Baynard's List (Stephen Attebrook Mysteries #2) By Jason Vail

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Although not quite as good as the The Wayward Apprentice (the first book in the series), this was a pretty good second. I was a little blindsided by the ending. I will continue to read the series. Jason Vail second book. same easy confessions.

it was great until the bad guys gave up so easily. clemet was an evil man, why would he be afraid of someone just saying what you did without any physical proof? not impressed. Jason Vail English mystery.

Nicely written with a smooth hand. Well done Sir. English mystery is a favorite of mine. Stephen as a handle on all that goes on in his town. But at every turn there is a murder piled on top of the last one. But for buggers sake some please pay the man what he's owed. A nice fast past easy read. Jason Vail Set in Shropshire in the 13th Century, this novel follows the quest for a lost list of names. Deputy Coroner Stephen Attebrook is trying to find it, but he becomes aware that others are also trying to track it down and then things take a turn for the worse with a mysterious death.

This was a readable enough mystery, and I liked the setting, but it wasn't as good as the first book in the series. Stephen is a likeable protagonist, but this plot was quite predictable and so his inability to spot the obvious was quite annoying, and not very convincing.

In addition, there were some irritating editing issues. On the whole, the narrative sounds authentic but there are some Americanisms that jar - particularly a character who is said to fall on his fanny! More seriously, a character is called Beth up to Chapter 15, and then becomes Helen in Chapter 16.

Not bad, but I'm not sure whether to continue with this series. Jason Vail The list

The main character & his friends are very likeable. They would be the people I would depend on for help & some justice in the end. Jason Vail

A secret list identifying the supporters of both King Henry and his rival for power Simon de Montfort has disappeared following the murder of the King’s master spy in the west of England. Stephen Attebrook, the part-time deputy coroner for medieval Ludlow, must find Baynard’s list for his former master, the grasping and ambitious crown justice Ademar de Valence — projecting Attebrook into a cesspit of medieval murder, espionage, intrigue and betrayal. Attebrook faces his greatest challenge as a discoverer of secrets as he races to obtain the list before a rival gets it first, while the life of someone close to him hangs on the outcome. Baynard's List (Stephen Attebrook Mysteries #2)

I am actually on the 4th book in the series as I write this short review for book 2. This statement in and of itself should clue you in that I'm finding Jason Vail's stories very entertaining. I will be sad when I finish the series.

Book 2 introduces the character Lady Margaret, a worthy match for our hero Stephen Attebrook. This new character is made the more interesting by her opacity. Good or evil? Does she actually care for Stephen, or is she simply using him? As the story ended, I hoped to see more of this character in later books. Jason Vail It took me a bit to get into the story but once I did it moved quickly. Jason Vail This is the sequel to The Wayward Apprentice, and is a really fun read. The detailed and unsanitized look at the 13th century provides a cool backdrop to a well-plotted story. Jason Vail This was the second book in this series, and I liked it better than the first. I think Stephen is shown in a bit more favorable light, and he's becoming more of a real character. I would still like to see more internal feeling from him, however, as I sometimes felt he was just going through the motions.

The atmosphere is described very well in this series, and you can almost feel the mud sucking at your shoes and smell the straw in the stable. The town of Ludlow is a real place, of course, and the author loses no opportunity to name the streets and waterways to good effect. Given the setting and story, the violence was applicable. There's no descriptive sex and no foul language.

This mystery had a real surprise in the end, too, which was enjoyable. Jason Vail The events of the first book in this medieval murder mystery series, The Wayward Apprentice, set the stage for this volume, which begins just a couple of weeks after the conclusion of the previous story. It turns out that Ancelin Baynard, the murdered master of the titular apprentice, was King Henry III's spymaster in the Welsh border region, and he kept a list of both loyal agents and a list of agitators favorable to the king's nemesis, Simon de Montfort. The list has disappeared and a number of parties want to get their hands on it. One of them, the former master of now-deputy-coroner Stephen Attebrook, takes Stephen's infant son hostage in order to ensure his cooperation in the hunt for the list. Desperate to find the list and exchange it for his son, Attebrook has to track down the document while keeping one eye out for competing searchers, who are not above resorting to assault or even murder to get to the list first.

As I had hoped, this second volume deepened my attachment to the main characters who were introduced in Apprentice. The addition of a map of the town of Ludlow really helps the reader visualize the town and understand the movements of the characters. (It's not a great map, but it shows the main streets and a few buildings of central interest, like the Broken Shield inn where Attebrook lodges at the grace of his friend and part-time clerk, Gilbert Wistwode.) This book seems a little better composed in some ways than the first, like Vail is settling in as an author just as we are as his readers. There's a plot twist or two that make things interesting, and Attebrook is confirmed as a hero with some failings, but a hero nonetheless.

There's a rough spot or two. There's a conversation early on between the main antagonist Justice Adamar de Valence and his henchman Clement, in which they discuss what to do with Attebrook's young son. It's a cartoonish dialog and a clumsy way of showing that these are bad men with bad intentions. Also, Attebrook's relationship with his love interest seems a little too whirlwind and too dismissive of the social barriers that make up the fabric of the story in so many other places. (This may have been intentional by the author, but it seems like Attebrook should have found it odd as well; then again, while he is clever, he does sometimes miss details or fail to make connections, so perhaps I don't give Vail enough credit.)

All in all, a good read and a fun story. I'm looking forward to the next installment, A Dreadful Penance. Jason Vail