The Mysterious Case of the Missing Mystery
3/5
Spoilers
My family will tell you that I've lately picked up a knack for not checking things properly. At Christmas I went through a myriad of present-based slip-ups all stemming from this problem. There was the board game I'd bought the German language edition of, there was biography I bought that the reader may or may not have already sent to a charity shop, and there were the small pile of presents that I bought Mrs C twice. The lesson I was meant to learn was to "read before purchase". Fair enough.
Towards the end of January, I was at a loss of what to read. We have quite a large library of books, obviously many unread, but choosing the next is always a problematic endeavour. Feeling entirely indecisive, I opted to search for a single-volume story. And with it being January, I definitely wanted something light, like a Cosy Crime mystery, to spend a few days with.
At the juncture of two shelves I found it: a standalone mystery by an author who had written a successful series about a 14th Century archer. This one, A Trust Betrayed by Candace Robb, was a medium sized volume delving into the English invasion of Scotland during the 1290s. Perfect!
This novel was quite enjoyable, a good fiction refresh following a long sojourn into non-fiction history. The world was immersive, then-unimportant Edinburgh springing to life, and decorated with small array of colourful characters. The protagonist, the titular Margaret Kerr, was on a quest to find her errant husband and the murderer of his cousin. As the plot unfolded, intrigues popped up relating to the political situation in 13th Century Scotland, slightly obscuring the mystery, although interesting in their own right. As we approached the end of the tale, rather than the typical gathering round in the library of the suspects (of which there had been few), Margaret discovered the culprit without fanfare and that her husband, who she feared dead too, was alive and working for Robert Bruce. She opted to fall in with an ally of his Scottish enemy, John Balliol and William Wallace, and... the book ended.
Feeling that this wasn't quite complete, I re-read the heading of the book properly and discovered what would become the heading to this article, honing in on the 'Series' aspect. And there we were, not reading a standalone mystery as I had so wished, but in book one of yet another series. Dashing from the bed to the bookcase, via my phone, I discovered that out of the three books available (a trilogy!) I had the second, but not the third. I sighed, mostly, realising this would mean adding to the library further. Apparently I still needed to learn my lesson about reading things properly before committing.
Following a break, for a work reading competition, I returned to the books a couple of weeks ago. My parents very kindly ordered me the third and I set about reading the remainder of the trilogy. What is most peculiar about these books is that when I reached the grand finale of book 3, A Cruel Courtship, I discovered the story had still not ended. There had been a battle and the majority of characters had returned safely, but it was not over. Margaret's mother, Christiana, is a soothsayer of sorts and had made clear that Margaret would see the true King of Scotland enter Edinburgh with her husband. Clearly, this would be the ending of Margaret's literary adventures. This book ended in Stirling, with her husband dead, and the question of King still far up in the air. Having been published in 2004 , this seems to have not been the final part of a trilogy but the mid-series climax of an aborted series. Quite distressing!
The history invoked in these books is fascinating. Candace Robb, historian as well as author, has researched her topic well. She weaves narrative through history, fleshes out real characters, and provides colour to the lives of ordinary citizens. I am not overly familiar with Scottish history, so it could all be hokum, but she writes such confidence that everything feels real. It is this truth in her understanding of Edinburgh, Perth, Stirling, and the war to claim the Scottish crown that really sells these books. Often, Medieval lives can seem like one big gloomy mess of knights warring and peasants plaguing. Not in this series; here gossips and feuds, friends and lovers, all come to life, breaking from the shackles of time.
Less convincing are the mysteries. Now, this may not entirely be down to Robb. I feel that, for the most part, the three 'murder mysteries' are merely an excuse to plot a medieval spy thriller. The mystery of A Trust Betrayed, as aforementioned, is used to get Margaret to Edinburgh and sticking her nose into the local political scene. In the second volume, The Fire in the Flint, it becomes more obscure; a body is found in her father's warehouse that might provoke the English. And the final mystery, the murders of a spy-prostitute and a goldsmith in A Cruel Courtship, are merely sideshows to Margaret's own spying. All-in-all, it feels like Robb was trying to write a light historical thriller, whilst her publisher insisted on attaching the mystery banner. The mystery tropes just aren't there! But, if you can ignore the cover, the story holds.
What is more Robb's doing is the use of emotional descriptions. Whilst Margaret is ultimately quite a strong female protagonist, we are given quite a rundown of her emotional meltdowns at every opportunity. Other characters, too, when given the narrative lead, slink into long descriptions of what is on their minds. Too often Robb prefers to 'tell' rather than 'show' when exploring the mood and feelings of characters. Her writing is good but so often I found myself begging her to demonstrate Margaret's conflicts rather than give a chapter over to her being sat by herself in a quiet, cold room thinking. Overall, these add length to the books that make them feel they have been condensed, perhaps into that one volume I was after to begin with.
A worthwhile read with some fascinating insight into Medieval Scotland and the lives of the 'commoners'. Perhaps Robb will return to the series to finish it one day - I would rejoin the quest if she did.
The Margaret Kerr Series
consisting of A Trust Betrayed, The Flint in the Fire, and A Cruel Courtship
by Candace Robb
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