The Excalibur Murders by J.M.C. Blair

Copyright: 2008
Publisher: Berkley Prime  Crime
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 310
Challenges: Arthurian Challenge, Buy 1 book and read it, Year of the Historical, New Author
New-to-me Author: Yes

Simple Description:
King Arthur has been searching for the Stone of Bran and when one of his knights finally finds it and brings it to Camelot, it brings about murder.  Two of Arthur's squires, later we learn they are his sons, are killed and the stone and Excalibur are gone.

Arthur wants Merlin to figure out who the murder is and bring them to justice before the mid-winter festivities.

Merlin narrows it down to 4 people, known of which Arthur is happy to hear about. With the help of Brit, the only female knight, and Colin, Merlin's apprentice, the murders are investigated.

Now what you really want to know....my thoughts:
I had read reviews on Amazon for The Excalibur Murders and most were negative but some were positive.  The negative ones seemed like the person wasn't expecting a cozy mystery and unhappy when that's what happened.  The positive ones seemed to be from people who were expecting a cozy.

While I actually ended up liking the story, there was a lot that bothered me about it.   King Arthur is made out to be somewhat stupid. He doesn't seem like the King that we have all heard about and become fascinated with.  Merlin is pegged as merely a very educated man and not a magician at all.  I'm actually ok with that.  My issues were with how King Arthur was portrayed.  I just think he needed to be a stronger character.  Some of the banter also annoyed me.  However..I think it has potential as a series.  I'm going to put #2 in the series on my wish list, and eventually I'll get to it.



This book is part of my collection and was either bought or given to me.
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