Cathedral of Bones: An Ela of Salisbury Medieval Mystery (Ela of Salisbury Medieval Mysteries) Paperback – August 11, 2019

I liked that the main character was based on a real person, a woman who lived in those circumstances. The mystery unwinds day to day. It was easy to read, impelling at times. I have ordered the 2nd book.

This was an entertaining story. The heroine, Elaine, was likable but a little naive and self-doubting. The plot was interesting but it wold have been improved by more historical details, such as naming the king, Henry? There was little attempt to setting the time and venue. However, I enjoyed Ela and her determination and will read the next book in the series.

Captivating characters, plot, and all the things! I rode along the countryside with Ela as she untangled the mystery! Highly recommend for fans of historical mysteries!

I suppose I’m spoiled by the wonderful medieval mysteries of Brother Cadfael and had hopes that this would be in the same vein. There’s pretty much no actual sleuthing or finding of real clues. Ela rides about the countryside asking people their opinions about who might have committed murder and in the final scene, though someone is convicted, the evidence still seems pretty circumstantial. The writing is overall so-so and there are detail historical inaccuracies which maybe most readers wouldn’t notice but which I find off-putting. It just tells me the author didn’t bother sufficiently with research. It’s not bad, it’s just not delightful. The most fun for me was reading up on the real Ela of Salisbury and William Longespee.

Norman nobility weren't known for their polite treatment of peasants. A cow has one udder, not "udders," which the main character would have known. These and similar lapses were jarring.Ela was complex enough to keep me reading to the end. However, if you're a stickler for historic accuracy, you might want to give this a pass.

I came upon a history of William Longspees recently so when I saw that this book dealt with his widow, Ela, and I read the premise underlying the book, I thought, ”why not?”I like historical mysteries and I particularly like them based in the medieval period. This is well written, a good plot with a proper whodunit at the core. The history is good and the description of the people and places of that time are realistic. In particular, I like the presentation of the women, people with agency bound round with all the restrictions imposed by the church and society but acting on their own to the extent allowed by law (or, perhaps, beyond.)

Well written and an accurate look at life in early England. The characters fit the time and tale perfectly. A great read!

Overall it's a good read, better than many I've bought recently, but it's a bit bland. It's a good read to pass the time but not a story to dive into.The biggest problem is there's surprisingly little description in the book. I don't need several paragraphs of description per person, but I'm not even sure what age her oldest kid is, let alone what he looks like, despite the fact that he's one of the most prominent characters. The book mentions several times that he's about to marry and that he's not of majority age yet, but that's really it. I don't have a really good feel for the main character, either, possibly because she mostly goes on about duty instead of detailing her surroundings. (What she notices and describes would show what's important to her and give a good clue as to what she's like.)There are some things which elevate the book from a truly generic medieval mystery - actually showing the juror system in action, people worrying about who will take care of a farm while the owner is jailed, etc., but it made me even more aware of what the book could have been.This book might be a good choice for people who are just getting into medieval mysteries - there's just enough detail to understand what's going on but not enough to wonder if you've accidentally grabbed a history book instead of a novel. Even then, I think the dearth of descriptions may be a drawback.

I was looking for more good medieval mysteries like Cadfael or Crowner John. This book was very disappointing. The author has a poor understanding of medieval life and fill the story with jagged writing and anachronisms. Don’t waste your money.

Die Protagonistin hat als Vorbild eine echte Persönlichkeit, aber verschiedene Kleinigkeiten haben mich immer wieder so gestört, dass ich das Buch abgebrochen habe und bedaure, dass es für eine Rückgabe zu spät ist. Ich lese viel historic fiction und dies z.B. hat mich genervt:Dass eine Frau ihres Standes ohne Dienerschaft und Schutz ins Dorf reitet. Dass der Körper nicht in der Kapelle aufgebahrt ist. Dass es beim Bischof viele Möbel aus Eiche gibt. Dass die Tische mit weißem Leinen gedeckt sein sollen. Dass sie My Lady genannt wird. Und am unglaubwürdigsten: Dass sie dem Leichnam die Kleidung mit einem Messer an der Seite aufschneidet. A) dauert das ewig und B) war Kleidung super aufwendig herzustellen und sehr, sehr teuer. Niemals hätte eine Frau damals noch tragbare Kleidung zerstört.Sorry, wenn das alles kleinlich klingt.

I LOVED this book - loved the setting, the characters, the writing, everything! Had a real feel of authenticity for the period too. If you like historical stories I urge you to read this!I'm off to read the next in the series! :)

The opening of the book starts with Ela's husband's funeral. On the way back from the funeral, the body of a heavily pregnant young woman is discovered in the river Avon. As her husband's heir to both the office and Castellan of Salisbury until her eldest son reaches his majority. She has to exert her authority in a time when women in authority were very unusual. I found this book interesting and involving, together with the history of the city and am looking forward to reading the next in the series. Thoroughly recommended.

Not a bad story and worth a read. Two main problems for me though. First of all they had no real evidence to convict the killer. So they could have hung an innocent person, which we were told numerous times that was what Ela wanted to avoid. My biggest problem though was the continuous misspelling of one of the main characters names. The coroner Giles Houghton/Haughton. Time after time he was called either one of these 2 surnames, sometimes within a few lines. It got so annoying that it was starting to overshadow the story for me. Poor editing or proof reading