Season of the Raven

A Servant of the Crown Mystery, Book 1

By: Denise Domning

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

A miller found under his wheel.

It's 1194, and Sir Faucon de Ramis, the shire's newly appointed keeper of the pleas, must do his duty and make an official declaration of the cause of a miller's death. Saddled with a clerk who names Faucon his "penance", the shire's first crowner must thread the tangled relationships between the sheriff, the village of Priors Holston, and the priory that once ruled it.

As a simple task takes a turn to the political, what seems obvious isn't, and what appears safe turns out to be more dangerous than he could imagine.

©2014 Denise Domning (P)2019 Tantor

Made sense

I loved the narrator. It is set in Britain’s past, the 1100’s. There are references to people and events that are historically true. The dialog’s not too modern. The mystery was fun, I was able to follow along or even guess earlier. The “detective” was unfamiliar with his work, this was his first case, which might help explain why I sometimes thought he wasn’t fast enough on the uptake. It ended with a cliff hanger that had been set up at the beginning of the book. I think that story will continue through more books with a solvable mystery woven on top of it. Worth a listen, but I wanted it to be longer!

Great historical series

This is a really good Medieval English history with Norman French characters and Saxon English characters involved. The main protagonist is very likeable and faces many challenges with his new position in a new city. His assistant is both annoying and loveable at times. I’ve listened to all 4 novels in the series and I keep looking for #5....

The perfect story telling voice

I was captivated from the beginning. The story was timeless. Murder, the work we do, our families and the gamut of emotions.

I enjoyed it; good start to the series.

Good story, good characters. I'd really only give it 3.5 stars, but my standards are higher than many people. This book is average; I think the other books in the series are better.

Disagree with other review

Another review mentioned a “pedophile ending”. After completing the series, I don’t want to spoil anything… but there is no pedophile. But there is certainly an evil character for the hero to defeat. I find it odd that someone would give one star “bad guy” in a mystery novel is evil. They’re supposed to be evil and creepy. I think someone who cannot handle that sort of thing might want to read/listen to a different genre.