The Good Death

The Good Death is the 5th book in S. D. Sykes' Somerhill Manor Mystery series. It began with Plague Land and is set in 14th Century England. The sleuth is Oswald de Lacy, a third son who was originally sent to a monastery as a child. However, he was called home to become lord of the family manor following the death of his father and two older brothers during a plague epidemic. 

In the opening of this installment of the series Lord Oswald de Lacy makes a devastating confession to his dying mother.  He is an eighteen-year-old novice monk at Kintham Abbey and had been sent to collect herbs from the forest. While there, Oswald came across a terrified village girl named Agnes Wheeler. She was terrified of him even though she knew him well and ran headlong into a river saying "stay away from me priest." She drowned. Oswald pulled her broken and bruised body from the water and returned her to the local village. Here he discovers that several other women have disappeared within the past month. A killer is on the loose but because all of the missing women came from impoverished families nobody seemed to care. 

Oswald vows to find this killer himself but as the plague approaches, his tutor, Brother Peter, insists they stay inside the monastery.  Oswald instead seeks out the women of the village for help, particularly the beautiful Maud Woodstock, a woman who provokes strong emotions in him. As he closes in on the killer, Oswald makes a discovery that is so utterly shocking that it threatens to destroy him and his family.

If you haven't read any of the earlier books in the series you may not want to begin with this novel. It has an alternating plot that spans 20 years between 1347 and 1370. New readers may not be able to pick up the action from 1347 without knowing the characters well. It makes sense that with the 5th book in the series this would happen. The reason for the alternating plot concerns Oswald's dying mother in 1370. She is in possession of a letter from him written in 1349 when they were dealing with the Black Death. She needs an explanation from her son about those events so that she can forgive him of any sins he may have committed against her and obtain a good death.

That said, The Good Death is another perfectly plotted and written medieval mystery from Ms. Sykes. While we get a nice resolution of the murder itself, the ending also provides a shocking accusation from Oswald's mother over all the actions he has taken throughout his life. It was unexpected as it didn't relate to the murder mystery. I expect that the next novel in the series will expand upon this. I can't wait!

5 our of 5 stars.