The Good Death is the 5th book in S. D. Sykes' Somerhill Manor Mystery series. It began with Plague Land and is set in 14th Century England. The sleuth is Oswald de Lacy, a third son who was originally sent to a monastery as a child. However, he was called home to become lord of the family manor following the death of his father and two older brothers during a plague epidemic.

In the opening of this installment of the series Lord Oswald de Lacy makes a devastating confession to his dying mother. He is an eighteen-year-old novice monk at Kintham Abbey and had been sent to collect herbs from the forest. While there, Oswald came across a terrified village girl named Agnes Wheeler. She was terrified of him even though she knew him well and ran headlong into a river saying "stay away from me priest." She drowned. Oswald pulled her broken and bruised body from the water and returned her to the local village. Here he discovers that several other women have disappeared within the past month. A killer is on the loose but because all of the missing women came from impoverished families nobody seemed to care.

Oswald vows to find this killer himself but as the plague approaches, his tutor, Brother Peter, insists they stay inside the monastery. Oswald instead seeks out the women of the village for help, particularly the beautiful Maud Woodstock, a woman who provokes strong emotions in him. As he closes in on the killer, Oswald makes a discovery that is so utterly shocking that it threatens to destroy him and his family.

If you haven't read any of the earlier books in the series you may not want to begin with this novel. It has an alternating plot that spans 20 years between 1347 and 1370. New readers may not be able to pick up the action from 1347 without knowing the characters well. It makes sense that with the 5th book in the series this would happen. The reason for the alternating plot concerns Oswald's dying mother in 1370. She is in possession of a letter from him written in 1349 when they were dealing with the Black Death. She needs an explanation from her son about those events so that she can forgive him of any sins he may have committed against her and obtain a good death.

That said, The Good Death is another perfectly plotted and written medieval mystery from Ms. Sykes. While we get a nice resolution of the murder itself, the ending also provides a shocking accusation from Oswald's mother over all the actions he has taken throughout his life. It was unexpected as it didn't relate to the murder mystery. I expect that the next novel in the series will expand upon this. I can't wait! ( )

1370 and Oswald de Lacy is pulled to his mother's deathbed as she insists that he recounts the events of 20 years ago, clutching a document that Oswald wants. 1349 and young Oswald is a novice in the Abbey his family endows but, when a young village girl dies, Oswald finds he is involved in something very nasty and with ramifications for his future.
I've really enjoyed the de Lacy stories and this one works well, taking the reader back to the start and explaining quite a lot of backstory. Oswald's family remains as unpleasant as ever and the setting at the start of the Black Death is poignant. Fabulous research as ever and a real insight into life in 14th Century England. ( )

S.D. Sykes' Somershill Manor series, set in 14th Century England, features Oswald de Lacy, a "spare" third son, originally sent to a monastery as a child, but called home to become Lord of the family manor following the death of his father and two older brothers during a plague epidemic. Sykes presented the general outlines of this backstory at the start of the series. Now, in her 5th Somershill Manor title, she shares the details behind Oswald's change in fortune.

This is a two-timeline novel: the timeline in which Oswald ultimately leaves the monastery to become Lord and the "present" day (1349), when Oswald is confessing events of his youth to his dying mother. The mystery takes place in the earlier timeline and reveals parts of Oswald's story that are new to readers. Poor women have been disappearing from a village situated between Oswald's monastery and his family home, and Oswald is determined to discover what has happened to them, given the lack of interest on the part of almost everyone else because these women are viewed as expendable. At the time Oswald begins his investigations, a plague epidemic is working its way across across Europe and then across England.

I've been reading this series since it began, and this may well be my favorite volume thus far. Readers get to know Oswald as a much more complex character than he has seemed thus far. They also see a bit more of Oswald's most definitely dysfunctional family (if it's fair to use that term to describe a family in the 14th Century).

If you're familiar with this series, you'll love this addition to it. If the series is new for you, this is a great title to start with as it offers information that precedes and follows the content of the other four titles. I received an electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. ( )