An Ancient Evil (Ulverscroft Large Print Series) - Hardcover

Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough. He studied History at Liverpool and Oxford Universities and obtained a doctorate for his thesis on Edward II and Queen Isabella. He is now headmaster of a school in north-east London and lives with his family in Essex.

YA?Travelers on a pilgrimage agree to provide stories for entertainment and the knight volunteers to tell his tale first. In the 14th-century university town of Oxford, murders occur in the most bloody, grisly manner, with victims hanged and their throats cut. The King authorizes Sir Godfrey Evesden, a knight, and Master Alexander McBain, a clerk, to uncover the killers with the help of a blind exorcist, Dame Edith Mohun. The evidence mounts that a Strigoi (also called a shape-shifter, devil-worshiper, or vampire) is responsible, and that it will continue to recruit followers unless caught and burned to death. Sir Godfrey fights for Christianity in the battle against forces of darkness. Students looking for historical fiction will find amazingly detailed descriptions of English life in the 1300s, but they'll need strong stomachs for the blood, vomit, etc., that spurt copiously. The knight's tale is interspersed with comments from the pilgrims, and this creates a good balance, pace, and momentum. This is the first of the author's historical mysteries based on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and readers will be eager to follow Sir Godfrey's pursuit of the evil, elusive Strigoi.?Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
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