Unhallowed Ground. (The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon. 4) Mel Starr (Writer) Lion Hudson Limited (2011)

A very engaging and enjoyable medieval murder mystery. Huge de Singleton, surgeon, and bailiff for Sir Gilbert de Talbot in the village of Brampton finds a local troublemaker hanging from a tree on the outskirts of the village. Almost universally disliked and feared, there is no hesitation by the coroner and jury to find it suicide and be happy at a solved problem. Hugh has doubts and must wrestle with a desire to simply accept the judgement and let the matter rest. Hugh has a problem, if it is murder then one of his friends killed someone Hugh is not sorry is dead. The investigation unfurls as High wrestles with the question and his conscience.  The story is very engaging, the reveals are very well set up and the resolution is smart and satisfying. Mel Starr delivers the historical context with confidence and well-chosen detail. Using a first-person narrative, the time and place is described in a way that draws the reader into the life of a medieval village without drowning the reader in detail. Hugh reflects on the problems and his recent marriage in a way that is never anachronistic and is lucid enough for a reader to get the sense of time and place. The plot mechanics are smart, the reveals are very well set up. Continuity from previous stories in the series is applied with considerable care, a reader coming to the story directly will not be left unprepared to understand what is going on. At the same time for a reader following the sequence will have the pleasure of seeing consequences following on. The story is shaped by the constraints of the medieval village and the complicated layers of the social hierarchy. The action arises naturally from the context and the resolution is very satisfying. The cast is given the time and space to engage the reader on their own terms, in particular his new wife Kate emerges as a developed character in her own right. Hugh is an engaging narrator; he brings the reader into the story and allows the life in Brampton emerge without relying on stereotypes. Great fun read.