From Library Journal
When William of Wykeman, bishop of Winchester, fears reprisal after being blamed for the death of a local knight by his irate family, Owen Archer (A Spy for the Redeemer) must protect him. In the meantime, Owen copes with wife Lucie's overwhelming sorrow upon losing the child she was carrying. A nice addition to the series, with Robb's good character development and domestic detail, though the ending doesn't quite satisfy.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Owen Archer returns to solve another medieval mystery grounded in the intrigue spawned by the bitter rivalry among King Edward III's sons. When William of Wykehani, bishop of Winchester and the former lord chancellor of England, travels to York bearing the heart of a local knight slain by the French, he fears his life is in grave danger. Accused by the knight's family of skimming the ransom they sent to free Sir Ranulf Pagnell, he barely escapes with his life when a piece of building material falls directly in his path. Assigned by Archbishop Thoresby to keep Wykeham safe, Owen is baffled when Wykeham's residence is engulfed in flames. With the help of his wife, Lucie, a gifted apothecary, he investigates the murder of an unknown woman unearthed in the ashes. Once again, Robb provides the reader with an evocative and suspenseful whodunit thoroughly bolstered by a wealth of authentic historical detail. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"York, England, the warm October of 1371. Owen Archer has little taste for feuds between powerful men now that his wife, Lucie, has lost the child she carried and seems to lose her will to live as well. Yet Owen cannot ignore the recent arrival of William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester. For one thing, the bishop believes someone is trying to kill him, and Owen is given the job of keeping him safe." "Wykeham has good reason to worry. The family of a local knight blames him for the nobleman's death in a French dungeon despite their offers of ransom. Trying to make amends, Wykeham brings the heart of "the cross-legged knight" home for burial. But the family is not appeased and the pompous churchman is not in York a fortnight before fire engulfs his town house." The bishop survives unharmed, but a servant is badly burned and a mysterious woman lies murdered among the ruins. Now caring for the wounded man in their own home, Lucie battles her inner demons while Owen fears a web of intrigue is entangling them all in the schemes of knights, bishops, even kings. His only hope is to set a trap so cunning that the killer - no matter how important a personage - cannot escape.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Attacks on a bishop and former lord chancellor of England reveal a confusing web of motives in Robb's latest to feature one-eyed medieval sleuth Owen Archer (after 2002's A Spy for the Redeemer). Bishop Wykeham has come to York to try to appease the family of Sir Ranulf Pagnell, an aged knight who died in a French dungeon while Wykeham attempted to negotiate his release. Soon after the bishop's arrival, someone tries to drop a roof-tile on his head, and then succeeds in burning down his townhouse. As captain of the guard at Archbishop Thoresby's palace where Wykeham is staying, Archer is responsible for the bishop's safety. His inquiries into the crimes are complicated by the presence of a badly wounded servant and murdered woman dragged out of the burning house. No one seems able to explain their presence in the house, nor who inflicted their injuries. Archer considers suspects ranging from street thieves to the powerful Duke of Lancaster, with mixed results. The author's enthusiastic research lends realism to the time and place, but occasionally gushes over into distracting detail. Also, her excellent rendering of characters and motives is hurt by the presence of the Riverwoman, a healer who seems more New Age than Middle Age. But Robb pulls the tale out of its muddle at the end. Alternating scenes with a growing pace and tension culminate in a welcome surprise or two. Established fans will enjoy the references to previous books in the series. (Jan. 6) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

When William of Wykeman, bishop of Winchester, fears reprisal after being blamed for the death of a local knight by his irate family, Owen Archer (A Spy for the Redeemer) must protect him. In the meantime, Owen copes with wife Lucie's overwhelming sorrow upon losing the child she was carrying. A nice addition to the series, with Robb's good character development and domestic detail, though the ending doesn't quite satisfy. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

When William Wykeham, the bishop of Winchester, arrives in York convinced that someone has designs on his life, Archbishop Thoresby places the former Lord Chancellor under the protective wing of Thoresby's trusted steward and guard, the one-eyed Captain Owen Archer (A Spy for the Redeemer, p. 146, etc.). Just because Wykeham is paranoid doesn't mean he has no enemies. He's incurred the animosity of the powerful Pagnell family by failing in his ransom negotiations to win the release of Sir Ranulf Pagnell from a French jail. Now that Sir Ranulf has died in his cell, his remains are to be buried in York in a month, with Wykeham studiously omitted from the guest list for the last rites. While Archer's at home with his apothecary wife Lucie Wilton, their adopted son Jasper brings news of a fire at Wykeham's house. Beneath the burned-out ruins, in the lower level where records are stored, Owen finds the strangled body of Cisetta, the young midwife who attended Lucie when she recently lost a child at birth. Determined to find Cisetta's killer, Owen turns up in the course of his efforts another dimension to the enmity between Wykeham and the Pagnells that points to the treachery of trusted underlings-and provides a cogent reason for Wykeham's diplomatic failure.