I said that I wanted to read the next Owen Archer book fairly soon, so I did! I have to say, though, The Nun’s Tale is the darkest book from Robb that I read so far!

Owen Archer should be at home with his wife, Lucie, as they prepare for the arrival of their first child. Unfortunately, a nun called Joanna claims to have been resurrected and given the cloak of the Virgin Mary. The cloak, while blue, is clearly new but the matter of Joanna’s supposed resurrection is disturbing and the trail of deaths that follow her even more so. Of course, Thoresby sends Owen to find the truth of the matter.

Like I mentioned at the start, this book is fairly disturbing. The truth of the matter is fairly shocking, but I think the darkest part of the book is Joanna’s character. Her exact mental state is unclear, but it’s clear that she is suffering from a mental illness of some kind. It’s pretty painful to see her suffer like this and the more I learned about her, the more I found her a pitiful character. I’ve always thought the Owen Archer mysteries were fairly realistic in how they dealt with the times but this was especially painful in its realism (at least, how realistic it felt!). A lot of Joanna’s character ties in with the resolution so I don’t dare to discuss too much in case I spoil the book, but let me know if you need a trigger warning, I’ll be happy to DM you them!

Since I read this fairly soon after The Lady Chapel, I managed to see how this book fit in with the previous books. Not only is Lucie pregnant, Thoresby’s feud with Alice Perrers also continues, albeit on a milder scale, and causes him to form alliances that will probably impact future books in the series. One alliance he forms is with the Duke of Lancaster, and I found that interesting because I read a biography of Katherine Swynford, his second wife, and know a little about what happened. It was also interesting to see Geoffrey Chaucer in the book too!

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating and dark murder mystery. While the books were never cosy mysteries, The Nun’s Tale definitely tackles a few difficult issues and I found this to be a very impactful read.