The Good Death

A murderous medieval crime drama from the mind of SD Sykes, The Good Death has his nobleman detective Oswald de Lacy looking back 21 years to the Plague Years and his first investigation whilst he was a novice at Kintham Abbey in Kent.

Oswald, now Lord Summershill is at his mother's bedside as she is slowly dying. Before her death she must forgive all who have done her wrong so that she may not spend eternity in purgatory. He must relate the tale of his investigation and reveal the family secrets to his mother before she can be at peace.

The investigation begins after Oswald comes across a poor girl in the woods who has been attacked, she is terrified, so much so that she appears not to recognise Oswald and flees from him. Blindly, she runs straight into the nearby river and drowns. Oswald is overcome with grief and feels responsible for the death. But soon he realises that the girl, Agnes, died as a result of being terrified by her attacker.

When it becomes known to Oswald that a number of other women from Agnes's village have disappeared, he feels he must try to find out the truth behind the attack and whether that has anything to do with the missing women. Not long after women started to disappear from the village of Stonebrook another novice, Brother Merek, went missing from the Abbey. Is he responsible for the disappearances or has he just given up the monastic life and what of the mysterious charcoal burner? All the while Plague stalks the countryside.

While absorbed by his retelling of the investigation and his thoughts for his mother's health Oswald is troubled by events in his domestic life. His wife is paying too much attention to a guest, Sir John, who has outstayed his welcome and his sister is becoming too inquisitive.

S D Sykes has an easy, engaging writing style producing an entertaining and enthralling read. There is a real sense of the scheming within families, especially perhaps, Medieval noble families about who inherits the chattels, lands & title and of the desperate, filthy & precarious lives of the largely peasant population.

I enjoyed the use of reminiscence giving one mystery as well as the use of the present giving us the cliff-hanger of whether his mother will die a peaceful death & the family intrigues. The narrative kept me fascinated and absorbed throughout. This is my first de Lacy novel but, I'm sure it will not be my last.