Cathedral of Bones cover art

Cathedral of Bones

Ela of Salisbury Medieval Mysteries, Book 1

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Cathedral of Bones

By: J. G. Lewis
Narrated by: Madeleine Brolly
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About this listen

Salisbury, 1226

A young pregnant woman is found tangled in reeds in the river Avon, her identity a mystery. Grieving widow Ela Longespée is determined to succeed her husband as sheriff of Salisbury, and quickly takes charge of the investigation. She soon finds herself in the thick of a neighborhood scandal and a struggle to maintain her authority. With multiple suspects, can she identify the true killer?

©2019 J. G. Lewis (P)2020 J. G. Lewis Historical Mystery Fiction

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An interesting insight into medieval English life and justice. The fact that is is based upon a real female Sheriff even more so, as it describes the battle she had against male prejudice to claim her right to be Sheriff.
Looking forward to the next book.

A strong Medieval Woman

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Loved it. I have midnight the rest of the series.
She is a Medieval miss Marple.

I have enjoyed this book

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I loved the character of Ella, all so well researched and read. My first Ella book but it won’t be my last.

Brilliant story

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Listener received this title free

I normally don’t go for medieval “whodunnits”, but as I started listening to the wonderfully narrated and well written story, I was hooked! Plenty of twists and turns, and detailed scenes, which made this book a gripping driving companion. Also, great to learn at the end of the story that Ella ‘Countess of Salisbury’ was based on a real person.

Great medieval murder mistery

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An exciting new take on medieval mysteries. Using a real person in a fictional plot!

A female sheriff

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It's a nice change to hear a story of this period centred around a strong female character. I really enjoyed listening to it.

A thoroughly enjoyable story a beautifully read.

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I don't normally manage to listen to an audiobook all the way through. It takes real effort. But I enjoyed listening to this one all the way through and following the story.

At first I felt the narrator (and perhaps the story) felt a bit 'flat' and boring. But overall I found various positives amongst the flatness of it. The audiobook feels 'soft' in a good way, with a good amount of 'natural' to bring up imagination and thoughts about the village and characters, and the medieval setting in general.

The audiobook provides a good platform for my imagination and I can create this world in my mind even if overall the story is fairly average. I can't speak of the historical correctness of it all as I don't know much about this stuff. I suppose it's a bit odd that the lady (Ela) just goes around the town trying to solve a murder - I suspect that a lady of such high status probably wouldn't do such a thing.

Overall I enjoyed the medieval theme. And I am currently considering getting the second one, Book 2.

And despite what I said, the narrator has a good, recognisable set of voices - and isn't over the top and annoying.

I find the narrator (and the book) quite peaceful to listen to - and not at all taxing on the brain. I'm mostly interested in developing this medieval setting - the story itself is merely a vessel.

Enjoyable, interesting, attention-grabbing

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really different, good to listen to something new. looking forward to the new book. strong characters with a theme starting

Great female lead character

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I struggled though the start of this audio book, but enjoyed the ending and am warming to the character, will try book 2 , however may return , see how it goes .

struggled

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It’s a great shame that this generally well written and well thought out and interesting medieval whodunnit was marred by a completely wooden performance by Madeleine Brolly in narrating the story. At several points I almost gave up the book, something I have only done on very very rare occasions. I’m sorry to say this as I have never give a negative rating to any of the readers on the many books I have listened to on Audible, and this is not something which is in my nature to do- however I think it’s necessary to say it on this occasion. As I was listening to the performance I tried to think of the appropriate analogy, which ranged from a female robot low on battery, to Titania giving her dying speech to her fellow sprites before she finally expired, to finally the speech of someone who has taken too much valerian root and chamomile, as Lewis’ character had given to her patient to help her sleep. It is well elucidated, I can’t deny that, and every word was clearly spoken, but there was not enough emotion or variation in intonation and speed to her words, particularly in the reading of characters’ spoken lines, just a flat monotone and a failure to vary the speed, volume and emphases of word as would be found in normal day to day spoken language. Would I listen to another. Probably, overall, as it is a very good story, with an interesting scenario, but it will always be a struggle to listen to and Brolly unless she can make her reading a little more realistic.

Great story badly read

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