King Arthur's Bones (The Medieval Murderers, #5)

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King Arthur's Bones (The Medieval Murderers #5)

by The Medieval Murderers

3.34 · rating details · 50 ratings · 11 reviews

During excavation work at Glastonbury Abbey in the year 1191, an ancient leaden cross is discovered buried several feet below the ground. Inscribed on it are the words Hic iacet sepultus inclitus rex arturius: Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur. Beneath the cross are two skeletons. Could these really be the remains of the legendary King Arthur and his queen, Guineve...more

Paperback, 400 pages

Published September 1st 2009 by Simon & Schuster UK (first published June 1st 2009)

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(showing 1-30 of 99)

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Jan 10, 2010

Bunxena rated it

Recommends it for: fans of the authors who collaborate on this, Arthur buffs

Recommended to Bunxena by: Santa? (got it in my stocking)

Shelves: cadeau, 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. * * 1/2 that will likely be rounded up to three

I went back and forth on whether to award this book a two- or a three-star rating in the no-halvsies Goodreads rating system. In the end I went in favour of three, because I liked the book well enough and am sufficiently tempted to check out other books in the series. That being said, this book was not without its flaws, as shall be discussed below.

The premise is rather interesting to an Arthur buff like myself: a series of f...more* * 1/2 that will likely be rounded up to three

I went back and forth on whether to award this book a two- or a three-star rating in the no-halvsies Goodreads rating system. In the end I went in favour of three, because I liked the book well enough and am sufficiently tempted to check out other books in the series. That being said, this book was not without its flaws, as shall be discussed below.

The premise is rather interesting to an Arthur buff like myself: a series of five interlinked mysteries focusing on the bones of King Arthur and the various calamities that befall those who attempt to steal them, or even those who hide his bones in preparation for that mythical uprising when he will return to aid his country in their hour of greatest need. Anyway, I figured the best way to approach these interlinked mysteries was to let the plot serve as my primary entertainment, in case the multiple voices proved distracting. This was at the outset, when I was not aware that the mysteries, while sharing characters at some points and of course Arthur's bones, do stand up as individual works, so it's not like they're supposed to be a seamless blend.

The first act was probably the best, considering it was the most directly relevant to Arthur's bones (that's when they were first discovered, at Glastonbury Abbey). I enjoyed the scene where the Abbey's scholar dug out all of these Arthurian references, such as Gildas and William of Malmesbury. I read excerpts from those fellas in a King Arthur class I took in university, so that brought back some happy memories. The writing was okay, although I raised an eyebrow at the part where the buzz of the crowd surrounding the excavation where the bones were found was compared to the sound of bees -- I don't think there were too many other buzzing things in the 1100s. It's not like the Benedictine monks had chainsaws or leaf blowers or other gadgets that buzz. But that's just me quibbling.

Act 2 was all right, certainly full of family intrigue and strong-willed female characters (always a plus in fiction set in this time period). At one point somewhere around here I became confused because two men died and they had the same first name but were several decades apart.

I think Act 3 was probably the weakest. I've tried a book by this author before and it was completely forgettable, so I am not surprised that it was my least favourite. It had its moments, but the dating system used for the section headings struck me as kind of pretentious because nobody else did it. Also he had to footnote it with the date in our standard format, so what was the point exactly? It didn't really help establish atmosphere; on the contrary, it was a distraction. And the author here had a habit of explaining things twice, like he'd introduce a character on page 1 and say "Mr. So and So was an undertaker, the best in London" and then perhaps 10 pages later or whenever the character next appeared he would say "Mr. So and So was the best undertaker in London." My theory is that the author nods off while he's writing, then wakes up and can't remember where he is in the story, so he sticks in the explanation again. I think better editing would help eliminate such repetition.

Act 4 was okay character-wise, because it involved Shakespeare, who is great, and of course anything involving the animals in the Tower is bound to have some fun. But I found that one had the least amount of relevance to the Arthur's bones story. It seemed to be more like "Hey, here's Shakespeare and King Arthur's bones in the same story! That's cool enough, right?" I did like the idea of WS writing a play about Arthur (but then abandoning it because of his brush with the bones), but other than that the story was merely okay.

Act 5, set in the early 1800s, started out a bit slow but turned out slightly more interesting by the end, once again helped by a strong-willed female character (the part where she grabs the body-snatcher's privates and refuses to let go until he's given them what they need to know was somewhat amusing, and certainly that part was very descriptive).

And the epilogue... fell kind of flat. Also the part where the Welsh archaeologist is taking the bones back to her lab (and it's revealed she's a descendant of the Guardians who have been trying to keep the bones safe lo these many centuries) and then King Arthur and his men are sleeping in a cave nearby, then Arthur smiles and goes back to sleep, nearly made me yell "OH COME ON." Not that I am opposed to the thought of Arthur sleeping in a cave, but it felt kind of silly when she supposedly has a good portion of his bones in a box in her car.

In short, this is supposed to be a light read, so don't treat it any more seriously than you have to. If you like Arthur, if you like any of these authors, you'll probably enjoy this book.(less)

· see review

Nov 27, 2010

Nikki rated it

Shelves: mystery, arthurian, historical-fiction-alternatehistory

King Arthur's Bones is one of a series of collaborative novels by this group of writers. Some of them are better than others. There's some decent research going on, particularly in the first couple of pieces, and some of the historical notes are interesting. They peter out, though, which is kind of disappointing. I'd hoped for something well-researched the whole way through, with enough references that if one followed up, the interpretation of events might fit the facts.

As stories, whe...more

· see review

Jun 14, 2011

Bettie rated it

Shelves: historical-fiction, medieval5c-16c, published-2009, summer-2011, fraudio

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

· see review

Feb 04, 2011

Rebecca rated it

I always enjoy Michael Jecks' chapter contributions the most, but a couple of the other authors are starting to gain my interest.

· see review

Mar 11, 2010

Jeffrey is currently reading it

Each chapter, or act, is written by a different author. So far my favorite has been Act I, but I've only read 2 acts.

· see review

Mar 13, 2011

Kariss rated it

maybe too many cooks ...

· see review

May 09, 2011

Kathy added it

Shelves: daniel-s-books

· see review

Sep 26, 2010

Susan rated it

· review of another edition

The individual stories blended into one except the Shakespeare act that was only loosely connected, but didn't spoilt the book

· see review

Jul 21, 2010

J E rated it

Was ready to read more of Act One.

· see review

Jan 24, 2012

Ashling rated it

Another great read from the Medieval Murderers!

· see review

May 28, 2011

Vickie rated it

Shelves: listened-to

Interesting to see what a group of authors can come with and not be an anthology, but a seamless story.

· see review

Jan 30, 2012

Mark is currently reading it

Feb 05, 2012

Laura/soly rated it

Jan 20, 2012

Neena rated it

Shelves: medieval-mysteries

Jan 17, 2012

Shirl rated it

Jan 13, 2012

Caitlyn Henderson marked it as to-read

Jan 10, 2012

Debbie Jones marked it as to-read

Jan 05, 2012

Angela marked it as to-read

Shelves: historical-fic, other-mysteries

Jan 04, 2012

Cynthia marked it as to-read

Jan 04, 2012

Emilie Rosson marked it as to-read

Jan 04, 2012

Margaret rated it

Jan 01, 2012

Janet marked it as to-read

Dec 30, 2011

Graham rated it

Dec 18, 2011

D marked it as to-read

Shelves: mystery

Dec 17, 2011

Jody marked it as to-read

Dec 14, 2011

Annie Coates added it

Dec 06, 2011

Envy rated it

Dec 13, 2011

Brady James rated it

Nov 25, 2011

Melanie rated it

Nov 04, 2011

Krista rated it

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About The Medieval Murderers

A pseudonym used by Philip Gooden, Susanna Gregory, Michael Jecks, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, C.J. Sansom

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