I bought my copy of The Wolves of Savernake as a ‘blind-date’ book – it was wrapped in brown paper, with only a tag that read “Historical novel where you can delve into the medieval world of Savernake Forest! Intrigue, crime, detective.” I picked it up from the used bookstore at Avebury Stone Circle, which as it turns out, was an incredibly appropriate place to buy this book.
Synopsis of The Wolves of Savernake
Set in the Wiltshire countryside following the Norman conquest, The Wolves of Savernake follows Ralph Delchard and Gervase Brett, two men commissioned by William the Conqueror to follow up on certain inconsistencies found within the Domesday Book, which was a real survey of England that chronicled who owned what land in England – and importantly to William, how much tax they could technically pay him. In this first novel in the series, Ralph and Gervase’s mission takes them to the town of Bedwyn, where the death of a man apparently savaged by a wolf in nearby Savernake Forest proves to be inexplicably connected to their investigation…
Magical Mystery Tour
From the very first page, Marston proves to be an expert at building atmosphere. The locations themselves smack of the supernatural; both Savernake Forest and Stonehenge (which the protagonists visit early in the novel) are elements within the English countryside which often seem inherently magical, given the ‘power’ that seems to radiate from these ancient sites. But Marston plays with this further by weaving legend and folklore into the story. Whether it’s whispers of witches, curses, or an unearthly wolf, the mystery quickly becomes complicated by local superstitions and grudges.
The interesting way Marston spins this is by providing a very grounded telling of the story. The ambience is built up, but never becomes over-dramatic, despite the fact that the subject matter would make this very easy. This is something which usually tends to be difficult for many authors to avoid in popular fiction. Instead, the writing style sticks to being simple yet vivid, providing a restrained amount of detail which makes the contrast between the supernatural and real world feel balanced. Throughout, the reader is left to decide which way the mystery leans.
Wiltshire Hills Cops
Part of this contrast between real/unreal stems from our two protagonists, who have something of a buddy cop dynamic going on – there’s the jocular, womanising Ralph and the straight faced lawyer Gervase, who are Norman and half Norman respectively. Their background stirs some resentment in the local Saxon villagers and adds to overall tension, as it doesn’t take long for the mysterious happenings to be blamed on these foreboding newcomers. Add the few bits of sword play we see, and I felt there was almost a parallel to Geralt and Vesemir of The Witcher – a grizzled veteran and his protege, reviled outsiders trying to hunt a beast in a backwater village. This dynamic felt like the strongest aspect of The Wolves of Savernake, and I felt that this could have been explored more. I would have enjoyed further banter between Ralph and Gervase, whose moments together are really fun to read, yet they are mostly split up and investigating solo. A good crime novel protagonist is a difficult thing to achieve, and Marston deserves praise for creating two characters without making either of them insufferable (cough, looking at you Hastings).
To Kill a Mocking…Wolf?
In terms of the actual murder mystery, this is the weak spot for The Wolves of Savernake. With plenty of hearings and interviewing clergy men, it is often more of a legal drama, with last minute charters and documents that flip the entire investigation more than once. This is likely due to the real backstory of the domesday book, which is fine – I love a courtroom drama – but it does mean that the story gets bogged down in bureaucracy more than once. There’s not much to the ‘mystery’ itself, so Marston relies on legal idiosyncrasies to add intrigue. Hence why, again, a little more banter and playfulness between the main characters would have helped to lighten the load between bits of legal jargon.
The Wolves of Savernake – Concluding Thoughts
I was thoroughly pleased by this book, with a story which is pretty fascinating from the get go. With mystical locations, local tensions and the likable but suitably flawed Gervase and Ralph, there is a lot to love about this historical crime novel. As far as blind-dates go, it was a wonderful surprise, and I hope I’ll be seeing it again in the future in the form of the sequel, as there are a total of 11 books in Marston’s Domesday series to explore.
Have you read The Wolves of Savernake? Let me know your thoughts on this one in the comments below.
