Sylvian Hamilton (–2005)

A great opening line ("In the crypt of the abbey church at Hallowdene, the monks were boiling their bishop"), but sadly The Bone-Pedlar falters after that. This has all the problems of wobbly pacing and flat characterisation that you'd expect from a first novel, compounded by Hamilton's decision to remove all ambiguity about the presence of the supernatural. The occasional nice bit of scene-setting also couldn't overcome the awful Orientalist plotline involving an evil Arab necromancer who gets not a single line of dialogue. Absent that element, The Bone-Pedlar rises to the level of passable train-trip fodder, but not more than that.… (meer)

A medieval mystery with a strong element of the occult, this book introduces the reader to Sir Richard Straccan, ex-Crusader and now dealer in authentic relics of saints. Straccan is commissioned to acquire the finger of Saint Thomas - but then his young daughter is kidnapped from the convent where she was living. Little does Straccan know of an evil sorcerer's nefarious plan, and that the holy relics that some may think mere symbols will be essential to stopping an evil worthy of Lovecraft.
This is Hamilton's first novel, and that is sometimes noticeable in some slight awkwardness to the flow of events, but overall, this is a very enjoyable book which effectively meshes the genres of historical mystery and occult horror.… (meer)