I heard about Candace Robb and her books on the Medievalist podcast, where she appeared to talk about medieval mysteries. Since I love mysteries and I’m visiting York later this year, I knew that I had to read her Kate Clifford series, which are set in medieval York!

The Service of the Dead is the first in the Kate Clifford series and it opens with a body. This puts Kate in a difficult situation because the body was found in the house that she will be renting to Lady Kirkby, who is visiting York to raise support (and money) for her husband’s cause. Forced to look into this matter, Kate soon finds that the murder has deep implications for her own family – including her two wards.

Obviously, I really enjoyed this mystery. The plot was solid (I did not manage to figure out the ending but it was satisfying) and Kate was an independent-minded heroine that I admired from the first time she appeared on the page. Of course, I’ve been slightly biased, having heard the author talk about how she tried to write Kate as independently as possible while still keeping in line with the norms of the time, but I really do admire Kate’s liveliness and determination to keep her independence. Plus, she is whip-smart and manages to care for her wards – no small feat considering that they are the children of her husband’s mistress!

Another thing I enjoyed about this story was how the main mystery connected to Kate’s past. I won’t give any spoilers (or at least, I will endeavour not to), but I thought the way the mystery was used to uncover more about Kate was well-done and made me want to find out more about her. I started off knowing nothing about Kate, but by the end of the book, I had an idea of where she came from and why she is the woman she now is. Now, I am even more eager to read more mysteries starring her.

The setting of the book was great too! I almost felt as though I was in York, and I am looking forward to seeing the Shambles and the York city walls in person. We’ll also be staying at one of the places mentioned in the book, so reading this just made me even more excited for my upcoming trip! The author mentioned that she visited York for the novel and it does show in her writing.

The book ends with an author note that talks about the history of the time period as well as what liberties the author took. It’s pretty interesting if you’re a fan of history, so I would recommend you read to the end.

Overall, I thought this was a very interesting mystery and a great start to the series. I am definitely going to read more before I go to England later this year!