Review: Desolation by Keith Moray

Synopsis: The Black Rood of Scotland, stolen. A coroner of York, murdered. An evil worse than plague itself, at large…

1361, York. As the country recovers from the war with France, and whispers that the pestilence has returned to England grow louder, fear is in the heart of every nobleman and commoner alike. Sir Ralph de Mandeville, ex-solider and newly appointed Justice of the Peace is sent to Langbarugh, just outside York, to investigate the murder of Coroner Sir Boderick de Whitby.

More deaths quickly follow, and while these are swiftly dealt with as plague victims, Sir Ralph and his two assistants Merek and Peter soon uncover something altogether more horrifying… A greater evil is at large in the northern wapentakes.

As panic escalates and the lines between plague and murder blur, Sir Ralph is thrust into a desperate race against time. Every shadow hides a potential killer, every cough could be a death knell. Can he unmask a murderer lurking in the terrifying shadow of the Black Death before they’re all consumed by a terror more sinister than any plague?

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This series is set during the reign of King Edward III of England when the country was at war with France - the Hundred Years War.  The Black Death - or Plague - made its return - it would claim at least 20% of the population.  The Justices of the Peace Act was introduced, which created a new national role for justices of the peace (JPs) who were responsible for enforcing labor laws enacted in response to the economic changes caused by the Black Death.

The first in a new series wherein a number of local deaths is set firmly at the door of the plague - afterall, who in their right mind would look too closely at the putrefying corpse of a plague victim. However, it is the murder of a coroner and the theft of one of Scotland's most revered relics, that sets Ralph de Mandeville and his assistants on the trail of something more sinister.

There are many themes tackled in this tome - law and order, religion and superstition, necromancy and alchemy, doomsday preachers, murder, spite, and local jealousies and history.

Moray writes in an engaging manner, which slowly draws the reader in, setting the scene before our trio arrive to begin their investigations. A gentle history lesson to ensure the reader has a grasp of events and social customs of the period, is woven into the narrative - it is a subject not unknown to this author.  

Looking forward to the next installment in this new series.