Hunting The Wren

A sweet story with beautiful writing from the author - you can truly tell that a lot of time and effort went into historical research to present the town set in medieval times. It’s a good mix of crime solving, relationships and with sprinkles of romance throughout. Highly recommended read.

Hunting the Wren by Susanna M. Newstead. BooksGoSocial, 2021.

I enjoyed reading this story about new master astrologer Bennet and his new servant Christa, their everyday life in medieval Marlborough, and their efforts to see a murderer and a pair of con artists brought to justice.

The book is well written, easy to read, with descriptions that make visualizing the setting very easy. Main characters are engaging, supporting characters develop as the story progresses, and life as described could very likely be what it was like at the time. Aside from the role of astrology in the story, woven in pragmatically as the work of a journalist or lawyer might be today, an element of magic and some romance help the story along.
This light, easy, pleasant read is my first experience with Susanna M. Newstead who writes medieval murder mysteries.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Hunting the Wren for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #HuntingTheWren #NetGalley

A light, historical mystery/romance that skips along and involves a number of different characters in a small medieval village. I was attracted by the book cover and the mention of an astrologer. I like that the author has written about a place that she knows well and has included historical traditions of the area. The astrology interpretations of planets within signs and houses are correct - she does give a disclaimer at the end of the book that no astrologer could be quite so precise with their predictions as Master Geoffrey was, but as a vehicle for the story, I felt it worked well. I can't fault anything about the story or the writing, but it was a little light for my personal taste and so didn't quite engage me emotionally. But for those who like a light read with a bit of mystery and romance, this should hit the spot. This is my voluntary review of a free copy of the book. Many thanks to the author and Netgalley.

I enjoyed the novel, and found the central premise and magical realism very interesting. It explored mediaeval thinking and belief convincingly. The world was largely inexplicable to most at this time and belief in magic/ astrology/witchcraft as well as conventional religion helped people achieve a sense of control over events impacting on their lives. I warmed to the two main characters overall.

Hunting the Wren is a medieval crime story with the starry heavens as its backdrop. Bennet becomes the town Astrologer after his Master dies and becomes embroiled in murder, scandal, and mystery with only his Master's book of prognostications and a feisty servant Crista to help him. When a series of crimes shocks their small town, it is up to Bennet and his celestial wisdom to set things right.

As an Astrologer myself, I really enjoyed this story. The author stated in this book that the abilities of the Astrologers may have been a bit exaggerated but I will say that prediction based Astrology was more sophisticated in medieval times than present day Astrology which is less prediction based.

The story had great pacing and the use of Astrology was a unique crime busting tool that should be incorporated into medieval fiction more often. The mystery may not have been complex and the ending was predictable however it was a quick read that kept me interested because of its cosmic storyline.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Loved the cover - this is what drew me in initially and it really fits with the book premise

I enjoyed this - historical fiction is my thing and this was well worth the read

After Master Geoffrey, Finest Astrologer, his mentor dies, Bennet becomes Master Celest, and his life continues

with charts, maps, and mathematical ..calculations. He takes in Christa Wren as his servant but life is far from quiet

and peaceful in Marlborough. They are drawn into a spiral of violence, blackmail, and murder..

Overseen by the late Geoffrey, their adventures are fast-paced and tense. ,

This story is a treasure to read giving us a glimpse into mediaeval life with more than a hint of romance.

I loved this book.

I genuinely enjoyed Hunting the Wren. I'd never read a book where the main character was an astrologer and my favorite part was that he got his knowledge by using math and the actual movement of the stars to make his predictions instead of some mythical sort of magic. Both main characters were likable and interesting and I was rooting for them to get together.

What I didn't love was the insertion of there thought at seemingly random intervals. The rest of the cast of characters seemed very one dimensional. I think making the book a little longer would help. I hope this becomes a series because I think a lot can be done with this story.

Overall I still enjoyed the book and will probably purchase it when its in stores.

A wonderful concept for a historical fiction. Amazing cover and great plot. Very hard to put down. Was swept up in the book very early on and just wanted to read and read and read

4.5 stars

I enjoyed this book and its a relavtively quick read. One of my hobbies is astrology and it's unusual to find a story based around that craft. Our hero is the apprentice of a great astrologer, spending time doing natal and horary charts. Our heroine is a serving girl who runs away from her employer having seen her mistress murdered. I enjoyed the characterisations and the descriptions of medieval life. The rigours of that life are very well plotted and I must admit I was worried our hero wouldn't get his HEA. The author tells us the big three for most of protaganists, Asecendant, Sun and Moon, so it would be fairly easy to create a rough chart for ourselves. Susanna is a new author to me so I will look out for more of her work.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I didn't know this was the second book in a series but it didn't spoil my read are all. I enjoyed the novel, I thought the premise was very interesting. I loved the magical realism. It explored early medieval thinking and belief convincingly. The world was largely inexplicable to most at this time and belief in magic/ astrology/witchcraft as well as conventional religion helped people achieve a sense of control over events impacting on their lives. I warmed to the two main characters. Will definitely be looking up the first book and waiting for others.

A very enjoyable read, I liked the astrology theme and found it a quick read.
I enjoyed the characters and thought the writing flowed well.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed reading it the plot was interesting and the characters made me want to know more about them. I highly recommend.