The Prodigal Son

✍ Scribed by Sedley, Kate

• Book ID: 107569204
• Publisher: Severn House
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 172 KB
• Series: Roger the Chapman 15
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9780727863379

✦ Synopsis

The latest title in the acclaimed Roger the Chapman series When Roger the Chapman discovers he has a hitherto unknown half-brother, he has mixed feelings about the matter. But when John Wedmore is accused of being the young page who, six years earlier, robbed his mistress and murdered a fellow servant, and is thrown into prison, Roger feels obliged to investigate the charge.

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Sedley's solid medieval historical, the latest in her series to feature Roger the Chapman, the genial peddler discovers that he has a half-brother who has just been accused of a murder committed six years before. Roger's sense of justice and the nascent sibling bond drive him to leave his young family for Croxcombe Manor, the scene of the crime. There, he questions the widowed Dame Audrea Bellknapp, his brother's accuser. The sudden return of Audrea's long-banished son, Anthony, sets the already contentious household at odds. Anthony's shady dealings, womanizing and rudeness give nearly everyone at the manor cause to want him dead. The initially slow plot comes vividly into focus when someone finally does Anthony in. Sticklers may notice anachronisms in the book's treatment of 15th-century Britain, but the affection and color with which Sedley (The Burgundian's Tale) depicts Merrie Olde England, plus Roger's entertaining narration, will be enough to satisfy most readers. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Another winning entry in Sedley's atmospheric historical-mystery series set in fifteenth-century Britain. Intrepid investigator and itinerant peddler Roger the Chapman is shocked to learn he has a half brother and that the young man is imprisoned for robbing the wealthy Bellknap family and murdering one of their servants. Anxious to help his brother, Roger travels to the Bellknap family estate only to confront another drama: elder son Anthony Bellknap, who disappeared years earlier, has returned to claim his inheritance. Jealousy, rivalry, and hatred abound in this rollicking adventure with colorful descriptions of medieval life, gentle humor, and unexpected twists. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved