When Elizabeth Glendinning, QC, unexpectedly dies, her one-time colleague and now monk Father Anselm receives a key with instructions from her to help fulfill one last task on her behalf. Elizabeth’s son, Nick, a physician, is also given instructions from his mother, which apparently involve searching for a missing man who could help to bring down another man whom Elizabeth defended successfully years before but who she knew to be guilty. As the monk and the doctor follow the leads, the story becomes murkier and murkier, not to mention murderous…. Apparently this is the second novel in a series featuring Father Anselm, but I haven’t seen the earlier book. That said, Father Anselm is a very thoughtful, well-drawn character and his willingness to learn from others and to find ways to help them is quite touching. Unfortunately, I found that there were a few too many characters in this story, each one of whom had deep, complex histories that all needed to be thoroughly uncovered. As a result, there’s a good half-dozen individuals who require a great deal of the reader’s attention to understand, and that just felt like a few too many for me, even though all the disparate threads do come together in the end. I enjoyed the writing style and the British setting, I just felt a bit exhausted by the time I was done reading. Still, I may search out more from this author in the future. ( )

This starts with the death of a QC, Elizabeth Glendenning. But, knowing her death might be approaching, she has put a number of things in motion, to draw her old colleague at Chambers, Anslem (now a monk), into finish the unraveling she's started. It gets a bit convoluted, and explores that area between black & white, where things are morally in shades of grey. A bit like life, it doesn't have a happy ending, it just has a point at which the story ceases to be told. Very intriguing. ( )

Father Anselm is pulled into a mystery when an old friend dies. The friend, Elizabeth Glendinning, laid the groundwork for solving the case, step by step. It involves old history, as well as the current events of several key people. It twisted through the plot turns quite easily, though it tended to drag here and there. I didn't solve the mystery until Father Anselm did so I really needed to finish the book. And finish it I did, and was satisfied with its twists and turns, and especially satisfied with the ending. ( )

Mr Brodrick's first novel, "The Sixth Lamentation" was so fabulous that it is perhaps inevitable that his second book is a bit of a disappointment. It is nevertheless a good thriller and readers will be delighted to see his character, Father Anselm, solving another mystery. Brodrick's characters are never simply good or evil. Even the villains struggle for redemption in their own way and the characters are complex and finely drawn.
In this book, Father Anselm, learns of the sudden death of Elizabeth Glendinning, a former colleague and friend from his days practicing law. Ms Glendinning was obsessed with a former criminal case and leaves a key to a safety deposit box and various written instructions to Anselm. Anselm is charged with finishing the investigation started by Elizabeth. His search takes him through the sinister heart of London and the the inner workings of the courts of England. ( )

The Gardens of the Dead by William Brodrick is his second novel. Although this book is a page turner I felt it was rather disjointed in parts. I had to backtrack a few times to make sure I was following the plot and the timeline is occasionally confusing. But on the whole I thought the book was pretty good.

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