The surgeon Hugh de Singleton is required to join Lord Gilbert Talbot’s forces in opposition to King Charles of France. Sir Simon Trillowe is another member of those forces. Simon has several grievances against Hugh, resulting in confrontations between the two. Those grievances are rehashed numerous times in this short book. That was unnecessary. When Simon is found dead, Hugh is the prime suspect.

I have not read any other books in this series, but this book worked fine as a standalone. There was a lot of interesting period detail. Unfortunately, the mystery wasn’t that special. I don’t know whether that is a characteristic of the series, or this book was just a dud. There was a definite homophobic slant to the case. I have no idea whether that was accurate for the period or not, but it was distasteful.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Hugh de Singleton goes to war. As a companion of Lord Gilbert he is to serve as a surgeon - and also as a sleuth in the murder mystery, when he himself is a suspect.

Not bad, not good. As for the length, this is more novella like than a novel. As for the historical settings - the author has obviously done his homework and the historical background is well-researched. The descriptions are vivid and Master Hugh´s musings are wise as usual.
But unfortunately the mystery feels abrupt and there is very little of intellectual sleuthing work present.
But still, this series is recommendable.