The Oxenbridge King by Christine Paice

King Richard the Third is dead – the last English king to be slain in battle. And yet, he finds himself in conversation with a cocky Raven in a place called Threadbare: ‘It’s what’s left of you, my Kingly King. The thread of you, the bare of you, the who you really are of you…’ They are awaiting the arrival of an angel to take Richard to the next place, wherever that may be. But Richard is going nowhere until he accepts his sins, and asks for forgiveness.

Meanwhile, the angel is having his own difficulties as he grapples with his new form, six centuries after his mortal death, in modern-day London. He is suffering from sensory overload and is unsure of the role he is to play.

And there are several mere mortals whose lives are deeply impacted by these spiritual shenanigans. There is a love story, and a story of unrequited love, and of old love.

I recently visited Richard III’s tomb in Leicester Cathedral and the fabulous museum nearby, which is built over the place in the carpark where his remains were finally discovered in 2012. The events in the book centre around the reburial of his bones in the Cathedral in 2015. I found this book moved me as I thought of his remains, lost for so many centuries, finding their final resting place. And if we have a soul, how his could finally be at peace.

This book defies classification: it surprised me, and it moved me. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Gaby Meares
Murder on a Monday Reading Group