The Harwood Mysteries Book 4
Antony Barone Kolenc
Loyola Press
ISBN 9780829454277
eISBN 9780829454284
ASIN B0B2VSQQX6
This is the fourth of five currently available in the Harwood Mysteries that I have read. I have also read the three short stories in the same were published as the Lucy Mysteries and greatly enjoyed them. The author has indicated the series will conclude with a sixth volume due out in 2024. This story is historical fiction set in medieval England in the middle of August A.D. 1186. This story takes place nearly a year after the previous novel in the series. The description of the volume is:
“In this thrilling installment of the award-winning Harwood Mysteries series, Xan leaves the Abbey for far-away Lincoln to apprentice with his uncle. But he quickly learns that all is not well. Uncle William has fallen in debt to a heartless moneylender called the Master. Nigel, the reckless nephew of William’s business partner, has put them in danger by befriending an enemy of the King.
Why are the Master’s thugs lurking near Uncle William’s shop?
Does the disfigured woman in the marketplace really have power over life and death?
Will Nigel stop his dealings with a known traitor?”
This particular novel has won numerous awards including:
2023 Illumination Book Awards Gold Medalist, Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction
2023 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorite, Middle Grade
2023 Independent Press Awards Distinguished Favorite, Book Cover Design Fiction
2023 Catholic Media Association Book Awards, First Place, Books for Youth
2023 Association of Catholic Publishers Excellence in Publishing Awards, Third Place, Children's Books: Teens
If you have already read the other Harwood Mysteries you will be familiar with many of the characters. I must admit this volume gets even darker than some of the others. The challenges Xan faces are more numerous and at a number of points his life is in danger from three different directions. But I am getting ahead of myself.
I will be up front I had figured out the main culprit fairly early in this volume, and even how the crime was being committed. But the two subplots took me by surprise. And Watching Xan struggle to put the pieces together and even to figure out his own future was a greatly entertaining read.
As the previous volume ended Xan has chosen to return to his uncle and work as a merchant’s apprentice. His uncle William has also gone into partnership with a wealthy man, and Xan has suspicions from the beginning about this partner, the partner’s nephew Nigel, and even his own uncle going into debt again. Some of those prove valid and some now. There is a lot of action in this volume including a witch who curses the partner and his immediately taking ill. Xan being cursed, but pushing through to try and solve the mystery even if it is the last thing he does. A surprising turn with the legendary ‘Master’, and even an old foe returned using a new name and causing even more problems than previously.
Tony did another masterful job of finding balance between telling a new tale and staying true to historical fact and places. This volume is very well researched and the author’s historical note at the end is well worth reading. The characters are well written, it is a soiled plot with several twists and subplots woven well into the tapestry of the story. And it moves at a great pace. It was a hard book to put down.
It was great to watch Xan’s growth in this story and his interactions with Lucy and Father Andrew through letters. This story and the main Harwood series is marketed for Middle grade readers but would also be great for tweens and teens. I am in my fifties and I loved them. This is a well written story and one that will leave you excited for more stories set in this world that Kolenc has created. Antony ‘Tony’ Barone Kolenc is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. He currently teaches law. In this story, he has shown that he has great skill as a story teller in both long and short form fiction. It is a story guaranteed to entertain, readers young and old alike. It will leave you desperate for the next volume. It is a great story in a wonderful series. I can easily recommend it.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2024 Catholic Reading Plan!
Books by Antony Barone Kolenc:
The Harwood Mysteries:
Shadow in the Dark
The Haunted Cathedral
The Chronicles of Xan:
Shadow in the Dark
The Haunted Cathedral
The Fire of Eden
…
Books by Antony Barone Kolenc:
The Harwood Mysteries:
Shadow in the Dark
The Haunted Cathedral
Murder at Penwood Manor
The Devil's Ransom
…
Harwood Short Stories:
The Lucy Mysteries:
…
The Chronicles of Xan:
Shadow in the Dark
The Haunted Cathedral
The Fire of Eden
…
Other Books:
Penny and the Stolen Chalice
…
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