Review: Dark Serpent by Paul Doherty

Dark Serpent by Paul Doherty is the 18th book in the historical mystery series featuring Sir Hugh Corbett, The Keeper of the Secret Seal. It's 1311 and Hugh Corbett is hired by King Edward II and his favourite Piers Gaveston to investigate the murder of Corbett's friend, Ralph Grandison. Ralph - who suffered from leprosy - was killed with a poisoned dagger that formed part of the Crown Jewels stolen years earlier and it appears an assassin is killing members of the now dissolved Knights Templar.

Then there's the matter of a rogue vessel named The Black Hogge preying on English merchant vessels that could be funded by a French duke or even the King of France himself. 

Series favourites Ranulf-atte-Newgate, Senior Clerk in the Chancery of the Green Wax and Chanson, Clerk of the Stables, assist Corbett in his investigations as they gather clues and eliminate suspects.

Here again Doherty confidently brings the medieval streets of London to life, as demonstrated when describing the scene of an execution. Two execution carts have arrived and the crowd is surging:

"Executioners, faces hidden behind devil masks, managed the high-sided carts. The four prisoners in each were made to stand so the accompanying mob could hurl both abuse and refuse at them. Shouts and curses dinned the air, followed by a hail of filth and slops. Bagpipes wailed. Drum beats echoed. Trumpets and hunting horns brayed their shrill, discordant blasts. Relatives of the condemned clung to the sides of the carts, shouting to their menfolk. Warlocks and wizards in dirty robes and funnel-shaped hats pushed rags through the slats of the carts to catch some of the prisoner's bloodied sweat, which they could later use in their midnight ceremonies. Quacks, conjurors and cunning men also tried to keep close; the leavings of men condemned to hang were said to contain certain healing properties." Page 53

This medieval mystery had me guessing the entire time and I could definitely relate to Ranulf's frustration as Corbett kept his observations to himself until the final satisfying reveal.

This is the longest series I've ever read and for that reason alone I feel compelled to continue. What's the longest series you've read? If you like the sound of a series, do you start with the latest release or go back to the beginning and read the first book? Often a series will get better over time as the author's writing ability improves, or sometimes the initial magic can be lost and instead, new instalments feel formulaic and stale.

The formula in this series remains the same, yet I still enjoy reading the latest instalment every now and again. However I'm now terribly behind in the series, with Devil's Wolf (Book 19), Death's Dark Valley (Book 20), Hymn to Murder (Book 21), Mother Midnight (Book 22), Realm of Darkness (Book 23 and Banners of Hell (Book 24) published a few months ago still to read.

I guess I'd better get a move on!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

My Top 5 Books of 2024

In 2024 I met my reading goal of 75 books with 15 books earning a 5 star rating. This was down from a total of 19 books in 2023 that earned 5 stars.

Covering a range of genres, three of the books featured in this Top 5 list were reviewed for a publisher, one was from my own backlist and another was borrowed from the library.

Turns out winter was my best reading season of the year with three of my selections falling within the month of July.

Here are my Top 5 Books of 2024 in the order I read them:

1. The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

This is a fantasy novel with time travel featuring a bookseller in New York by the name of Cassie. When a regular customer leaves her a book with an inscription inside, Cassie discovers it's a one of a kind with the ability to turn any door into a door to anywhere. It transpires that there are more books with differing powers actively being sought by eccentric collectors, nefarious actors and scary people who travel the world hunting the books for their own dark purposes.

The writing is rich and evocative and I loved learning about the other special books, the powers they held and the motives of those seeking them. The Book of Doors is an impressive debut with a stunning cover design.

2. The Summer I Robbed a Bank by David O'Doherty

David O'Doherty is an Irish comedian and I listened to this middle grade novel for kids on audiobook so I could enjoy his distinctive accent and endearing storytelling style. 12 year old Rex is sent to stay with his Uncle Derm on remote Achill Island for the school holidays and was expecting to have a boring time, what with all of the sheep, but things didn't quite go to plan.

The author's sense of humour and imagination worked exceptionally well with his observations of people and relationships in a very appealing way, making The Summer I Robbed a Bank a funny, feel good read.

3. A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke

It's 1885 in Paris and Aubry Tourvel is a precocious young girl of just nine years of age when she falls inexplicably ill. Suffering excruciating pain and bleeding from the nose and mouth, the only thing that soothes her seems to be movement. Forced to travel to keep her illness at bay from that point on, days and weeks pass but the reader experiences her travels in flashbacks when sharing her encounters with people she meets along the way.

A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke could be categorised multiple ways, it's a travel story, historical fiction, action adventure, science fiction and urban fantasy. It contains a mystery puzzle ball and a secret library, I mean what more could you want?

4. The End and Everything Before It by Finegan Kruckemeyer

An intergenerational saga that is far from linear, each generation of characters within The End and Everything Before It offers a parable within their tale, yet this happens without clear dates to place characters in chronological order.

In doing so, Kruckemeyer has produced a highly original, loosely structured dreamlike group of stories connected by geographical proximity through time and I loved this literary fable about love, loss, legacy, purpose and community.

It's an uplifting allegory rich in meaning that makes you appreciate the importance of love and remember we're here for a short time and need to make it count. The ending was sublime and I learned later in the year that an excerpt of my review has been published in the praise section of the book's second printing!

5. 12 Rules For Life - An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson

It's likely 12 Rules for Life - An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson is now one of my favourite self help books of all time. Incorporating psychology; psychoanalysis; neuroscience; philosophy; ancient and modern literature; history; mythology; religious texts; poetry; current affairs; cases from his work as a clinical psychologist and stories of his life growing up, it's a difficult book to define.

Listening on audiobook to his distinctly Canadian voice, the author's overall message is to encourage and inspire all of mankind to strive and improve themselves and continue to evolve. While plenty of people in the world don't want to do that, or believe they don't need to do that, I don't know anyone who wouldn't benefit from doing precisely that. I'm also planning to read Beyond Order - 12 More Rules For Life this year.
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Being published in the praise section of The End and Everything Before It by Finegan Kruckemeyer was an absolute highlight for 2024!

That said, what I love about this year's list is that every book was by a new-to-me author. I've been creating these annual top 5 book lists since 2014 and this is the first time that's ever happened.

Have you read any of the books on the list?

Carpe Librum!

Review: Panic by Catherine Jinks

* Copy courtesy of Text Publishing *

Panic by Catherine Jinks is an Australian psychological thriller featuring a character by the name of Bronte who is escaping a serious case of cyber bullying after a drunken post went viral. Desperate for a job, Bronte accepts a live-in position offering room and board to look after dementia sufferer Nell in a large rural property near Bathurst in NSW. An exclusive spiritual retreat business is being run at the property by Nell's daughter Veda and several employees who - unbeknownst to Bronte when she applied for the position - also happen to be sovereign citizens.

Sovereign citizens take issue with authority and don't accept the rule of law or respect the government. When Bronte suspects her boss Veda is a sovereign citizen who refuses to pay tax or register her car, she dismisses her beliefs as harmless conspiracy theories. Living in a caravan removed from the house, Bronte begins caring for Nell but it isn't long before things start to go wrong.

I've never read a book set in the world of sovereign citizens or with a sovereign citizen (SovCit) as a character so this was an absolute first for me. I readily admit I have little interest in - or tolerance for - the movement, however this certainly didn't impact my engagement with Bronte's experience and the tension that quickly began to mount.

There's also a mystery in Panic to be unravelled and some tense situations to navigate which made for an action packed and exciting read. I also enjoyed the creative decision the author made to take the story beyond its natural conclusion to give us a look at what happened after the climax of the main events. And boy what a climax!

I enjoyed The Attack by Catherine Jinks back in 2022, but Panic had way more action and suspense and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Panic by Catherine Jinks is published today and I can highly recommend it!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★