📖 Blog Tour ~ Desolation by Keith Moray

Boldwood Books
17 October 2025

A Ralph de Mandeville Mystery #1

My thanks to the publisher for the book
And Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation to the blog tour

The Black Rood of Scotland, stolen.

A coroner of York, murdered

An evil worse than plague itself, at large…

1361, York. As the country recovers from the war with France, and whispers that the pestilence has returned to England grow louder, fear is in the heart of every nobleman and commoner alike. Sir Ralph de Mandeville, ex-solider and newly appointed Justice of the Peace is sent to Langbarugh, just outside York, to investigate the murder of Coroner Sir Boderick de Whitby.

More deaths quickly follow, and while these are swiftly dealt with as plague victims, Sir Ralph and his two assistants Merek and Peter soon uncover something altogether more horrifying… A greater evil is at large in the northern wapentakes.

As panic escalates and the lines between plague and murder blur, Sir Ralph is thrust into a desperate race against time. Every shadow hides a potential killer, every cough could be a death knell. Can he unmask a murderer lurking in the terrifying shadow of the Black Death before they’re all consumed by a terror more sinister than any plague?

📖 My Review ..

The middle of the 14th century was a dark and dangerous time as England was still reeling from the effects of the war with France and only just recovering from the aftermath of the great pestilence in 1348, people are naturally cautious and fearful of an unknown future.

In 1361, Sir Ralph de Mandeville is a newly appointed Justice of the Peace, who has been sent to Langbarugh, near York, to investigate the untimely death of Coroner Sir Broderick de Whitby. This is an uneasy time as not only has the death left the locals feeling uneasy but there is also the very real fear that the deadly plague has once more resurfaced, and with a series of unexplained deaths everyone, it seems, has something to fear. 

This is an interesting medieval mystery with an authentic sense of time and with a complex and rather dark mystery at its core. The medieval setting is imaginatively described so that I felt like I was placed within the small Yorkshire villages watching as the mystery deepened. The characterisation is flawless, I especially enjoyed watching how Ralph de Mandeville, and his companions, set about solving the murder mystery and by the end of the story I was already looking forward to seeing how they would go forward in future stories.

Desolation is an atmospheric and well written historical murder mystery. 

About the Author

Keith is a retired GP, medical journalist and novelist, writing in several genres. As Keith Moray he writes historical crime fiction in the medieval era and in ancient Egypt, The Inspector Torquil McKinnon crime novels set on the Outer Hebridean island of West Uist, and as Clay More he writes westerns. Curiously, his medical background finds its way into most of his fiction writing.

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