I stumbled on this one, as I often do, through a Kindle deal. It’s a great way to discovery a new author or a new genre without spending a bunch of money, or at least without a trip to the library.
Martin Jensen is a Danish novelist (there are a lot of really good Scandinavian writers, aren’t there?) who has written a bunch of books. From what I can tell, these books are the first to be translated into English. There are two right now (this, and Oathbreaker, which I will review next), and the third book in the series is due early 2015. I will be pre-ordering.
Anyway, it’s 1018 and Denmark has just conquered England. New King Cnut is trying to unify his subjects after years of some pretty nasty fighting. One of the victims of the conquest is Halfdan, who’s half Danish (of course) and half Saxon. He has lost his family and his land, so now he’s pretty much a con artist, wandering around the countryside. He meets Winston, an ex-monk, who is now a famous painter (was that a thing in 1018?), who is heading to Oxford to pain the king’s portrait. They team up, because the countryside still isn’t exactly a safe place.
When they get to Oxford, they learn of a murder that has been committed, that could turn out to be damaging to the peace of the kingdom, since the victim’s widow accuses the king of being responsible for the murder. Winston is the extra-clever kind of ex-monk painter, so he and Halfdan are enlisted to solve the murder and possibly the kingdom.
This was an interesting one, and definitely educational. I love historical fiction, especially mysteries, and this one kept me entertained and guessing, and made me want to learn more about the time period and the real historical figures that appear in the story. Definitely check out this series.
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