[Mrs. Y Reviews] The Monestery Murders - By E.M Powell

Book Cover via Amazon.com 

My father used to warn me when I was young to watch out for what he called ‘grifters.’ They weren’t drifters; they were instead those who would do confidence schemes to harm others but may stay in the same area as opposed to leaving one place and going to another.  He said to me often that one didn’t always know a stranger, no matter how familiar they might be or how long they have been acquaintances, and to be cautious when trusting them. So imagine my surprise when I picked up the second book in a series by E.M Powell and found out how wonderful a life lesson was when reading over these pages? I was happy. That’s right my friends, gather up pitchforks or prayer books depending on what you want, put on your finest white wool tunic, it’s time for a review of E.M Powell’s “The Monastery Murders” a Stanton and Barling novel!

Opinion
I previously had reviewed the first of this series called “The King’s Justice,’ and if you’d like to read my review, you can do so here. 

But to get right into this fun story, let me be the first to say that the sequel does so much with the world the beginning of the series used. Again, I found myself instantly pulled back to Henry II’s rule and time of bizarre things in comparison to current cultural differences. Once again we have a world that was so very dark in days that saw such strange lights. What I mean by that, the historical period of that time was brutal. But what I love about how the book is written, so a novice in history does not have to know a scintilla of information to enjoy the book. 

Here is where we find brutal murder among a place that should be holy. And why did this happen? Well, I’m not going to spoil this book for you, but I will add one tidbit that I hope makes you want to read it. In that, beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing, because that wolf is so very cunning and knows how to say “baa” in a native tongue. 

Once again, I am in total love with Barling. He has the same problem I do, in that he doesn’t trust who he should, but because of either a weakness or a loss of logic loop, can be confused or manipulated. I also struggle with rationalizing things because of guilt. I find that this character quirk of his to be refreshing and fun. 

Now, I spoke at length about Barling in the last review and not so much about Stanton. Stanton is supposed I’m sure to be the protagonist truly, but I want in my heart to believe it is Barling. That said, Stanton is a wonderful character. Something happened to him that’s hinted at in this book and the previous book, and I haven’t gone back to read the other books about him. But, even without knowing what happened to Stanton, I can sense such a wholesomeness among the darker elements to him. I find he’s fun and interesting, but also charming. There are people that I know who are similar to Stanton, they see the good in others, and not INT or IST on the Meyers Brigs. He’s likely an ESTJ now that I really think about it, very outgoing, and he does judge others, but at the same time he was honest and dedicated to his work. He doesn’t outright lie to anyone, but he doesn’t always tell everyone everything either. Yet, he’s good at what he does and can be personable. I am not like this, but I tend to gravitate toward this type of personality. 

The pacing of this novel is terrific. It’s not too fast, not too slow and I found no drag at all. The tension building, however, is impressive. I hope that these Stanton and Barling stories get picked up someday to rival Sherlock Holmes. I’d love to see how the observation of what happened and also the murders from this story get put onto a screen eventually. My goodness, that’d be very exciting. 

Let’s talk a moment about the actual story. We have a murder mystery set up in an Abby. For those of you who may not like any religious anything in their reading, this is not the book for you, but you probably guessed that by the title of the novel. However, as I read, I could appreciate the religious undertones and what I felt was very accurate regarding the religious points in the novel. I found it a fun color that the author painted with. It’s everywhere, and it’s used in such a way that a superstitious person might fear bumps in the night. The detailed discussion of bodies found are rather graphic but done tastefully. I found the “Dante’s Inferno” homage to be particularly interesting and delightful. I also found the clue gathering, detective work and “who done it” nature to the story to be spot on. 

For those who love a good mystery, they can write in a notebook to follow, this is a fun one. If you have never actually written down clues from a novel in a mystery, you should try it. It’s like Fantasy Football for mystery novels. You just write down the clues and who did what or where, and what their alibies are or are not. As the story unfolds, you can be far more engaged in the story and find the climax a lot of fun. These stories are perfect for that! The Author even does this very cool thing, if you go to the very back of the book all of the characters are listed along with where they should be. So if you do use a mystery book to play along, you have all of it out before you to start tracking from the very start. There is a vast cast of characters, plenty of red herrings, lots of extra clues and tons of stuff you can let your own imagination run wild with. This one had me believing the wrong guy was the killer from like almost the beginning of the book onward. 

EM Powell is a master of the “twist” when it comes to who did the crime. And back to what I was saying above, this is some crime. The actual killer is a grifter, in the most undeniable sense of Urban Dictionary, the type of person my father warned me about. 

I have one slight criticism though about the novel. There was a big “This is your killer” toward the end of the 2nd act into the third. Now just for the future, it may be a bit of downfall if there always is one of those “There are your killer” type situations in the third book because it’s predictable. It’s very “Murder She Wrote” in that way, and I did catch myself writing down the clues in my mystery journal. Though even with that “There is your killer” thing, you still have no idea who actually did it until the end. It just is I think a kind of tension-relieving device that added a lot of extra breathing to me. 

And let me say one last time, the tension is so good in this story, you need the pause somewhere. Otherwise, without some levity, you’d be on pins and needles for almost 80% of the novel. There always is a clue behind every corner, there is a hint in every word, and we the readers are treated to a fun and exciting tale. This is by far, my new favorite mystery series. I love books like this, and I am very much looking forward to the next one. 


Score
I am going to 97% because it’s pretty darn close to perfect. That is a five star on Goodreads and Amazon, and yes it is worth it to purchase. I know I will be re-reading this in the future along with the first. I am very much enjoying Historical Fiction with Mystery twists, and I am looking forward to more in this series, and I may go back and read the series that this came from!