Review of "Company of Liars" by Karen Maitland

It's the 14th Century and Europe is in the grips of The Black Plague. Nine strangers travel together on England's country roads seeking to escape this scourge. But their numbers are shrinking one-by-one, slowly increasing the terror felt by the remaining wayfarers. The protagonist is a peddler named Camelot who deals in religious trinkets. He's accompanied by a colorful crew that includes a magician, a musician and his apprentice, a fortune-teller, and an artisan and his wife. They all have stories to tell and reasons beyond the plague to seek fairer country. But as their journey goes on, they start to look at each other with a growing suspicion.

As a historical novel, "Company of Liars" is a rarity in its choice of setting and suffers from comparisons to "The Canterbury Tales". Taken on its face, its a thoroughly enjoyable mystery with a rich backdrop to play against.