Book #38: Pagan Death

Another long week where I've not done a huge amount of reading if I'm honest, it's been a busy week, what with my birthday and a short break for Bev to visit her parents for the first time in 6 months! We stayed in a Park Dean resort lodge/shack thingy, was a bit different, but meant that we could do everything properly!

So here it is, book number 38, Pagan Death. I decided to read this one because the author had liked a few of my tweets previously on twitter regarding my reviews of the Imperial Assassin series.

Pagan Death takes me even further back in history than Clash of Empires, which itself was 200BC. It is set in 700BC, in Bronze Age England, a period of which I know pretty much nothing about. It focuses on the Dumnonii tribe (modern day Cornwall and Devon), and a series of murders within the tribe. The main character, Meliora, the village healer, is aunt to the village chieftain who is murdered in mysterious circumstances, however Meliora discovers that he has been poisoned, and seeks to find out who did it.

This is a historical fiction, crossed murder mystery for me, as Meliora does her best to find the murderer, whilst at the same time, the tribe is threatened from the outside, as rival tribes try to plunder the Dumnonii's tin and copper mines. The killer isn't revealed until the final page, and there are a few open ended plotlines which I presume would be addressed in the next books in the series.

The book is suitably bloody as its title suggests, starting with a ritual sacrifice, and with several murders throughout. It is also full of strong female characters, with the male characters taking a bit of a backseat. The only issue with the characters is that as it is first person from Meliora, you don't really get much of a chance to explore anyone else's character in much depth. It's one thing I don't really like about first person if I'm honest!

Overall it was a good book, I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a good historical thriller, with strong female leads! The copy I have doesn't appear on goodreads however, goodreads only seems to have the kindle edition. Where will my next book take me?

Pagan Death: 2cm

Total read so far: 38 books, 115.5cm

Total left to read: 77.5cm