Feast for the Ravens is the 13th book in Sarah Hawkswood's excellent medieval Bradecote & Catchpoll mystery series. Released 18th Sep 2025 by Allison & Busby, it's 288 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
This is an intricately crafted and well engineered mystery. The author has wrapped it around a meticulous and accurate historical framework so well and seamlessly that it's not at all clear where real actual history shades over into fiction. The plot and background are self contained in this volume and it's not necessary to have read the previous books to keep up with the story here. The pacing is occasionally a trifle measured/slow, but the whole is seamless and readers who enter the series with this book will not feel lost or confused; it works very well.
It's set in 1145 so the investigation is obviously different from modern procedurals. The language is fairly clean, and the prose is well done and the characters fully fleshed out and three dimensional with believable motivations and actions.
Heartily recommended for readers of the historical murder mystery genre, especially fans of Sharon Kay Penman, Ellis Peters, Candace Robb, and Susanna Gregory (and similar). Fans of well written character driven mystery from any period will find much to enjoy here. Since there are now 13 books extant, it would make a fun buddy/bookclub/binge read for fans of the genre as well as an excellent public or home library selection.
Four and a half stars. It really is an excellent read. Content warnings for violent death, violence, and SA.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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