Company of Liars

In 1348, a group of nine travelers come together to travel safely as they attempt to find a village or monastery safe from the Black Plague that has come to England. Camelot is the leader of the group, an individual who sold religious relics, some of which he made. There is a musician and his gay apprentice, Rodrigo and Jofre from Italy. A painter and his young, pregnant wife, Osmond and Adela, join the group, obviously from a wealthy background. Zophiel is a magician and sideshow displayer, traveling with a mermaid corpse. Narigorm is a young child, very blonde, who tells the future with runes and seems to not like anyone. Pleasance is an older woman who travels with Narigorm and watches over her. Cygnus is a storyteller, a man with a swan's wing instead of a left arm.In normal times, villages were glad to see such a group come to their location to entertain them. But when the plague is raging, every traveler is viewed with suspicion. There were those who blamed the illness on the Jews or on magicians or on anyone different or from another land. The group finds it difficult to find food and shelter and spends many nights camping outside.Then the deaths start. Some are suicides, or are they murders? A wolf is following the group and is implicated in another death. Another one gets afoul of the local villagers who may have killed him. As the group starts to shrink, Camelot is determined to get this group to safety and to have Adela deliver a healthy baby. But is that possible?Maitland has written an intriguing tale that is reminiscent of both the Canterbury Tales and Agatha Christie's Then There Were None. Maitland is a historical novelist whose novels show the intensive research that was done so as to portray another time and place. The characters are each clearly drawn and the conflicts that arise between them seem logical for the stress and hardship the group is traveling with. This book is recommended for readers of historical fiction.

I love this book, it came on time as expected and in good condition. A great read with amazing characters and relationships that develop.

I did like this book; it had an interesting premise and seemed well-researched, but at a certain point I realised it had lost direction. Slight spoiler - the ending felt like the author ran out of time, or the editor cut out the climax. The last part feels tacked on, as if it was hastily rewritten. A bit disappointing for what is otherwise a high quality novel.

It is obvious that this book is in the style of the Canterbury Tales,therefore I won't start matching those two against each other or start complaining about theft.From my standpoint this story is neither created for fans of HistoricalFiction nor for those of Mystery, as it fulfills none of those both genres satisfyingly.There is to less of those nerdy medieval details to beatify the first group, and moreover the author does not go in depth with the supernatural elements of the story.It is more like,the time of the plague and the frantic ways to cope with this disastrous time is just some type of frame for the story; quasi to wrap it in a gloomy shade and emphasize the fate of the characters.The touch of mystery adds suspense to the reading as it always lurks beneath the surface.You are always facing the question if the story will tilt into fantasy or just allow itself some space to a fairytale touch.So, if you are not expecting genrestuff(that oftentimes has to fulfill certain schemes)you will enjoy this hybrid novel.It is a nice read for the minutes between the day as the chapters are comparatively short and like small stories for themselves. And although the flow of the story is not a stirring one, the style of the author's writing wants the reader to continue the journey.Some characters are pretty special,morbid and opaque.Others are the absolute opposite.So it cancels each other out to a solid foundation.The "dark secrets" are not always that dark and special but not that predictable for a long time and therefore invite to wonder.For historically interrested readers ther is an interresting appendix in the end, depending the background of the used research material about the medieval times.Throughout the story it becomes apparent that in these times superstition dominated the people. As they were constantly confronted with ghosts and hell/the afterworld by stories,church and art, they really seemed to live with supernatural beings. Their actions were influenced by transcendental beliefs.This is what gets caught with me after reading this book, as well as some distinct scenes about cities stricken with the balck death and the English/Scottish fights.Maybe the starter drug for HistoricalFiction or Mystery fans.Or maybe just for the people who like stories with a touch of different genres and not a genre hammer. ;)

Hard to put down, great story and unexpected ending can not wait for next book of this author.