Marked to Die (Bradecote and Catchpoll #3) - SPOILER Thread - (Jan/Feb 25)

[Susan]

Welcome to our Jan/Feb 25 buddy read of Marked to Die The third book in the Bradecote and Catchpoll Investigation series was first published in 2017.

A master archer is Bradecote and Catchpoll's target.

October 1143. His task dispatched, a mysterious archer melts back into the forest, leaving the gang to steal the salt and hide the arrow-pierced corpses. The lord Sheriff of Worcestershire cannot ignore such a brazen attack on the salt road from Wich, nor the death of a nobleman in the wrong place at the wrong time. And so Hugh Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll are sent to hunt an elusive killer and the salt thieves, and put a stop to the mounting attacks.

But it is not easy to get the culprits in their sights with a reeve keen to keep his position at all costs, a lord with his own ends to serve and a distrusting and vengeful widow to whom Bradecote is increasingly attracted.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

[Susan in NC]

I will be very interested to see how Bradecote’s relationship develops- I thought that plot line was very well handled, didn’t take over the plot, but definitely added to my interest.

[Judy]

I didn't think this was quite up there with the previous book in the series in the end. Must admit I thought the romance took over the story too much, though I did like Christina. I really liked the history woven into the story, though - lots of interesting detail.

[Sandy]

I was concerned when Christina was introduced that the series was going to have a new love interest in each book. If they end up happily married, I will be content. She is an interesting addition.

Loved all the details about the salt works. I had no idea so much was involved.

The interaction amoung the three main characters is a real strength in the series.

However, I was less happy with the villain and his motive. I thought just wanting to be worse than his brother pretty weak. I am not a fan of reading about psychopath killers as there is nothing for the investigation to reason out. On the other hand, I found the archer character quite compelling. And the blind man's witnessing of the scene was excellent.

[Susan in NC]

Sandy wrote: "I was concerned when Christina was introduced that the series was going to have a new love interest in each book. If they end up happily married, I will be content. She is an interesting addition.
..."

Agreed, the motive didn’t really cut it for me, either, but the archer was a great character, as is Christina.

[Judy]

I was also wondering if we might have a different love interest in each book and hoping not! Sandy and Susan, I agree about the motive - I'm also not keen on reading about psychopathic killers where there is no real reason for their crimes.

Although I thought the archer was a good character, I was puzzled as to why he takes on the job of killing the people involved in the salt deliveries in the first place - just for the money? Or for his love of his craft as an archer? I'm not sure if this was fully explained.

[Sandy]

He gave the money away so the money wasn't for his betterment.

[Susan in NC]

I think it was his craft, and he felt compelled to do it, but didn’t need much for himself, so just gave it away his earnings. I was heartbroken for him at the end, finding out he was working for the brother of the man who’d killed his beloved father in such a godawful way!

I will say, this author doesn’t shy away from portraying the brutality of life at the time. The Brother Cadfael books didn’t necessarily sanitize it, but as readers we generally saw things through Cadfael’s eyes, often from within the sanctuary of abbey walls.

[Michaela]

I also liked that the book was more realistic, with the three characters that deal with problems on their way to the truth as well as the people of different ranks.