The Canterbury Murders

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. This is my independent opinion.

Looking through my Goodreads a few months ago I was surprised with how many books I've given 5 stars. Like surely all those books I've rated can't all be masterpieces, right? So I made a commitment. I wasn't going to just throw out 5/5s willy-nilly anymore, I was only going to give them to stories that completely captivated me, moved me, entertained me and had me on the edge of my seat.

And then along comes E.M Powell with her latest mystery and try as I might, I couldn't help but rate it honestly.

‘The Canterbury Murders' once again follows Stanton and Barling, two men who now are no strangers to murders and mysteries after solving a few in the last entries in the series. This time though, they are caught completely unawares as disaster strikes at the Canterbury Cathedral, a place they were only visiting by chance. With a superb cast of shady characters and an almost impossible deadline to meet, can they solve the mystery before it's too late?

Powell never fails to impress me as she takes the reader back in a journey through time, you honestly feel like you're there in Canterbury, and that the story you're reading is just so real. This is an absolute credit to the her and all of the research she does and dedication she has to the subject matter. It makes everything come alive and jump off of the page.

Then we have the characters, and man alive do they deliver. No joke, Stanton & Barling may just be my favourite duo to ever be put on paper. Each character is so fleshed out and unique and that makes for engaging moments of banter, conflict and discussion. And that actually goes for every character in this book, each one is absolutely and believably brought to live, even though the majority are entirely fictional.

Then there's the mystery, the crux of the whole book. This is the first time in a long time that a mystery was too smart for me. I thought I had it figured out and I was completely wrong. I ABSOLUTELY loved it. Everything ended up making so much sense, how everything played out was nothing short of masterful and the conclusion left me breathless. I will say though that it did feel like the mystery took a while to actually get going, but when it got going it really got going and you see that the setup was super important.

Lastly, the final chapter hit me harder than I think anything I've ever read ever has. Such a phenomenal piece of writing that made me unexpectedly well up with emotion.

I loved every single bit of this book, and E.M Powell has made me fall in love with the historical fiction genre, something I never really found all too appealing before reading her incredible works. Each of her books feels like an improvement on the last and every one of them is an absolute must-read. I cannot wait for whatever comes next.