I read this book about 9 months ago; while I remember the beginning and some of the characters, I can't for the life of me remember the conclusion. I love medieval mysteries and thought I'd give this slightly more contemporary one a try. Enjoyable enough to finish, but apparently neither a stand-out plot nor memorable writing. I'd read another in the series, if I crossed paths with it...but probably wouldn't think to look for it :-)

I did not get to this in time and didn't get a chance to review it as I had hoped.

Wow. This is terrific historical fiction- you'll certainly learn something about the Tudors- combined with an entertaining and just twisty enough mystery. I really enjoyed this; it's unique and fun. The relationship between Bianca and John is wonderful. You will like the way they work together and how they talk to one another. You can read this as a standalone but I'm going to look for Lawrence again. Try this one for a really different take on what could sort of be called a cozy. THanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A descriptive historical mystery set in 1543, during the later years of Henry VIII's reign and after the first 5 wives.

Some of this is personal, but I'm a little tired of "innovative" women chemists and the philosopher's stone <spoiler>especially as the latter seemed somewhat superfluous</spoiler>. Learning the baking history, guilds and methods and so on was fascinating, and supported the mystery plot nicely, especially as John and Bianca had to reach their own conclusions.

I wasn't entirely satisfied by the ending, and a little more fact-checking would have revealed Horatio's quotation to pre-empt Shakespeare by about 50 years; the nursery rhyme is also dated much later (but it was an interesting interpretation nonetheless). Still, if you can ascribe most to heavy amounts of poetic license, it was a decent read.

Mary Lawrence continues her Bianca Goddard mysteries with Death at S. Vedast. This historical mystery is set in London late in the reign of Henry VIII with Bianca, the alchemist, and her husband, John, who become involved with deaths at the church of St. Vedast and of the new wife of their friend Boisvert. An intimate insight into life among the guilds and common folk in London. Curious case solving and medical mysteries. Lots of red herrings to get past to find the solution. Well plotted with interesting characters.

When a wealthy bride drops dead, along with another mysterious local death or two, Biana Goddard sniffs out a nefarious scheme at play. And so the scientific wheels begin turning in her brain.

What I like? There's some good historical fiction here. I can tell that the author has researched many topics relating to the mid-1500s time era -- from location, to foods, social life, and everything else that makes up the atmosphere of the plot. You are seamlessly transported and immersed into the setting. I also appreciate the time that the author took to incorporate true events into the storyline, even while having to slightly bend history to her will (ha!). I have to admit, there's some interesting characters, even if most of them are a little "grimy" or perhaps rough around the edges. And it's a pretty good mystery too.

What I don't care for? It's not a "clean" book, so beware if that's what you usually like to read. There's some mature content and mild foul language.

Although this happens to be book #3 in a series, I think it reads great as a stand-alone novel if you haven't tried the previous volumes yet.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book; I was not required to post a review.

Mary Lawrence never fails to intrigue and set a wonderful sense of place and time in her stories, and as Bianca has grown and developed in her detecting, the feel of Tudor England gains in stature and redolence. In this story, Bianca and John’s good friend Boisvert, the silversmith is to marry, and marry well, the widow of a goldsmith Odile. Plans are being made, good tidings abound and everyone is excited for the upcoming wedding at St. Vedast, until a young pregnant woman is found dead. As the investigations of her death proceed, Boisvert’s wedding approaches, and Odile is suddenly taken ill and dies at the reception: of course Boisvert is the main suspect.

Bianca knows that her friend was not responsible for his new wife’s death, and neither was poison… but she must embrace her new circumstances and fortunes away from her familiar Gull Lane. Moving up to Foster Lane, which houses three guilds and John’s master, her own shop and work is put on hold until a suitable place (and familiarity with neighbors) is found. But the multitude of different murders, not the least of which are Odile’s have her wondering if they are connected, and if she can find the perpetrator and stop future deaths.

There’s been so many changes for Bianca by this point: improved finances, circumstances and successful ends to mysteries, so she’s actually more confident in her abilities, if less settled into her new circumstances. Bright, friendly, determined and surprisingly intuitive, Bianca uses the skills and charms at hand to follow a rather twisted path to the end, gathering facts, evidence and suspicions aplenty. While the mystery is clever and compelling, the story gains tremendous depth from the historic detail and description that show the world Bianca occupies, similar and yet so different from our own, with that bird’s eye view of Tudor England that feels as present as a tree outside your window. Whether historic fiction or mystery is your draw, this is a story and series sure to please many.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

The Bianca Goddard series is a historical fiction mystery series featuring alchemist/herbalist, Bianca Goddard and her husband John, who's training to become a Silversmith. Bianca mixes physiques and salves which her streetseller friend, Meddybemps, then sells for her. 

In the beginning of this third installment, Bianca and John are moving above the Silversmith shop because his master, Boisvert, is getting married. For Bianca this means she can't conduct her experiments until she finds a secluded shop to work in because a lot of people believe that her practice of alchemy is witchy business or dancing with the devil etc. So when a lady is found dead at St. Vedast, a church very near to their new home, followed by a weird sickness and then the murder of Bianca's friend, she puts her medicinals on hold and vows to get to the bottom of these mysterious deaths. As her investigations take her from St. Vedast church, and the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, to the Brown and White Bakers Guilds she finds herself learning the inner workings of the different guilds, bread making, ale brewing and church politics. 

I personally got hooked on this series because I enjoy the time period the series is set in -around 1543. I also love the quirky characters especially Hobs- the immortal, wild cat and Bianca- who's always burning something or creating the most awful smells and messes. I also find Bianca's experiments and creations of medicinals fun and fascinating so I was a little put out that Bianca's alchemy wasn't highlighted more in this mystery. Bianca did do a couple of experiments with her rats and bread at the very end to help solve the mystery but I would have liked to seen more. I did enjoy learning all about the guilds though, and the bread baking and how the gristmill works. That was all pretty interesting. 

I also really enjoyed the complexity to this mystery. There was a whole lot going on and I really liked that. Trying to fit all of the pieces together kept me thoroughly engaged. 

Which brings me to the ending, I felt like some of the strings, particularly from the Dinmow mystery and death, weren't fully tied together. I would have liked it more if Bianca would have went back to Dinmow and wrapped up things with Father Paston, Brother Fromme and Felton, the brewer, since she told them she would figure everything out and to see if Elgin, owner of the Stuffed Goose or Littleton was involved in anyway as Bianca suspected. None of that was tied up to my satisfaction at the end which is why I only rated it 3.5 stars.

Untimely and strange deaths!

Another complex sixteenth century murder mystery with alchemist Bianca Goddard at the forefront.
A pregnant woman flings herself from a church steeple, a wealthy widow suddenly becomes contorted and unable to control her limbs. The church at St. Verdast seems to have a malignant miasma surrounding it.
Bianca's husband John has moved up in the world and needs to reside in London near St. Verdast John's friend, silversmith Boisvert who is to marry Odile, the wealthy widow of a prominent London goldsmith. When Odile dies at her wedding feast Boisvert is accused of poisoning her and Bianca and John race against time to find evidence of Boisvert's innocence.
Bianca moves her alchemy equipment with some trepidation, but is never truly comfortable, frightened that the various smells and odours will lead to discovery by a less than forgiving population.
However very little time passes before Bianca is caught up in a web of untimely deaths presenting possessed type symptoms, possible poisonings and a war between the bakery guilds, not to mention the goldsmith guild.
Who knew the meaning for the childhood rhyme of 'Goosey, goosey, gander'? That rhyme forms an interesting part of the intrigue.
Another excellent Goddard mystery with the 'wraith' of the Thames the Rat Man lurking as always. He needs Bianca back in her previous lodgings.

A NetGalley ARC

All reviews appear on Amazon, Goodreads plus Gr Facebook, LibraryThing plus LT Twitter, eyes.2c review blog (December 2016)