REVIEW
Domini Highsmith - "Master of the Keys"
Little Brown (0 316 87789 1) £16.99
Ms Highsmith's inspiration came from her speculations about the Unknown Priest whose tomb is to be found in Beverley Minster. It is unclear whether this cleric appears in her narrative as Father Simeon or as his godson Peter.
Simeon, the son of a wealthy landowner, was disinherited when an accident lamed him. He became a monk. In Keeper at the Shrine, the first of the trilogy, the new-born Peter is brought to Father Simeon at his monastery by a mysterious stranger. Simeon takes him into hiding and rears him away from the danger of his enemies.
Guardian at the Gate has Beverley Minster ruined by fire. A York Jew, Aaron, is saved from the 1189 massacre of Jews and promises financial help to rebuild the Minster. Numerous factions seek the Minster's hidden treasure. Only the boy Peter knows its whereabouts.
Master of the Keys continues the saga. A few privileged men are struggling for power and profit in Beverley in the aftermath of rioting. Father Simeon dreams of restoring the Minster to its former glory to reverse the moral decay of the city and to fulfil Peter's destiny as Keeper of the Shrine.
A frontispiece map of Beaver Lake, Beverley 1180, strikes one with fear of geographical confusion in the writing. It is a groundless fear. The tale is easy to follow and soon grips even those who have not followed the fortunes of Ms Highsmith's characters in the two preceding volumes.
Any imaginative attempt to describe times gone by incurs the danger of inaccuracy. Ms Highsmith keeps within the boundaries of what is known to be true and sustains a credible setting for her story. The harshness of medieval life is not sentimentalised and the corruption of many of its clerics is not glossed over.
Father Simeon's virtue is unsullied and the wickedness of Cyrus de Figham and Wulfric de Morthlund unrelieved. Nevertheless we identify with the former and wish for the downfall of the latter as the author intends. This is the book for you if your primary question is "What happened next?"
Pauline Bell, author of six novels featuring DC Benny Mitchell and his colleagues