‘The Riddle of St Leonard’s’ by Candace Robb

Published by Soundings Audio Books .

ISBN 18423831496 (10 Cassettes)

Read by Stephen Thorne

Historical crime fiction has seen a resurgence and Candace Robb is one of the most well known authors of medieval history. In The Riddle of St Leonard’s it is 1369 and the city of York is in dire straits. The harvest has failed and the plague has returned to the city.

The hospital at St Leonard’s is in debt and has suffered a number of thefts of some of its most valuable objects. With a spate of deaths also taking place at St Leonard’s hospital, which may or may not be accidental, and an uproar at the appointment of a former prostitute as a lay sister, Owen Archer soon finds himself being requested by Sir Richard de Ravenser, the Master of the Hospital, to investigate the deaths.

This has always been an first-rate series and The Riddle of St Leonard’s is an excellent story, which conjures up the era of the 1300s very well indeed. Stephen Thorne’s narration is very good and the reader is very easily drawn to the atmospheric period. The narration of this story is superbly done. This audio version of The Riddle of St Leonard’s is well worth listening to and a pleasure from the start to the end.

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Ayo Onatade

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