and wracked with doubts, which makes them all the more likeable and their failures forgivable. Since we trust these two to act from justice and kindness in the long run, when they choose to stand up for and protect a Jewish family at risk of mob violence, we do not find this surprising. And lest we fear modern sensibilities have slipped in, even these most compassionate characters express a fervent desire for the conversion of these Jews as the ultimate best thing for them. That’s as far as the good medieval Christian heart can go and Royal recognizes that it is a kindness in its time, however harsh it may feel to most modern minds. Thomas, with his inner doubts about God and his innate outsider status as a man drawn to love other men at a time when that was viewed as a sin, comes close at times to recognizing that his and Eleanor’s goodwill is too conditional and circumscribed, but he never voices those doubts aloud.

On one level there’s the excitement of sorting out who is murdering people in Tyndal and the intense project of keeping safe this Jewish family while investigating them as the most popular nominees for suspects. The reader also savors a completely unconventional love tale which will have you biting nails, wanting to slap both the man and the woman involved for their foolishness and somehow liking them immensely at the same time. Isn’t that how real people are? Oh, and if lately you’ve been thinking about the limitations of faith, the beauty of bee-keeping and the natural world, the violence of controlling parenting, or, of course, the sanctity of hate, you’ll find plenty to ponder in this book while enjoying yourself. ( )