It’s the annual Viking celebration in York, and Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow is aggravated that the parades and exhibitions are preventing him from getting to his favorite restaurants. Middle-aged, unmarried, and very set in his ways, Shadow lives near city center on a houseboat on the River Ouse; his meals are typically at local restaurants.
The celebration’s Viking king is found dead in the “king’s hall.” The man is a local businessman who promotes all things Viking, having found a treasure hoard on property he owned, a hard that made him rather rich. Then the body of the young woman is was in a relationship with is found in her psychic reading tent. As Shadow and his team come to learn, the man may have had his philanthropies and good deeds, but there were lots of reasons someone might have killed him. But the death of the young woman looks more like revenge on the dead man.
Suspects abound – the former wife of the dead man, a local Viking fan whom he cheated, and even his own children. Few people seemed to have loved or even liked the Viking king.
H L Marsay
The Viking’s Shadow by British mystery writer H L Marsay is the second novel in the DCI John Shadow series. It’s a classic mystery story wrapped around the often prickly personality of Shadow. Marsay is also beginning to incorporate some of the back story for her detective as well as developing the personal stories of the people on his team.
Marsay is the author of six mystery novels in the DCI John Shadow series. A member of the Crime Writers Association, she lives with her family in the city of York in England.
As I read about Shadow’s various meals, I began to get suspicious that these restaurants may be actual places in York. A quick online search confirmed my suspicions. So not only does The Viking’s Shadow provide an interesting mystery, but it’s also something of a culinary guide to the city of York.
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