This past Saturday I started reading Breaker of Bones, the second novel in David Penny’s Thomas Berrington series. By Sunday, I had devoured the book. It was that good.
Breaker of Bones is a gripping medieval mystery that, at times, places its hero in extreme peril at the hands of a truly diabolical villain. I had to keep reading just to see who would survive this tempestuous tale.
The story’s protagonist is Thomas Berrington, an English surgeon who serves the Sultan of Granada, the last kingdom standing in Moorish Spain. The Reconquista of Spain is nearing its end, and it’s only a matter of time before Queen Isabella of Castile and King Fernando of Aragon conquer Granada. Given this political atmosphere, it’s only fitting that the novel takes place in Cordoba, in Isabella and Fernando’s court.
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| Isabella and Fernando |
Thomas has become known as the greatest surgeon in Spain, so when Queen Isabella needs a doctor to heal her son’s injured leg, the sultan sends Thomas to Cordoba to curry favor with the Spanish monarchs. While healing her young son, Thomas develops a close relationship with Isabella, and his scenes with her were among my favorite in the book. But devoutly Christian Cordoba is also experiencing a series of horrific murders, and Isabella wants Thomas to find the killer.
The fear within Cordoba that Penny portrays reminded me of London during the time of Jack the Ripper. Young girls, mostly from the city’s brothels, go missing, only to turn up dead in a most macabre manner. The murders are so disturbing I won’t try to describe them, but suffice it to say, the murderer, nicknamed the “Bonebreaker,” is truly malevolent. I imagine this character will linger in my memory for long while.
When a girl close to Thomas goes missing, the stakes in this book leap off the page. Penny does such a great job with his characters that I found myself truly worried for them. This caused me to plow through the rest of the novel, all the way to the inevitable—but still surprising—twist. If you enjoy mysteries and medieval fiction, do yourself a favor and start reading this series. Penny’s third Berrington book, The Sin Eater, is already on my Kindle.