Belladonna at Belstone

From Publishers Weekly When Moll, a young nun, dies mysteriously at St. Mary's Priory in Belstone, England, the suffragan bishop orders Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, to investigate. Together with Bailiff Simon Puttock, his assistant in seven other puzzles in Jecks's delightful medieval series (The Last Templar, The Crediton Killings, etc.), Baldwin travels to Belstone, which is in a disgraceful state; greed, drunkenness and sexual license have all but destroyed the spirituality of its inhabitants. Baldwin and Puttock learn that Moll was a pious girl, who, shocked at Belstone's corruption, had seen it as her sacred mission to cleanse the priory. If saints are not easy to live with, Moll had been no exception: ever-so-sweetly, she had pointed out the considerable faults of her companions, urging each to confess and reform. No wonder that when she was found dead in the infirmary after having been bled for a migraine, no one was sorry. And indeed Moll's death, the investigators realize, was no accident. Two more novices will die before--in a stunning denouement--the author reveals the killer, who turns out to be one of the few likeable characters in this wickedly amusing romp. If the prose is sometimes choppy and repetitious, perhaps it is due to the proliferation of bells in the story, starting with the title. Throughout, bells summon nuns and clerics to prayer at regular intervals, day and night. One wonders when they find time for so much mischief. (Apr.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews Things are not going well at the Priory of St. Marys at Belstone, an establishment endowed by Sir Rodney and headed by Prioress Lady Elizabeth. The 14th-century Priory is shared, in a series of separate buildings, by priests and nunsnot an unusual arrangement, but one endangered by the scant funding thats forced the Prioress to allow the place to fall into ruin. Priory treasurer Margharita has complained about Elizabeths stewardship to Bishop Bertrand, whos asked Sir Baldwin de Ferrishill, once a Knight Templar, to investigate. With his old friend Bailiff Simon Puttock and his faithful servant Hugh, he arrives at the Priory to find novice Moll in the infirmarydeadmurdered, according to Godfrey, the Priorys nearest thing to a doctor. There follows the death of Katerine, a novice whose fall from a slate roof has injured Sir Baldwin and put him in the infirmary, run by able Constance and home to the Priorys oldest nun Joan, now all but retired. Fighting to retain her post, Elizabeth uncovers the sins of Margharita, reveals sundry romantic entanglements, and, inevitably, nabs a killer. Jecks manages to make interesting his oddball throng of characters; a clutch of forbidden alliances; some vigorous plot developments; and the eras background and historya commendable achievement this first hardcover in a seven-book series. --