The Monastery Murders

I cannot believe that's it's taken me this long to finally get around to reading this book, and I'm infuriated that it did because just like always, E.M Powell has written something amazingly thrilling, thought-provoking and wholly original.

This book is so easy to read! It's been written in such a way that you never get bored and you're always left wanting more after putting it down.

Something I always love about E.M Powell's books is that you can tell how much effort has been put into making them historically factual, and it just makes them feel so real. Everything from the intricacies of the way the monastery is run to just her detailing of buildings, objects and clothing. It just utterly transports you to the time period and you cannot help but become completely immersed in the story.

Another thing I love about E.M Powell's writing is how she treats her characters. Every single character, from Stanton & Barling to each monk at the monastery are fleshed out like I've never experienced before. I don't know how she does it but she brings so much life into characters that that may even only be in the book for a page or two. In particular probably the main thing I loved was yet again the relationship between our two protagonists, Stanton & Barling. Powell really does something special with them both throughout the story and builds so much on what was set up in the previous book.

In conclusion, I loved this book. Such a great mystery and such a good thriller. Manages to also teach you so much historically while reading as well which is always something that I enjoy. Thanks E.M!