Product Description

Mathilde of Westminster must face a dangerous foe in the third novel in Paul Doherty’s acclaimed series.

March 1312 and England is divided. Edward II is in conflict with his barons over royal favourite Gaveston, and Queen Isabella is momentously pregnant with the first union of Plantagenet and Capetian blood. Meanwhile, rebel Robert Bruce prowls the Scottish border seeking advancement.
Mathilde of Westminster senses a challenge for the throne is imminent. When the great Earls step up their campaign, the King and Queen are forced to flee to a fortified priory in Tynemouth, now vulnerable to the Scottish marauders on land and Bruce’s allies at sea.
With threats all around, the royal party can only despair when one of their camp is murdered. Will Mathilde be able to find the perpetrator before the King loses control of the throne?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #278651 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough. He studied History at Liverpool and Oxford Universities and obtained a doctorate for his thesis on Edward II and Queen Isabella. He is now headmaster of a school in north-east London and lives with his family in Essex.

Customer Reviews

less gripping and less engaging than usual - not the best mystery by Paul Doherty
I suppose this is 35 book by Paul Doherty I have read. So you gather that I am quite a fan of him.

This is the number 3 in the Mathilde of Westminsiter series. He combines here his interest in the reign of Edward II and the Templars. Eventough this new mystery is a part of a series it can stand alone and the reader does not have to read book one and two in order to follow the story.

The story is set in 1312: a year of high drama at the royal court of England. The leading barons are in rebellion against King Edward II and his great favorite (or lover) Gaveston, the Earl of Cornwall. The year ends with the excecution of Gaveston. At the same time the prosecution of the Templars by the King of France is in full swing. Mathilde is the trusted servant of Queen Isabella of England, Princess of France. It is a dark period, glumy and full on intrigue. Indeed a period when the glass is darkening for the royal court.

As usual Paul Doherty re-creates the period and times to perfection. He indeed creates this dark, gloomy atmosphere. But he spends more time on descriptions than usual. This however leads to less action and often a action is interrupted by descriptions. This I found partly boring, party annoying. Sometimes he wanders off to areas which he obviously wants to show to the reader, but they do not really fit into the story and actually disrupt the narrative. The whole effect is that this new mystery by Paul Doherty is less gripping and less engaging. Only in the last chapters he catches up and it gets very interesting. However, one has to get there first and this is a bit of a struggle. On a positive note the personality of Mathilde develops more and more. She gains more layers. In sharp contrast to most other books by Doherty this is not a page-turner, not a book one can not put down before the end. Indeed one can quite easily. I sometimes wonder whether Paul Doherty simply writes too much and too many different series.

All in all,this is not a bad book, but it is not the best on offer by Dr. Paul Doherty.

The 3rd Mathilde and arguably the best
Despite the apparent lukewarm reviews it seems this book is still rated pretty pretty highly. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it difficult to put down. I thought the plot was effective and building up into what will clearly be a long lived character and series (I hope), the mood is atmospheric and conjures up many visions of life in that period, short, nasty and brutish. Having a woman as a central character is slightly unusual for Doherty and, generally, for most novelists writing about this period, Jecks, Gregory et al but works well for me. Mathilde and Isabel come across as strong but still feminine - the next one is on pre-order but, just a warning, where some series novels (Lee Childs and Reacher) can be read as stand alone, I don't think this one can - go on, be devils, order all three - you won't regret it!

Darkening Glass
This is the 83rd novel from super prolific author Dr. Paul Doherty and it's also the 3rd novel to feature Mathilde of Westminster. The book is set in 1312 a turbulent time for Edward the II and the Royal favourite Piers Gaveston (friend, brother or lover).

The Earls (Great Lords) are stepping up their campaign to remove Gaveston and Mathilda of Westminster is thrown into this hot bed of intrigue, brutal murder and dark deceit, and added to this Gaveston's retinue the (Aquilae Petri) are being mysteriously murdered.

Meanwhile all this makes the king vulnerable to the ever present marauders at sea and Robert the Bruce and his allies massing on the boarders.

What makes this book enjoyable is Paul Doherty's ability to re-create the medieval world, he gives the book such a sense of time and place the sights and sounds, the smells and general unnerving darkness and a very brooding atmosphere just ooze off the page...this is what Doherty excels at.

The book is very descriptive more so than most of his previous books I've enjoyed. But I felt that this added to the general atmosphere of the novel, there is still plenty of action and tense moments throughout the book to enjoy.

Doherty develops Mathilde character adding layers like an onion. On a negative I didn't really relate to Mathilde that well, certainly not compared to his other characters,(Hugh Corbett and Judge Amerotke) but the setting of the novel and the mystery surrounding Gaveston's death more than makes up for this.

A very good book, and a series that I feel needs more time to fully develop.