Book Log 2012 #2: The Salisbury Manuscripts by Philip Gooden


A young lawyer is sent to Salisbury to take possession of a manuscript from a canon of the cathedral, but before he can do so the canon is murdered and the manuscript stolen, setting of a series of events that put the lawyer in the middle of investigation as he tries to recover the stolen papers.

Set in the early Victorian era, the book almost seems like it was written in that period. It's a little stiff in places and the narrator interjects in places better left alone. I was reminded a little bit of Dickens or other serialized writers of the time who created various twists to create future installments. Not that the writing is at that level.

My biggest problem is that the book, set in a cathedral town, did very little with the cathedral until the end. My thinking is that if you have a series of mysteries that take place in cathedral towns, you'd do more with the cathedral itself.

Not sure if I'll read on in the series. For all its drawbacks it was a reasonable enough commuting book, so maybe I'll pick up the second one to see if things improve.