Richard soon responds well to Anne’s care and before long is bounding through the castle halls on the hobbyhorse Thomas made for him, but all is not well at Wynethorpe. The morning hunting party returns bearing a tragic sight – the corpse of Hywel, a young servant that had ridden out with them, now seemingly the victim of an unfortunate accident during the hunt.

Some suspect that Henry, Hywel’s master and son of Sir Geoffrey of Lavenham, was responsible for the fatal accident, but there is little evidence to prove foul play. However, it quickly becomes clear that something more is at work when Henry himself turns up dead the following night with several stab wounds clearly visible on his body.

To make matters worse still worse for Eleanor, when Henry’s body is discovered, her brother Robert is found standing over him, bloody dagger in hand. Robert is immediately arrested and placed in the tower cell until the weather clears enough for the sheriff to carry him to town for his trial. Unable to believe that her brother could kill his childhood friend in cold blood, Eleanor sets out to prove Robert’s innocence before he meets his fate in the hangman’s noose.

As Eleanor begins her less-than-welcome investigations, she quickly discovers a tangled web of jealousy, anger, and betrayal at work between her family and the Lavenhams, despite the lifelong amity between the two families. Assisted by Sister Anne and Brother Thomas, Eleanor uses all of her skill and connections to exonerate her sibling and find the true killer before he strikes again.

Priscilla Royal follows up her well-received debut with Tyrant of the Mind, and she clearly demonstrates with her sophomore effort that she is no flash in the pan. Her novel works brilliantly on almost every level, showing a remarkable ability to weave together an engaging mystery, painstakingly researched history, and a richly developed cast of characters into one cohesive whole.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Royal’s work is the richness and depth that she gives to each and every one of her characters and the objective, realistic observations of them that she uses to help readers better understand their motivations. Unlike many historical writers, Royal does not whitewash the era or sentimentalize the harsh realities of life in the Middle Ages. Her greatest strength is showing the reader an oft-ignored view of life in the past, where the eternal struggles of love, jealousy, and betrayal play a prominent role in the shape of a person’s life.

Royal also shows off her considerable skills in crafting a complex, multi-layered mystery sure to keep readers guessing right up until the denouement. Suspects and motives abound, with plenty of plausible but ultimately false leads and red herrings to add to the fun. The author also provides a quiet but palpable sense of urgency with a “race against time” device, but in her capable hands the choice avoids the banality of a common trope.

With Tyrant of the Mind, Priscilla Royal makes her mark as an author to watch for fans of historical mysteries that both inform and entertain. Even those that typically avoid historical mystery will find plenty to enjoy in this well-written novel.

--Jessica Plonka