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rosannelortz's review against another edition
4.0
This was an exciting thriller with a well-depicted historical milieu. I must admit that I didn't think it quite as good as The Midwife's Tale, and was thus a tad disappointed. I also get a little annoyed when all the religious characters in a book turn out to be the baddies (whoops, was that a spoiler?), but all in all, a good page-turning read.
swiss_miss_73's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhat pedantic and slow starting but overall a good read. Interesting time period that I didn't know much about before this book.
wellingtonestatelibrary's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed this book. The author's writing style reminded me of Mel Starr, who is extremely engaging as a medieval mystery novelist. I found the concept of "pleading the belly" intriguing. I think that Sam Thomas' book could have been improved by including a glossary. It was only through reading Mel Starr's books (he includes a glossary with definitions of medieval English terms) that I was familiar with the term gossip as pertains to labour and delivery. The origin is "god sib", a spiritual sister who attended a woman in labour to, essentially, distract her by speaking of current events and spiritually uplifting and encouraging her. Sam Thomas would have done well to explain this.
wellingtonestatelibrary's review against another edition
5.0
This series gets better with each book. I couldn't put this one down, but stayed up til 1 a.m. to finish it. I can't wait to dive in to The Midwife and the Assassin.
wellingtonestatelibrary's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't expecting to love this as much as I did. It was even better than the first. I love the characters of Lady Hodgson, Martha and Will. The mystery was good, and some things happened towards the end that I did not see coming! Lady Hodgson turned out to have quite a bit of spark and fire in her. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to slap someone in the face who insulted you and get away with it?!
louise56637's review against another edition
5.0
Very good story with lots of twists and turns. York during Cromwell ' s siege and all the turmoil it caused.
louise56637's review against another edition
4.0
A bit dark and grisly at times but riveting, none the less.
louise56637's review against another edition
4.0
The political intrigue is fascinating. The historical medical knowledge made me wince.