River of Sins by Sarah Hawkswood
July 1144. Ricolde, ‘the finest whore in Worcester’, is found butchered on an island a few miles upriver from Worcester. How did she get there, who killed her, and why?
Uncovering details of her life and her past reveal a woman with hidden depths and hidden miseries which are fundamental to the answers, but time has cast a thick veil over the killer’s identity. The lord Sheriff’s men have a trail that went cold over two decades ago, and evidence that contradicts itself. Undersheriff Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll will need all their wits to solve this mystery.
Author Bio:
Sarah Hawkswood describes herself as a ‘wordsmith’ who is only really happy when writing. She read Modern History at Oxford and first published a non-fiction book on the Royal Marines in the First World War before moving on to mediaeval mysteries set in Worcestershire.
Review
I devoured this book in one sitting. It had two of my favourite genres squeezed into one - historical fiction and crime fiction. ‘River of Sins’ is the seventh book in the Bradecote and Catchpoll series, but you can definitely read it as a stand-alone. This was the first book I have read in this series and there are not too many references to previous narratives which makes this an great introduction to the characters. However, I will be returning to the start of the series at some point as I loved ‘River of Sins’ so much. It reminded me of the excellent series by Pat McIntosh which is one of my favourites and I have a suspicious that this series is going to be one as well.
It is clear that Sarah knows her history as it dances off the pages with a richness of knowledge that gives the reader the ability to accept all information as facts. I love how turns of phrases were used that were clearly from the period, descriptions of everyday life were on point. I just loved all the small details that were included in the prose. This is the type of historical novels which I love - they allow images to form, gives context to what were previously maybe just dates in history, allow the general populace to be voiced. Yes this is fiction but it’s based in fact. I am very much a social historian and I throughly enjoy books like this one.
‘River of Sins’ finds Bradecote and Catchpoll trying to solve a murder of ‘the finest Whore in Worcester’. The fact that the victim was so multi-layered is a testament to the writer. The empathy that the book showed for her as a character was lovely. It’s a great commentary on social issues - ones that were just as prevalent then as they are now. The back and forth between the two main characters and Walkelin allows the reader to grasp the facts and ideas behind the investigation. The pacing of the book really picked up towards the end I was completely hooked right until the end. I must admit as a new reader to the series the character that grabbed my attention was actually Walkelin, Catchpoll’s serjeant cadet so to speak. I hope that there is going to be more of him. All of Sarah’s character come across as being well balanced and authentic. They are all intelligient, quick witted, empathetic, with a strong sense of justice. But they comes across as being human. They have weaknesses and fears, make mistakes and learn from them. I really loved this crime fighting team!
I really hope that you give this one a read as it’s a great historical novel! It’s a cracking read, extremely well researched, has amazing characters and narrative. What more could you want?! 5⭐️!
