Review: Birth Right

Christophe Medler, Birth Right, (2026)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8613894402

1536. Robert Pakington MP is murdered outside the Chapel of St Thomas of Acon on his way to Mass, becoming a Protestant martyr. Inside the chapel is acolyte Juan Zaragoza, a Spanish orphan who had looked to Robert as a father figure. Robert’s dying words suggest some great secret. Inexplicably, he bequeaths a goodly sum of money to Juan in his will.

It seems that the secret Robert died with on his lips has something to do with Juan and, more specifically, Juan’s ‘parentage’. In a letter to Juan which Robert leaves with his will, he refers to it as ‘holy’. It also might have something to do with the shady, now banned, Knights Templar.

Juan teams up with Jamie, a man familiar with the darker elements of Cheapside, to seek out the murderer. Meanwhile, the two young men are being followed, and there are more murders.

Pursuing their inquiries from Scotland to Aragon, they uncover one of the greatest secrets in Christendom. Juan may turn out to be the Catholic Church’s last great hope.

Juan and Jamie, and the minor characters who help them on their quest, are all well developed and interesting.

The historical murder of Robert Pakington is a wonderful subject for a murder mystery, setting the investigation within the context of Protestant/Catholic conflict during Henry VIII’s Reformation. Weaving into the mystery references to a ‘hidden bloodline’ makes a super-exciting plot device.