Summary from GoodReads:

Baron Herbert’s return from crusade should have been a joyous occasion. Instead, he grows increasingly morose, withdraws from his family, and refuses to share his wife’s bed. When his sons begin to die in strange accidents, some ask whether Herbert harbors a dark sin for which God has cursed him. The baron suddenly sends for Sir Hugh of Wynethorpe, begging his friend to bring spiritual and secular healers but giving little explanation for the request. Worried about Herbert’s descent into melancholy and the tragic deaths, Sir Hugh persuades his sister, Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal Priory, to accompany him as well as a respected physician, Master Gamel. Although he is pleased when the prioress brings her healer, Sister Anne, he is dismayed to find Brother Thomas included, a man he has reason to despise. Perhaps there is a malign presence at this storm-blasted castle, oddly named Doux et Dur. Tensions spark among family members and soon between those who came to help. Death’s scythe harvests more victims, and it is not long before Ecclesiastes’ grim words seem all too apt: there is a season for everything under heaven, including a time to kill.But is there also a time to heal?

My Review:

I love it when I pick up a book that is, say, 8th in a series, and fall madly in love with it.  Why?  Because that means I have 7 more to enjoy before the 9th comes out!

Priscilla Royal might just be one of my new favorite authors.  The Killing Season set the mood so incredibly perfectly and boasted such a thrilling cast of characters that I fell madly and deeply in love with them before I was even 2 chapters in.

And the story wasn’t shabby either!

Gothic mysteries, to me, involve big, creepy castles, lots of rain and mist, thrilling, ghostlike mysteries and generally make me want to curl up on my sofa with a hot cup of tea, under my blanket, and shiver while I read the book.  That happened during the reading of The Killing Season.

The story opens with a cold journey to a castle and a cast of characters already comfortable with one another from previous stories – but that did not take from the book, especially as I had not read the previous books in the series.  I was introduced gently to them and never once felt lost of bewildered.  The setting was a medieval one and immediately my imagination filled with the clothing, the craggy surroundings and the looming castle ahead through the mists.  And then – tragedy strikes.

I just shivered writing that.

This was a historical mystery unlike anything I’ve read before.  If I had the money right now I’d be purchasing every book in the series, this one was that good.  Read it, immerse yourself in Priscilla Royal’s writing.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

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