A Murder of Crows: A Sir Robert Carey Mystery

"It’s September 1592, and the redoubtable Sergeant Dodd is still in London with dashing courtier Sir Robert Carey, dealing with the fall-out from their earlier adventures. Carey urgently needs to get back to Carlisle where he is the Deputy Warden; the raiding season is about to begin. However, there are complications. His powerful father, Henry, Lord Hunsdon (son of the other Boleyn girl, Mary, and her paramour, young Henry VIII) wants him to solve the mystery of a badly decomposed corpse that has washed up from the Thames on Her Majesty’s privy steps. Meanwhile, although he hates London, Sergeant Dodd has decided that he will not go north until he has taken suitable revenge for his mistreatment by the Queen’s Vice Chamberlain, Thomas Heneage. Carey’s father wants him to sue, but none of the lawyers in London will take the brief against such a dangerous courtier. Then a mysterious young lawyer with a pock-marked face eagerly offers to help Dodd. Nobody knows who that balding young would-be poet and lover William Shakespeare might be working for. And then, just as Carey is resigning himself to the delay, the one person he really does not want to see again arrives in London to stir up everything. "From Publishers WeeklySet in 1592, Chisholm's fifth Sir Robert Carey mystery (after 2000's A Plague of Angels) includes a couple of potentially interesting supporting characters, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, but the playwrights come across as mere caricatures. Not much more developed are the two leads—Carey, the son of Anne Boleyn's sister, Mary, and thus cousin to Queen Elizabeth, and his sidekick, Sergeant Dodd, whose heavy dialect (whit can ye dae to show us ye're no' one o' his kinship come tae trap us in ambush?) can be tough to follow. Carey and Dodd seek legal representation to bring a case of unlawful imprisonment against the queen's vice chamberlain, look into the identity of an unclaimed corpse found in the Thames, and probe some shady land deals in Cornwall. Unfortunately, the multiple story lines fail to gel, and the plot drags for long stretches. Fans of Elizabethan historicals would do better with Rory Clements's Martyr (2009). (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistChisholm’s fifth mystery starring Sir Robert Carey, deputy warren of the English West Marsh, is brimming with Elizabethan atmosphere and historical detail. This episode is more about Carey’s Sergeant Dodd, who seeks revenge for a mistreatment by the queen’s vice chamberlain, Thomas Henage, than it is about Carey himself. Dodd and Carey are in London wrapping up details from their earlier adventures and anxious to return to Carlisle, where the raiding season is about to begin. Carey’s father suggests that Dodd sue Henage, but no lawyer in London will take on such a powerful man. When a mysterious young lawyer appears and agrees to take the case, Carey and Dodd are afraid that he is a spy. Meanwhile, the balding poet William Shakespeare appears, and no one is sure what he is doing or for whom he is working. This very busy plot will delight historical fans who enjoy local color. Recommend Chisholm’s series to fans of Karen Harper and Simon Hawke. --Barbara Bibel