SPY IN CHANCERY

This medieval mystery is based on a true case of treason suspected by Edward I, King of England. Edward commissions his chancery clerk, Hugh Corbett, to find the perpetrators who must be highly placed in Edward's court to be privy to such damaging information. The last decade of the thirteenth century is presented as unrelievedly grim. This is a well-researched story, but a bit long on grisly death and dismemberment and a bit short on likable characters. The narrator does not salvage the situation. While his pronunciation and tempo are not a problem, he fails to inject any personality into the story. Rather than acting, he merely reads. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/ JAN 02]