Book Review: Ravens Hill (The Atheling Chronicles, Book 5) by Garth Pettersen

Book of the week 

In 1030 C.E. — When Harald, the second son of King Cnute, returns from fighting the king's enemies in Northern Wales, he expects his life to return to normal. He's surprised when he's granted a large landholding—an idyllic life, far from the power-mongering of King Cnute's court, farming in the Midlands, evening walks with his beloved Selia. It’s a gift they cannot refuse, but the king has other plans for Harald and his wife.

On arriving at their new holding, Ravens Hill, Harald and Selia receive a tepid welcome from tenants—belligerent housecarls; a conniving steward; an uncompromising abbess, bitter at not adding their estate to her abbey lands; a priest with roaming hands; and a grieving daughter of the previous landholder who has entered the nunnery.

Harald and Selia wish to improve the lot of their tenant farmers, but they face obstacles at every turn, and Harald’s generosity is seen as weakness.

Trouble brews when they learn the lands come with an unexpected millstone—an unsolved murder. 

Review

It is not often that I jump in at the deep end and start with Book 5 of a series, but I saw this book reviewed on another site, and it sounded like something that would keep me occupied on a rather wet weekend. 

The story is set in the reign of King Cnute, and it is about his son, Harald, whom I assume the series is about. Harald has just come back from a war and is hoping to return to his lands, but out of the blue, his father gives him a rather large estate in Mercia, and although he would rather not accept, he is not in a position to do so. So travel to Mercia, he must.

This book really surprised me, and I mean that in a good way. All the way through this book, I was trying to second-guess who the murderer was, and I have to say I did not see it coming - I will say no more other than people are not at all what they seem.

Harald is a character that I really enjoyed reading about. He is very charismatic as well as fair and brave, although I honestly thought he was going to meet his demise at one point in this book. His wife, Selia, is equally compelling. She is desperate for a family, and having lost a child, that desperation becomes an aching yearning. Selia is one of my favourite characters in this book, she is a genuine and warm character who easily wins both the cautious tenants and the readers' hearts.

There are so many antagonists in this book, and it becomes very obvious that a lot of the characters have interior motives. I will not say too much as I do not want to give away the plot, but needless to say, there are many characters I did not like, and even in the church, there are those who have a lot to answer for.

Garth Pettersen is a new author for me, but I will certainly be going back and reading the first book in this series, and I really hope there is a book six!

This novel is available on Amazon.