Tag Archives: SD Sykes

#BookReview ‘The Good Death’ by @SD_Sykes #historical #mystery

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The Good Death is fifth in the Oswald de Lacy historical mystery series by SD Sykes and it feels like the last. That is only my guess but there is a ‘rounding of the circle’ to the story, answering questions raised in the first novel. I read it quickly, and sort of guessed the mystery but not quite. SD SykesThe story is told in two timelines as Oswald in 1370 sits at the bedside of his mother, who is dying. She clutches to her breast a letter which she will not show him. Instead she demands he tell her the truth of what happened in 1349 when Oswald was an eighteen-year-old novice monk, prior to where Plague Land, first novel in this series, begins. Sent by his mentor in the infirmary, Brother Peter, to gather herbs in the woods, Oswald meets a terrified girl who runs from him into a fast-flowing river where she drowns. Oswald carries her body to the village and discovers that other young girls have disappeared, never seen again, but no one in authority will investigate. Plague is reported in neighbouring villages and everyone wants to stay close to home. Only the beautiful widow Maud Woodstock listens to Oswald’s concerns and, flattered by her attention, he decides to investigate.
Brief passages are spent at Somerhill Manor in 1370 – Oswald’s mother is dying but still manipulative, his wife is bored, a house guest is irritating and his sister is jealous of the time he spends with their mother – but the bulk of the story takes place in 1349. Oswald is forced to remember an incident in his past that he would rather forget, when as a teenager he becomes an enthusiastic investigator. He jumps to conclusions based on prejudice, generalisations and gossip, putting himself in danger, but finding each possible suspect is innocent. As his list of potential murderers gets shorter, the danger to Oswald – from the murder, and also from the approaching plague – increases. But what if the murderer is someone he doesn’t know or doesn’t consider a likely suspect.
This series has got better with every book and if this is the last, it will be a loss. Sykes tells Oswald’s story in a fast-moving engaging way that is rooted in its medieval time of violence, patriarchy, misogyny and forbidden passions.
Excellent.
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Click the title to read my reviews of the first three books in this series:-
PLAGUE LAND #1 OSWALDDELACY
THE BUTCHER BIRD #2 OSWALDDELACY
CITY OF MASKS #3 OSWALDDELACY
THE BONE FIRE #4 OSWALDDELACY

If you like this, try:-
‘Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter’ by Lizzie Pook
‘Wakenhyrst’ by Michelle Paver
‘Heresy’ by SJ Parris

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE GOOD DEATH by @SD_Sykes https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-6xU via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- William Boyd‪

#BookReview ‘The Butcher Bird’ by @SD_Sykes #historical

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When a baby is found dead in a spiky blackthorn bush, Oswald de Lacy, the youthful and reluctant Lord Somershill, must counter the myth and suspicion repeated by locals who blame a huge violent bird. Second in the Oswald de Lacy series by SD Sykes, The Butcher Bird starts fast and doesn’t stop.SD Sykes

Kent 1351. It is a year since England was decimated by the plague. At Somershill Manor in Kent, as around the country, workers are demanding higher pay. Oswald, unable to pay them more because he can’t break the decree of the king, fears the crops will likely fail and the estate’s income will fall further. Houses on his estate are abandoned, crops unsown. Still struggling to behave as he feels a Lord of the Manor must, Oswald’s only way to challenge the untruths circulating about the baby’s fate means he must find the real murderer. Some witnesses have left, some mistake imagination for fact, while others lie.
Unswerving in his dismissal of the supernatural, Oswald believes the child must have been killed by a person. He has to summon his courage and challenge superstition, greed, lies, evil and must grow up quickly. With a hypochondriac and manipulative mother and Clemence, his pregnant, challenging widowed sister who often veers into dislike, Oswald is nineteen and inexperienced. Though hardly ever alone, he has no-one in his corner. The fact that he is a teenager bearing so much responsibility, and power over others, is what makes this series different.
Oswald follows the trail to London where he shows both bravery and naivety. There are touches of humour that made me chuckle, particularly the changed behaviour of his mother’s lapdog, Hector. A meeting there which seems a side story from the main murder proves to be a turning point in Oswald’s journey, in more ways than one.
This is an original medieval series with a wonderful mix of spiky characters and clever plot ideas. Definitely not a substitute CJ Sansom, this series stands on its own merits. But don’t jump
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Here’s my review of the first in the series, PLAGUE LAND.

If you like this, try:-
‘The Last Hours’ by Minette Walters
‘Wakenhyrst’ by Michelle Paver
‘The Witchfinder’s Sister’ by Beth Underdown

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
THE BUTCHER BIRD by @SD_Sykes #bookreview https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5ty via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Plague Land’ by @SD_Sykes #historical #plague

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I’ve realised that when I start reading the first book in new series, I should have different expectations. It will not be a standalone novel so there will be continuing threads, unanswered questions and seemingly unrelated sub-plots which all come good in later books. In other words, I wear my ‘be patient’ hat. Plague Land by SD Sykes is first in the historical mystery Oswald de Lacy series. Set in 1350 in countryside ravaged by the plague, teenager Oswald reluctantly finds himself called home from the monastery to be lord of the manor. For almost the whole of the book, he is out of control of events. SD Sykes

This is a historical mystery with an uncertain, inexperienced young lord at its centre. Oswald’s mother and sister are rude to him, the locals simply ignore him, his servants show a lack of respect. A neighbouring lord and the local churchman see him as easy to manipulate and when he is new to his role, Oswald agrees with them. He longs to return to the monastery with his mentor, Father Peter, who returned to Somershill Manor with Oswald. Sykes does a good job portraying a young adult trying to occupy a mature man’s role. What drives him on is an incurable determination to find the truth and an endearing bravery which makes him ask awkward questions and takes him to places he probably shouldn’t be.
When one young woman from the village, then another, are killed in mysterious circumstances, Oswald doesn’t so much lose control of the situation as never hold control in the first place. Rumours of dog-headed monsters rip through the community despite Oswald’s attempts to engage the villagers in logical analysis. Superstition, fear and myth abound in a countryside empty of people; understandable following the horror of death, disease and poverty of the plague.
Many people are not how or who they seem and Oswald learns the hard way not to take appearances or counsel for granted. His questioning of everything and everyone inevitably leads to conflict, and conflict is the beating heart of fiction.
I connected more with Oswald as the story progressed and he was less naive, and now anticipate reading the rest of the series. Coming soon, my review of The Butcher Bird, second in the five-book Oswald de Lacy series.
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If you like this, try:-
‘The Almanack’ by Martine Bailey, #1TabithaHart
‘Winter Pilgrims’ by Toby Clements #1Kingmaker
‘Gone are the Leaves’ by Anne Donovan

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
PLAGUE LAND by @SD_Sykes #bookreview https://wp.me/p5gEM4-5nv via @SandraDanby