Book Blurb:
Success as a warrior is one of the few paths to advancement in early medieval Britain and Stefan, a young Saxon peasant, has fought his way up to the rank of captain, serving under an earl who in turn serves the king of Atheldom. Returning from a series of hard-won battles, he hopes for further promotion. Instead, his command is taken from him and given to a better-born rival, while he is sent off to serve as the sheriff of an impoverished shire in the furthest corner of the kingdom. Stefan arrives in Codswallow to learn that, between marauding brigands, corrupt local officials, and a hostile populace, no sheriff has stayed longer than a single season. Determined to defeat the outlaws and gain control over the shire, Stefan forms an alliance with the keeper of the shire’s inn, a Briton with a mysterious past, but is frustrated to find that even with that clandestine aid his efforts are stymied. When he is summoned to join the search for Princess Aleswina, the betrothed bride of the king of a neighboring realm, he jumps at what he sees as his chance to get an army command back—only to be drawn into the web of intrigue that lies behind the princess’s disappearance.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/A8QEtAM
Author Bio:
Ann Margaret Linden was born in Seattle, Washington, but grew up on the east coast, returning to the Pacific Northwest as a young adult. She has undergraduate degrees in anthropology and in nursing, and a master's degree as a nurse practitioner. After working in a variety of acute care and community health settings, she took a position in a program for children with special health care needs where her responsibilities included writing clinical reports, parent education materials, provider newsletters, and other program related materials. In a somewhat whimsical decision to write something for fun, she began what was to be a tongue-in-cheek historical murder mystery involving Druids and early medieval Christians. It wasn't meant to be long or involved, but the characters kept getting into trouble and she had to keep writing to find out what happened to them. After a lengthy journey of her own that included taking adult creative writing courses, researching early British history and traveling to England, Scotland, and Wales, the first book of the Druid Chronicles, a five volume quasi-historical fiction series is scheduled for publication by She Writes Press on June 15, 2021.
Editorial Review:
Who belonged to which stratum of society was apparent at a glance. Princes wore silk and ermine capes and thigh-length chain mail over calfskin hauberks, sported gold-embossed helmets with flowing plumes, and carried jeweled swords and shields.
Readers who like their interpersonal dramas told through the filter of a highly detailed historical lens will delight in A.M. Linden’s The Sheriff, book three of her Druid Chronicles series. Linden’s book reads like a cozy Downton Abbey marathon, but instead of post-Edwardian England, it goes back even further in time to the Dark Ages.
A time period that people typically associate with medieval fantasies, The Sheriff is much more grounded and deals with the goings-on of people in different classes of the royal kingdom of that time.
Instead of fairies and dragons, The Sheriff follows a respected, if not highly ranked, soldier in the kingdom of Atheldom. Sir Stefan recognizes the political games in which he’s involved and knows that he must play them well in order to live in relative peace and earn the position he deserves.
But don’t expect a dreary and dry rundown of boring social hierarchies. Instead, A.M. Linden naturally integrates the relationships and social standings of her cast of characters into her plot as needed. Readers will have no trouble understanding the fascinating world that Linden has built using real history as its base.
Sometimes a little stiff in this pursuit, Stefan is nonetheless shown to have a depth to his character that many of those around him underestimate. As calculating and forward-thinking as he may seem, throughout the book Stefan is shown to be deeply affected by moments from his childhood: some good, some bad. These memories are triggered often and each time we learn a little bit more about Stefan and why he does the things he does. It’s a deftly painted portrait of a character that never gets too bogged down in anything too somber while simultaneously avoiding becoming a caricature.
Sometimes, though, he would wake up in the deepest part of the night with the odd feeling that he was in the wrong life and that it was supposed to be different from this – that he was meant to have been a braver man and Stefan was meant to be a kinder one and that they were supposed to have been friends.
The Sheriff follows Sir Stefan as he’s reluctantly assigned to a new post as the titular sheriff in a shire called Codswallow. Although he doesn’t necessarily want to be there, Stefan is determined to solve the area’s bandit problem in order to secure himself better favor with his superiors. To aid him where so many have failed before, Stefan recruits the local innkeeper, Jonathan. At first underestimating Stefan as no more cunning than the previous appointees, Jonathan quickly learns that there’s more to Stefan than meets the eye and he would benefit from joining forces with him.
But Jonathan is also more than he seems, and in the background of Stefan’s story is the continuing tale of Druid community of Llwddawanden from Linden’s previous books. Jonathan was once a Druid priest named Labhruinn but was banished long ago. Now, just when Sir Stefan is roping Jonathan into catching the local bandits, two members of the Llwddawanden arrive at Jonathan’s doorstep. Jonathan struggles to keep their pagan backgrounds secret in a time when being anything other than Christian could mean death.
The stubbornness that he’d inherited from Harold – an obstinacy that locked the father and son in loggerheads with each other – would become the drive it took to practice swinging a sword or battle-axe when the muscles in his arms screamed from fatigue and the other boys had gone to the shade to rest.
Meanwhile, the sheriff finds an opportunity even more lucrative in the form of a missing princess. The tricky politics of royalty and heirs – and even a supposed “King’s Curse” – makes several parties in the kingdom desperate to find the king’s intended bride, not the least of which is the king himself.
If Stefan succeeds in finding the missing princess, his fortunes could be made. But will the job live up to its promise? And what if the princess doesn’t want to be found?
While the author lovingly describes the time period, locations, and politics of the medieval era, her novel remains light and airy. A.M. Linden manages to wave together an impressive number of plot lines without making the narrative feel bogged down or confusing. A helpful character guide is provided at the beginning of the book, but Linden’s clarity in her writing means readers rarely need to rely on it to understand the novel.
All in all, The Sheriff is an absolutely charming read that will keep both casual fans and die-hard historical fiction readers entertained through and through.
*****
“The Sheriff” by A M Linden receives four stars from The Historical Fiction Company
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