
August 1144, harvest time. Osbern de Lench is murdered and his heir, made in the same hard-tempered mould as his dead father, wants to hang his younger half-brother for it without any evidence. Undersherriff (Lord) Hugh Bradecote, the wily and experienced Sergeant Catchpoll, and apprentice Walkelin have a few suspects, but nobody obvious, though there's something not quite right between the murdered lord and his meek widow. Gradually our three intrepid medieval investigators put the pieces together, but not in time to prevent another murder and a desperate attempt at a third. The perpetrator gets his comeuppance, of course, but the path to it is convoluted. This kept me hooked all the way through. This is my second Bradecote and Catchpoll audiobook - consumed out of order. I like the reader, Matt Addis, who voices the individuals convincingly, especially the Worcestershire accents of Catchpoll and Walkelin.