The Killing Way by Tony Hays

Maelgwyn ap Cuneglas is a Briton, and a former member of Arthur's warband. But now, he is only half a man, his sword-arm missing below the elbow, cut away by a Saxon spear. Every day, he drinks himself insensible and futters with wenches in an attempt to escape from a life that is nothing like the one he wanted.

His dirty little secret is that he now hates Arthur, who saved his life when his arm was cut off, taking him to the monks at Glastonbury to have them save his life. But as a result, Maelgwyn can no longer fight, and since killing the Saxons who destroyed his village and raped and killed his wife was the only thing that made him happy, he hates his new life, even though the monks trained him to read and write and he now works as a scribe.

But when a young maiden is found killed and gutted outside Merlin's front door, Arthur calls on Maelgwyn to find the true culprit, whoever he is. Arthur may be Dux Bellorun, the warleader under the current Rigotamos, Vortigern, but Vortigern is dying, and he wants Arthur to be the next High King. And the only way Arthur can do that is to get the acclaim of the people. If he appears to be sheltering a murderer because the old man, Merlin, is dear to him, the people will have no faith in the justice of Arthur's rule. And that is what Arthur wants more than anything. Justice, true justice, for all.

Maelgwyn hates Arthur, but his former leader doesn't give him a choice about taking on the duty. Everyone knows Maelgwyn dislikes Arthur after what happened to him, so they will more readily accept that Maelgwyn's verdict is not coerced or bought to be favorable to Merlin via Arthur.

But that isn't all that is ranked against Arthur. His relationship with Guinevere, Melgwyn's cousin, began when Guinevere was in a nunnery. The two fell madly in love, and were soon in bed together. They were discovered and Guinevere was thrown out of the nunnery, and her broken vow makes it impossible for them to ever be together legally. Many consider her a sorceress who has bewitched or enchanted Arthur. But she also wants to find the true killer and helps Maelgwyn along the way.

Appointed iudex by Arthur, Maelgwyn must tease out the threads of the mystery. Who really killed Eleonore? She was beloved by Kay, but her status as a serving wench in Arthur's great halll meant she came into the presence of more hallowed company- like Tristan, a young man who serves as messenger and ambassador for his father, King Mark.

Tristan, though, swears he had nothing to do with her death. Maelgwyn feels that Tristan is concealing something, but what? And why do Tristan and Mark favor peace with the Saxons? How are the Saxons able to infiltrate the country so easily? And what does Eleonora's death have to do with any of these things?

Maelgwyn discovers that shortly before her death, she said she wished to see Maelgwyn about an assassination plot she had discovered. But against whom? And her heart is missing, found wrapped in a canvas sack in Merlin's home. Merlin had recently advocated eating the hearts of animals to give vigor and retain youth. But would he go so far as to kill Eleonora simply so he could eat her youthful heart?

Maelgwyn is running out of time. When another woman is killed in much the same way, he finds he has only a day and a half to find the true killer and enough proof and evidence to bring the killer to justice. But with bands of murderous Saxons seemingly around every corner and Eleonora's killer on the loose, can "Smiling Maelgwyn" bring the killer to justice? And will the case make him ever change his mind about Arthur?

I found this book incredible, not to mention, incredibly good. Just about everyone knows the Arthurian Legends, but this book presents a look at those legends in a more realistic way, which makes the book seem slightly skewed from the legends. Well, slightly skewed in some aspects, and greatly skewed in others.

The very unique depiction of the characters better known from Arthurian tales intrigued me. We get to see so many characters famous in the tales, like Arthur himself, and Guinevere, but the setting keeps them realistic while adding more shades of meaning to the "legends everyone knows". Merlin himself is a case in point. He's Arthur's mentor. But a wizard? Well, in the book, he's an old man who is going senile. He still has flashes of brilliant insight and wisdom, but he's begun to think he has actual magic powers. I found that appropriate and wonderful. What a great way to explain the legend! And later, we find that the people also think and believe he has these powers as well.

Reading this book, I found a great mystery and a source of endless fascination. Every name I recognized from some part of Arthurian legends and tales made me tingle a little inside, as if I had been goosed. The story gripped me with the strength of a Titan and didn't let me go until the very end. I found it so good that I actually wish this story was the first in a series- but it seems to be a stand-alone for now.

I'd like to beg the author to write more in this version of the Arthurian tales and with Maelgwyn. I found him so interesting and fascinating that I'd love to see more. I recommend this book highly, both for the gripping mystery and the setting.