The author was able to tell a very dark tale in the most entertaining of ways and I wanted to steal time from chores, work and even conversation from my partner in order to continue to read this. Was this an adult fairy tale, fable, fantasy, historical fiction or what ? It was all of the above and so skillfully done that it made complete and utter sense as I was reading. I was immersed from beginning to end and was such an interesting combination of genres ! This is a wonderful debut novel that I have been wanting to read for a few years and finally gotten to.

Karen is also one of six historical crime writers known as the Medieval Murderers – Philip Gooden, Susannah Gregory, Michael Jecks, Bernard Knight and Ian Morson – who together write joint murder-mystery novel, including 'The Sacred Stone', 'Hill of Bones' and 'The First Murder', 'The False Virgin' and 'The Deadliest Sin' published by Simon & Schuster.ĥ 'fascinating, provocative, emotional ' stars !! This was followed by The Owl Killers', 'The Gallows Curse', 'Falcons of Fire and Ice', 'The Vanishing Witch', 'The Raven's Head,' 'The Plague Charmer' and 'A Gathering of Ghosts', Her medieval novels are written under the name of Karen Maitland and are published by Penguin and Headline. Her first stand alone medieval thriller was 'Company of Liars', was set at the time of the Black Death in 1348. The 1st book in the series is 'The Drowned City', and 2nd 'Traitor in the Ice' are also published by Headline. Daniel Pursglove finds himself again embroiled in murder in the aftermath of the infamous Gunpowder Plot. Writing as KJ Maitland, her new historical thriller 'Rivers of Treason', the 3rd in her Jacobean quartet, is set in 1607. Karen Maitland, who also writes as KJ Maitland, lives in the beautiful county of Devon and has a doctorate in psycholinguists.

Company of liars by karen maitland