Mysteries set in another time period have their own allure. Murder and murderer have never been limited to time or place, and the reasons for murder vary and remain the same. The old axiom for motives: "love, lust, lucre, loathing" can incorporate a longer list that fit somewhere in sub-topics under those four or combinations thereof.

For those of us who love historical mysteries, the motives are also related to societal norms and events. Interest also comes from the characters tasked with solving the murders and the methods employed long before all of the technology present- day investigators have at their disposal.

Candace Robb's excellent mysteries are set in the late Middle Ages in the time of Geoffrey Chaucer and John of Gaunt.

After the death of John Thoresby, Archbishop of York, Owen Archer finds himself at a crossroads. Despite the frequent difficulties and differences of opinion Owen experienced with his late patron, Owen had gained respect and affection for the man. Now, he has decisions to make about the future for himself and his family.

As usual, an engaging mystery and well-developed characters backed by excellent research.

I love this series.

Read in April. Blog review scheduled for July 21.

NetGalley/Severn House
Medieval Mystery. Aug. 1, 2019. Print length: 256 pages.

I've never read any of the other Owen Archer novels, but I enjoyed this one! The story itself was really just a fairly standard murder mystery, which is fine. I liked it. But I really liked that this was set in York as opposed to London, which seems a more common setting for a lot of medieval mysteries, and that Chaucer was a character in it. It makes me want to find the time to read the other books in the series.

#AconspiracyOfWolves #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this hoped for 11th book in the Owen Archer series. Owen is considering employment Prospects. but has has more than one "iron in the fire" as the tale begins. He is mourning his wife' s aunt Dame Phillipa, as well as his former long time employer John Thoresby, Archbishop of York.


Enter Crispin Poole, merchant and former soldier bitten by a dog or ...a wolf? .. into his life as well as Geoffrey Chaucer on a mission from the Prince Edward. Wolves or dogs are woven through most of the tale in a complicated mystery of retribution.


I had to reorient myself to all the players in Dame Lucie and Owen's life which took awhile. I enjoyed the last chapter immensely with it's suggestion of things to come.

I didn't realize it was part of a series when I received it. This didn't interfere with the plot and it was written well enough so I could understand the relationships and left me wanting to read the series from the beginning. I found the mystery to be well done, as I usually guess who did it, but this book was able to throw me off enough. I would recommend this book.

Having read previous books by the Author I was pleasantly surprised to find a new Owen Archer book in this series .

After the death of his benefactor , Archbishop of York, John Thoresby , Owen Archer is still in mourning and unsure of his abilities and future . Called to investigate the death of a man supposedly killed by wolves he soon finds that the killer is a human being . When a further death occurs and rumours of wolves roaming the streets frighten the community Owen and his colleagues must use all their skills to find the killer . What do the killings have in common , is there a connection ?
Can the healer , Allisoun , provide help , or is she hiding something ………….these are all part of the puzzle that Owen must solve .
Meanwhile Geoffrey Chaucer , in York on a secret mission for Prince Edward , is soon drawn into the case and the two must put their past relationship behind them and work together to find the truth of both the murders and Geoffrey's mission ..
The political landscape is forever changing and provides further twists and turns to a complex story .

This was an enjoyable story set in 14th century York - with all the details of the time to set the story firmly in the landscape .

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Captain Owen Archer is unemployed and Dame Lucie his wife is worried about him. News comes though that not only does the city want him to defend, protect and look after York but the Prince is eager for Archer to join his ranks principally to keep an eye on the powerful northern families who could cause problems for the Prince. Archer is undecided but just as he is coming home from burying his beloved aunt he is thrown into sorting out a myriad of mysterious attacks and murders and dogs and wolves involving several of the old families of York themselves. But all is not what it seems and Archer has to untangle it with the help of his friends.
I liked the story and I liked the characters. This is my first Owen Archer book but I didn't feel as though I needed to read others to understand Own. However I found reading it very hard. I was confused as to whose voice was speaking. Also some of the language was archaic and some far too modern and it jarred for me. I thought continuity of characters and where they were physically also very confusing. It seems people were suddenly in places with no explanation of how when they'd been somewhere else not long before. If I simply skipped over caring about who, what, where, I could enjoy reading to the end to find out who the killers were and why and to see Owen and Lucie settled and happy which I did.

I was so pleased to get the opportunity to read this new chapter of a wonderful series after a long break so thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to do so.

An enjoyable reunion with 'old friends', well written and gripping, I read it in two sittings. More mystery and murder in medieval York, I really hope there will be another as they were and still are a hugely popular series.