The Owls of Gloucester (Domesday #10) by Edward Marston

The Owls of Gloucester (Domesday #10) Reviews

• 
  LJ

  First Sentence: ‘Do you want to be beaten again?’ asked Brother Frewine quietly.
  
  King William’s commissioner’s; Sir Ralph Delchard, accompanied by his wife Golde, lawyer Gervase Bret, Canon Hubert and Brother Simon, arrive in Gloucester to follow up on discrepancies and disputes found after the first round in the making of the Domesday Book. The largest dispute is over land which has four claimants. However, their visit becomes more complicated with the discovery of a murdered monk, Brother Nicholas, the Abbey’s tax collector, the disappearance of a young novice, and the impending arrival of King William himself.
  
  There is nothing I did not like about this book. Marston places us in the 11th century both in sight and sound. By his descriptions, it is easy to visualize the surroundings. You know the conditions around them and, when the characters are riding “hell-for-leather,” you can see and hear the horses.
  
  The pattern and syntax of the dialogue provides a reflection of the period without being literal to it. The inclusion of subtle humor is always appropriate and gives balance to the action.
  
  Marston’s characters are wonderful. Ralph, the newly married, battle-scarred soldier, is a realistic combination of an impatient Norman warrior and one who never expected to remarry after the passing many year’s prior of his beloved first wife. In this book, I particularly appreciated Ralph learning to be a husband to Golde, the realistic display of his anger and his confession to Gervase of a personal fear. Gervase, Saxon by ancestry, is the younger, recently married, educated lawyer who thinks before acting. The two have different natures and approaches but their friendship has given them a perfect balance. With them are the egotistical Canon Hubert and the very fearful, particularly of women, young Brother Simon. It is aspects such as that which gives dimension and realism to the characters.
  
  The plot was interesting and intricate with fascinating historical information which was interwoven with the story. There are multiple threads to the story which adds to the realism, and a very effective red herring. What is most impressive is the way in which the various threads come together at the end in a double climax, neither villain being one I anticipated.
  
  All these elements, and the overall quality of Marston’s writing, made for an excellent read. It is also nice that, while I always recommend reading series in order, with the Domesday series, it is not essential as each book includes enough background for each of the leading characters that the book stands on its own. My one regret is that there are only, to date, only 11 books in this series. I’ve only read five, so I still have several yet to enjoy.
  
  THE OWLS OF GLOUCESTER (Hist Mys/Sir Ralph Delchard/Gervase Bret-England-Middle Ages/1000s) – Ex
  Marston, Edward – 10th in series
  St. Martin’s Minotaur, ©2000, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0312285426
  
  
• 
  Ensiform

  The 10th Domesday book. Gervase, Ralph and the other commissioners arrive at Gloucester, where the abbey’s most unpopular monk – the tax collector – has been murdered. As they investigate the crime, much to the chagrin of the sheriff, they realize a more pervasive horror – child slavery – might be at work. And King William makes an appearance at last.
  
  A fast-paced, interesting mystery, with the usual ruminations on marriage and loyalty. I wonder if the portrait of the Conqueror is accurate – here he is a wise and fairly benevolent old man, grateful for advice from his inferiors, heedful of the monetary costs of war. Marston’s books, while interesting enough, can’t really be counted on for Fraser-like levels of verisimilitude.
• 
  Booknblues

  I've enjoyed reading the previous 9 books of Edward Marstone Domesday mystery and book 10, The Owls of Gloucester proved to be a winner as well.
  
  These are somewhat formulaic mysteries but I've come to enjoy the setting, during William the Conqueror's reign and the characters, Ralph Delchard and his lovely wife, Golde, the lawyer, Gervase Bret, Canon Hubert and Brother Simon.
  
  In this one there has been a murder in the abbey, which complicates the work they are planning.
• 
  Victoria Conlan

  So dull! :(
• 
  Susie Helme

  This 11th century whodunit centers on Gloucester Abbey, where a monk, Brother Nicholas, collector of the abbey’s rents, has been murdered. The body is discovered in the belltower by two novices, Kenelm and Elaf, escaping a beating. They admit they didn’t like the way Brother Nicholas ‘looked at’ them. We can guess.
  Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret are on the King’s business, administering the Great Survey. As Sheriff Durand begins his investigation of the murder Ralph and Gervase deliberate on local property issues at the shire hall.
  The wives, Golde and Maud, enter the story, as well as Abbot Serlo and Brother Frewine. At the shire hall, we encounter local land owners, both conquering and conquered, making up a panoply of interesting characters.
  As is usual in detective stories, the Sheriff rushes off down a blind alley, needing the king’s commissioners to lead him to the right path, assistance which is, of course, much resented by said Sheriff. Meanwhile, the abbot and his monks conduct their own inquiry, and each party is not sharing their findings with the others. We discover that the local property disputes have very much to do with the murder of Brother Nicholas.
  An easy read—might be accessible to an older-end YA audience, too—not chock full of detail about the period, yet I didn’t find any anachronisms. I don’t think the property cases dealt with by Ralph and Gervase are historic, but they are believable, and there was, indeed, a Strang the Dane listed in the DB as a property owner dispossessed in 1066. If you loved Brother Cadfael you’ll love this series.
  I found the concept of the series positively inspired—detective cases encountered while on the business of William the Conqueror’s survey. This is Book 10 in the 11-book Domesday Series.
  This review was written for Historical Novels Review.
  
• 
  Charley Robson

  Another excellent entry in the series, and perhaps the ... well, not the best concluded, given the series' tendency for slightly Poirot-ish reveals and last minute revelations, but certainly one of the stronger plots so far. And surprisingly action packed, for a series that usually prefers to shorten action scenes in favour of skullduggery.
  
  I will fully admit to baulking a little at the setting of an abbey, and even further when implications of homosexuality from a monk were involved. The historical fiction genre is rarely kind to queer characters of any sort and suffice to say I was not relishing the idea of yet another predatory monk. However, without spoilers, I am pleased to say that in this case, my fears were unfounded - and in fact the eventual reveals of ne'er'do'wells and their nasty deeds was almost stronger for having that nasty implication lurking in the mind.
  
  But all in all, another strong entry - the characters are fun and engaging, the circle of suspects, red herrings and incidental friends and foes are all well drawn and compelling. I'm almost sad to think that I've just finished the series' penultimate entry, knowing there's only one more book to be had, for now.
• 
  Rupert Matthews

  i enjoyed this book in a lighthearted, non serious sort of a way.
  
  i'm not familiar with the Domesday Series by Edward Marston, but that did not matter. The story was pretty much stand alone and the recurring characters were introduced afresh so that I understood who everybody was and their relationships to each. I suppose this might be a tad irritating if you had read the previous 9 books in the series, but I don't think it was overdone.
  
  The characters were all credible and well drawn. I did think that the author overdid Ralph's bad temper. For a main character this made him somewhat unsympathetic and if he really was that snappy with everyone, I can't see anybody sticking with him as loyally as they seem to do.
  
  The story line was great. Plenty of twists and turns and red herrings. I got most of the clues, but did not identify the main villain until only a few pages before that person was unmasked - which is at it should be.
  
  Good holiday reading, if you ask me.
• 
  Mark Higginbottom

  The tenth in the series of Medieval mysteries by Edward Marston and yet again this one maintains the high standards .A great plot,lots of fascinating characters,a beautiful setting ( Gloucester of course) and a whodunit as well.Marston really does have a skill of putting you right there in the past,wether it's describing the surroundings ,the foods,the building themselves,the various characters be they lowly peasants or Kings and Earls.I always feel like I can almost smell all the people,the Markets,the animals and hear all the chatter and babble of all the people involved.I think the next one in the series is the last which is a shame as I will miss these fascinating novels.I would definitely recommend these books to any fans of history especially the Medieval period.
• 
  SmarkDent

  This is really not my type of book. It's like an episode of Father Dowling meets Cadfael and would be an excellent BBC 8pm Sunday night series.
  
  I'm sure there's thousands of people out there who will love it though!
• 
  Joshkun Mehmet

  An excellent medieval murder mystery by Edward Marston.
  
  A really intriguing plot, interesting characters and great dialogue make this a very enjoyable addition to the series.
  
  Highly recommended.
• 
  Kirsty Farmer

  I really struggled to DNF this book. It may not help me because I haven’t ready the ones in the series. The reason why I went for it was because I have family in the Gloucestershire area and I understood the associations.
  Not for me!
• 
  Monica Bond-Lamberty

  Still entertaining and informative if getting a bit repetitive
• 
  John

  Comfortable reading.
• 
  Angelica Khorsand

  3.75🌟
• 
  Marisa

  This book had moments where it was really slow, but the good parts more than made up for it and the last 75-100 pages were definatly worth it!
  
• 
  Cat.

  This one is about the death of a monk, and seemed to be stretching a LONG way to make the plot work. Still, good.
• 
  Cindy Bellomy

  Good, but not great. I think I should have started this series from the beginning. Would have liked more character development of the villains.