Third in this series. It's been awhile since I read the earlier two, but I thought I'd catch up in this series of the one-eyed Templar Knight, returned from years of confinement in the Crusades and now solving murder mysteries in 1201, aided by his mute Italian boy sidekick Gianni, I am reminded that the author, Maureen Ash, does work in some vocabulary to broaden one's command of late medieval artifacts and architecture. The characters tend to be a bit flat, but the socio-cultural context is always stimulating in her books, and I trust her background research to help me learn more about their class system, customs of daily life, and the relationships between the various institutional forces in such as place as Lincoln, England, in 1201. Someone has been poisoning the high grade honey, used in cakes or as sweetener for the wine. When there is a painful death in the castle, followed shortly thereafter by three more such deaths in the town, someone has to find out not only how this was done, but why, before more suffer the same fate--even as rumor begins to spread it could be a plague. Who is poisoning villagers, castle folk, and Abby inhabitants? Will Bascot have to leave the Templers to secure the future of his ward?I picked this book up because I love mysteries and I enjoyed the first 2 books in this series. I like the interaction of the characters and the setting. I am not as crazy about how Ash unfolds the mystery as you never have enough information to solve the mystery. You do not even know everything the main characters know and learn. I'll have to see if this annoys me enough to stop reading the series.
What do You think about A Plague Of Poison (2009)?
An interesting mystery, with recurring characters I enjoy reading about.
—bel
The Templar is asked to assist in finding out who is poising people.
—meema
