Easy read

A Taste for Killing

Sarah Hawkswood — 2022

Whose was the hand that poisoned Godfrey Bowyer? Bradecote and Catchpoll are on the trail of the killer. January, 1145. Godfrey Bowyer, the best but least likeable bow maker in Worcester, dies an agonising death by poisoning. Although similarly struck down after the same meal, his wife Blanche survives. The number of people who could have administered the poison should mean a very short investigation for the Sheriff's men, Hugh Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll, but perhaps someone was pulling the strings, and that widens the net considerably. Could it be the cast-out younger brother or perhaps Orderic the Bailiff, whose wife may have had to endure Godfrey's attentions? Could it even be the wife herself? With Bradecote eager to return to his manor and worried about his wife's impending confinement, and Underserjeant Walkelin trying to get his mother to accept his choice of bride, there are distractions aplenty, though Serjeant Catchpoll will not let them get in the way of solving this case.

Reviews

Seher Mohsin@bookstagramofmine

May 28, 2022

Thank you NetGalley and Allison & Busby for the chance to read and review A Taste for Killing! In a small 1145. Godfrey Bowyer, one of the least likeable people in Worcester, dies a painful death by poisoning. Suspicion falls on a whole host of people; his wife Blanche, who ate the same meal but survived; his brother who is in a ton of debt and may have wanted his business; the cook who hated the wife and may have intended to kill her; the servant who was pregnant with the masters child; the man whose wife Godfrey harassed. While A Taste of Killing is interesting, it's a slow read mostly because it's written in the same dialect that was used in 1145, which slows a reader down. That being said, it keeps your interest for the most part and you can tell that they aren't going to stop digging and take an easy answer. I had no idea that taste for killing was part of a larger series when I requested it, so I'm not sure if the characters are growing or staying the same. I didn't find most of the characters memorable, all three of the men kinda blur into one for me, and as this was a series I've missed things like when Walkelin fell for Eluned, etc. While I love Blanche as a character, I wasn't happy that she was the one who had done it. I feel like that was so easy to do as she's an outsider and suddenly that one priest remembers her. She was fairly smart to have gotten away with what look like 2 other deaths, and I don't think she would have risked this all so suddenly; there were too many loose ends for her to do this so suddenly. If you're reading this do keep in mind that Godfrey does totally deserve his end; he was pretty predatory towards a lot of women and an awful husband.