Unhallowed Ground by Mel Starr

“The man is surely dead of his own hand, Hugh. You must not seek a felon where none is. And even was atte Bridge slain there is no man in Bampton sorry for it. He was an evil fellow we are well rid of.”



Thomas atte Bridge, a man no one likes, is found hanging from a tree near Cow-Ley’s Corner. All assume he has taken his own life, but Master Hugh and Kate find evidence that this may not be so. Many of the town had been harmed by Thomas, and Hugh is not eager to send one of them to the gallows ... Hugh must discover which of his friends has murdered his enemy.

My review:This is the fourth book in the  Chronicles of Huge de Singleton, Surgeon, and possibly the best so far.

For those unfamiliar with the series, these are mysteries set in medieval times. The 1300's, to be exact. The main character is a surgeon, Hugh de Singleton, who also is a bailiff and has to do his share of solving crimes.

These books have some very interesting aspects for me. The author has studied medieval times and the ways of medicine and surgeons in that time, so I have found it extremely interesting to read of the methods used in that time. Also, it is interesting to read of crime solving in a time period where they didn't have the modern day methods that we take for granted.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In it, the main character has to solve the murder of his enemy, a man who did him and many others wrong. The story part was enjoyable, but the author also got some great points in about God's mercy and hit on themes of forgiving others.

This book, as the ones that precede it, are totally different reading than the Christian suspense authors I read, but they are all enjoyable reads. After reading this book, I am looking forward to the next book in this great and fascinating series.

About the author:Mel Starr was born and grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He graduated from Spring Arbor High School in 1960, and Greenville College (Illinois) in 1964. He received an MA in history from Western Michigan University in 1970. He taught history in Michigan public schools for thirty-nine years, thirty-five of those in Portage, MI, where he retired in 2003 as chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School.


Mel married Susan Brock in 1965, and they have two daughters; Amy (Kevin) Kwilinski, of Naperville, IL, and Jennifer (Jeremy) Reivitt, of Portage, MI. Mel and Susan have seven grandchildren.


Unhallowed Ground is available from Monarch, an imprint of Kregel Publishing.

Thanks to Kregel for the review copy.