Echoes of the past resonate across the centuries as Dr Anna Petersen, a medievalist and runologist, is struggling with past trauma and allowing herself to trust again.
When archaeologist Professor Matt Beacham unearths a 6th century seax with a mysterious runic inscription, and approaches Anna for help, a chain of events bring the past firmly back into her
present. And why does the burial site also contain two sets of bones, one 6th century and the other modern?
As the past and present intermingle alarmingly, Anna and Matt need to solve the mystery of the seax runes and the seemingly impossible burial, and to discover the truth about the past.
But how is 6th century Lady Mildryth of Mercia connected to Anna? Can they both be the Daughter of Mercia?
Dr Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of resonances across time. She sees her author brand as a historical fiction writer of romantic mysteries that are
character-driven, well-paced, evocative of time and place, well-researched and uplifting page-turners.
Her current series focuses on early medieval dual-time/time-slip mysteries.
Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language/ literature/history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher.
Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015, with a three-book deal from Lume Books for a trilogy (Drumbeats) set in Ghana in the 1960s.
She has also indie-published three other books, including A Shape on the Air, an Anglo-Saxon timeslip mystery, and its two sequels The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone. Her latest, Daughter of Mercia, is the first of a new series of Anglo-Saxon dual time mystery/romances where echoes of the past resonate across the centuries.
Her books will appeal to fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, and Christina Courtenay. Her readers say: ‘compelling character-driven novels’, ‘a skilled story-teller’, ‘evocative and well-paced storylines’, ‘incredible writing style’, ‘intricately written’,
‘absorbing and captivating’, and ‘an absolute gem of a trilogy’
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My thoughts: I enjoyed the previous books Julia wrote and I knew I would like this one. Mercia is one of the kingdoms England was once split into, ruled by Saxons, roughly where the Midlands are today.
Archaeologists do indeed sometimes find amazing Saxon items buried in the ground, and sometimes farmers turn up things too! This time it’s the professionals but the grave makes little sense. There’s a seax (a knife or short sword) with an inscription that suggests an important woman is buried there, but no other grave goods, and there’s also the skeleton of a man, but further examination shows he’s from the modern day. This makes no sense at all as he seems to have buried as long as the female remains.
As Dr Anna Petersen and Professor Matt Beacham investigate the remains and the inscription on the seax, they uncover more of the mystery, could the modern bones belong to their missing, but not much missed, colleague? Has he somehow travelled back in time to the sixth century? Doubting anyone will believe their theory, they keep it to themselves, focusing on the female bones.
Meanwhile for us, a secondary plot unfolds back in the sixth century settlement ruled by the Lady Mildryth, whose father is the king of Mercia. She tries to govern the way she believes her father would want her to, but a newcomer to the village turns her head and causes her to take foolish risks. Who is the man she names Theowulf, and where did he come from?
As both stories start to provide more answers than questions, we can fill in the gaps and solve the mysteries that haunt the characters. And as Anna and Matt grow closer, finding plenty to bond over, could he be the one to mend Anna’s broken heart?
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own
ramblingmads 