The Hanging Tree by Paul Doherty

The Hanging Tree (A Brother Athelstan Mystery)

by Paul Doherty

Brother Athelstan must solve a theft from the royal treasure chamber and the murders of six executioners in this gripping medieval mystery.

London. January, 1382. The Crown's treasury has been robbed. Tens of thousands of silver and gold coins mysteriously lifted from the most secure chamber in the kingdom; the five Clerks of the Dark who guarded the king's treasure brutally garrotted. Sir John Cranston and Brother Athelstan are appointed to investigate - but Athelstan has problems of his own. Clement the Key Master, who helped fashion the complex locks to the royal treasure chamber, has been found strangled in the nave of Athelstan's parish church, St Erconwald's.

At the same time, six of the city's hangmen have been savagely murdered, their bodies stripped. Pinned to each corpse is a scrawled note: "Vengeance! The Upright Men never forget!" The Guild of Hangmen who frequent the majestic tavern, The Hanging Tree, on the River Thames, have petitioned for Sir John and Brother Athelstan to find the culprit. But have the sleuthing pair taken on more than they can handle . . . and could the two investigations be connected?

Reviewed by annieb123 on

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Hanging Tree is the 21st Brother Athelstan medieval mystery by Paul Doherty from Severn House. Released 7th June 2022, it's 224 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. There are a number of historical mystery series set in the medieval period and the middle ages which have a permanent place on my "to be read" lists, and this one is in the top 5.

Brother Althelstan is called in to investigate yet another perplexing 'locked room' mystery, this time in an inaccessible tower. Added into the mix are hangmen being murdered and dumped, stolen royal treasure, and skullduggery and political machinations, and Brother Athelstan and his investigative colleague, coroner Sir John Cranston, have more than enough to deal with.

Having read many of Mr. Doherty's other books, I was expecting a well crafted mystery. Although it had been some years since I had read any of the other books in this series, it works perfectly well as a standalone. The background for the characters is presented in a way that manages to convey all the necessary backstory without spoon-feeding readers already familiar with the setting and characters.

The plotting and dialogue are very well crafted and the entire book is beautifully researched and historically correct (at least to my layman's knowledge of the period). I felt that the dialogue succeeded quite well in walking the fine line between being comprehensible to a modern audience and still maintaining a period flavor.

There are many subplots and subtly interwoven stories here and I wondered how Doherty would manage to tie them together, but he does manage (and satisfyingly). For readers of a very sensitive nature, there are some quite unflinching descriptions of the less savory realities of living in a crowded, filthy, disease ridden area of the period. Not appetizing and realistically rendered in the book. The author has a definite talent for descriptive prose.

Four and a half stars. This is an invariably entertaining and engaging series and this is a worthy addition.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

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Reading updates

  • 11 January, 2023: Started reading
  • 11 January, 2023: Finished reading
  • 11 January, 2023: Reviewed