A chilling, mesmerizing novel that combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the detail and drama of historical fiction. In medieval Cambridge, England, four children have been murdered. The crimes are immediately blamed on the town's Jewish community, taken as evidence that Jews...  more

A chilling, mesmerizing novel that combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the detail and drama of historical fiction. In medieval Cambridge, England, four children have been murdered. The crimes are immediately blamed on the town's Jewish community, taken as evidence that Jews sacrifice Christian children in blasphemous ceremonies. To save them from the rioting mob, the king places the Cambridge Jews under his protection and hides them in a castle fortress. King Henry I is no friend of the Jews-or anyone, really-but he is invested in their fate. Without the taxes received from Jewish merchants, his treasuries would go bankrupt. Hoping scientific investigation will exonerate the Jews, Henry calls on his cousin the King of Sicily-whose subjects include the best medical experts in Europe-and asks for his finest "master of the art of death," an early version of the medical examiner. The Italian doctor chosen for the task is a young prodigy from the University of Salerno. But her name is Adelia-the king has been sent a mistress of the art of death. Adelia and her companions-Simon, a Jew, and Mansur, a Moor-travel to England to unravel the mystery of the Cambridge murders, which turn out to be the work of a serial killer, most likely one who has been on Crusade with the king. In a backward and superstitious country like England, Adelia must conceal her true identity as a doctor in order to avoid accusations of witchcraft. Along the way, she is assisted by Sir Rowley Picot, one of the king's tax collectors, a man with a personal stake in the investigation. Rowley may be a needed friend, or the fiend for whom they are searching. As Adelia's investigation takes her into Cambridge's shadowy river paths and behind the closed doors of its churches and nunneries, the hunt intensifies and the killer prepares to strike again . .

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ken Follett comes this spellbinding epic set in twelfth-century England. The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the lives entwined in the building of the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known-and a struggle between good and evil that...  more

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ken Follett comes this spellbinding epic set in twelfth-century England. The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the lives entwined in the building of the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known-and a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother.

The year is 1896, the place, New York City. On a cold March night New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned to the East River by his friend and former Harvard classmate Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or "alienist." On the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge, they view...  more

The year is 1896, the place, New York City. On a cold March night New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned to the East River by his friend and former Harvard classmate Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or "alienist." On the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge, they view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy, a prostitute from one of Manhattan's infamous brothels. The newly appointed police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, in a highly unorthodox move, enlists the two men in the murder investigation, counting on the reserved Kreizler's intellect and Moore's knowledge of New York's vast criminal underworld. They are joined by Sara Howard, a brave and determined woman who works as a secretary in the police department. Laboring in secret (for alienists, and the emerging discipline of psychology, are viewed by the public with skepticism at best), the unlikely team embarks on what is a revolutionary effort in criminology -- amassing a psychological profile of the man they're looking for based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who has killed before. and will kill again before the hunt is over. Fast-paced and gripping, infused with a historian's exactitude, The Alienist conjures up the Gilded Age and its untarnished underside: verminous tenements and opulent mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. Here is a New York during an age when questioning society's belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and mortal consequences.

The year is 1537, and the country is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery on the south coast of England, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s...  more

The year is 1537, and the country is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery on the south coast of England, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s feared vicar general, summons fellow reformer Matthew Shardlake to lead the inquiry. Shardlake and his young protégé uncover evidence of sexual misconduct, embezzlement, and treason, and when two other murders are revealed, they must move quickly to prevent the killer from striking again.

It is 1540, and Matthew Shardlake, the lawyer renowned as "the sharpest hunchback in the courts of England," is pressed to help a friend’s young niece who is charged with murder. Despite threats of torture and death by the rack, the girl is inexplicably silent. Shardlake is about...  more

It is 1540, and Matthew Shardlake, the lawyer renowned as "the sharpest hunchback in the courts of England," is pressed to help a friend’s young niece who is charged with murder. Despite threats of torture and death by the rack, the girl is inexplicably silent. Shardlake is about to lose her case when he is suddenly granted a reprieve--one that will ensnare him in the dangerous schemes of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s feared vicar-general. In exchange for two more weeks to investigate the murder, Shardlake accepts Cromwell’s dangerous assignment to find a lost cache of "dark fire," a legendary weapon of mass destruction. Cromwell, out of favor since Henry’s disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves, is relying on Shardlake to save his position at court, which is rife with treasonous conspiracies.  

Autumn 1541. A plot against the throne has been uncovered, and Henry VIII has set off on a spectacular progress from London to York, along with a thousand soldiers, the cream of the nobility, and his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, to quell his rebellious northern subjects. Awaiting his arrival...  more

Autumn 1541. A plot against the throne has been uncovered, and Henry VIII has set off on a spectacular progress from London to York, along with a thousand soldiers, the cream of the nobility, and his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, to quell his rebellious northern subjects. Awaiting his arrival are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his loyal assistant, Jack Barak. In addition to processing petitions to the king, Shardlake's task is to protect a dangerous conspirator until he is transported back to London for interrogation. But when a local glazier is murdered, things get a little more complicated as the murder seems to be not only connected to Shardlake's prisoner but also to the royal family itself. Then Shardlake stumbles upon a cache of secret papers that throws into doubt the legitimacy of the entire royal line, and a chain of events unfolds that threatens Shardlake with the most terrifying fate of the age: imprisonment in the Tower of London.

Join Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on their very first case together! A Study in Scarlet recounts their first meeting, as well as Watson's initial impressions of the Great Detective's unusual traits and habits. The Sherlock Holmes stories have inspired a vast body of literature...  more

Join Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on their very first case together! A Study in Scarlet recounts their first meeting, as well as Watson's initial impressions of the Great Detective's unusual traits and habits. The Sherlock Holmes stories have inspired a vast body of literature dedicated to the proposition that the Great Detective was not a mere work of fiction, but an actual historical person. Since the 1920s these 'writings about The Writings' have contributed fascinating new insights into the stories, enhancing the pleasure of reading them.

Rosamund Clifford, the mistress of King Henry II, has died an agonizing death by poison-and the king's estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is the prime suspect. Henry suspects that Rosamund's murder is probably the first move in Eleanor's long-simmering plot to overthrow him. If...  more

Rosamund Clifford, the mistress of King Henry II, has died an agonizing death by poison-and the king's estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is the prime suspect. Henry suspects that Rosamund's murder is probably the first move in Eleanor's long-simmering plot to overthrow him. If Eleanor is guilty, the result could be civil war. The king must once again summon Adelia Aguilar, mistress of the art of death, to uncover the truth. Adelia is not happy to be called out of retirement. She has been living contentedly in the countryside, caring for her infant daughter, Allie. But Henry's summons cannot be ignored, and Adelia must again join forces with the king's trusted fixer, Rowley Picot, the Bishop of St. Albans, who is also her baby's father. Adelia and Rowley travel to the murdered courtesan's home, in a tower within a walled labyrinth-a strange and sinister place from the outside, but far more so on the inside, where a bizarre and gruesome discovery awaits them. But Adelia's investigation is cut short by the appearance of Rosamund's rival: Queen Eleanor. Adelia, Rowley, and the other members of her small party are taken captive by Eleanor's henchmen and held in the nunnery of Godstow, where Eleanor is holed up for the winter with her band of mercenaries, awaiting the right moment to launch their rebellion. Isolated and trapped inside the nunnery by the snow and cold, Adelia and Rowley watch as dead bodies begin piling up. Adelia knows that there may be more than one killer at work, and she must unveil their true identities before England is once again plunged into civil war . . . From Publishers Weekly Set in 12th-century England, Franklin's mesmerizing second historical delivers on the promise of her first, Mistress of the Art of Death (2007). When Rosamund Clifford, Henry II's mistress, is poisoned, Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar must draw on her formidable forensic skills to try to uncover the killer. The prime suspect is Henry's estranged wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, who once plotted to overthrow the king. Adelia reunites with Rowley Picot, now a bishop as well as the father of Adelia's child, and the two set out on a dangerous journey, during which they brave a blizzard and Eleanor's band of ruthless mercenaries. Franklin, the pen name of Diana Norman, brings medieval England to life, from the maze surrounding Rosamund's tower to the royal court's Christmas celebration, with ice skating on the frozen Thames. A colorful cast of characters, both good and evil, enhance a tale that will keep readers on edge until the final page. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Ariana Franklin combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the drama of historical fiction in the enthralling second novel in the Mistress of the Art of Death series, featuring medieval heroine Adelia Aguilar.

Set in 1176, Franklin's excellent third Mistress of the Art of Death novel (after The Serpent's Tale) finds Adelia Aguilar, a qualified doctor from the School of Medicine in Salerno, in the holy town of Glastonbury, where Henry II has sent her to inspect two sets of bones rumored to be...  more

Set in 1176, Franklin's excellent third Mistress of the Art of Death novel (after The Serpent's Tale) finds Adelia Aguilar, a qualified doctor from the School of Medicine in Salerno, in the holy town of Glastonbury, where Henry II has sent her to inspect two sets of bones rumored to be those of Arthur and Guinevere. Henry is hoping that an unequivocally dead Arthur will discourage the rebellious Welsh. The bones have been uncovered by the few monks, under the saintly Abbot Sigward, who remain after a terrible and mysterious fire devastated the town and abbey. Adelia's party includes her loyal Arabian attendant, Mansur, whose willingness to play the role of doctor allows Adelia to be his translator and practice the profession she loves; and Gyltha, Mansur's lover and the caretaker of Adelia's small daughter, Allie. Eloquently sketched characters, including a ragtag group of Glastonbury men down on their luck, and bits of medieval lore flavor the constantly unfolding plot.

In 1176, King Henry II sends his daughter Joanna to Palermo to marry his cousin, the king of Sicily. Henry chooses Adelia Aguilar, his Mistress of the Art of Death, to travel with the princess and safeguard her health. But when people in the wedding procession are murdered, Adelia and Rowley...  more

In 1176, King Henry II sends his daughter Joanna to Palermo to marry his cousin, the king of Sicily. Henry chooses Adelia Aguilar, his Mistress of the Art of Death, to travel with the princess and safeguard her health. But when people in the wedding procession are murdered, Adelia and Rowley must discover the killer's identity . . . and whether he is stalking the princess or Adelia herself.

Introducing Hugh Corbett: the Sherlock Holmes of the 13th Century. He was a hero of the Welsh expedition who saved the life of England's King Edward I. His reward: a cushy clerk's job. But when the king calls on him again to help foil an assassination plot, things no longer remain so...  more

Introducing Hugh Corbett: the Sherlock Holmes of the 13th Century. He was a hero of the Welsh expedition who saved the life of England's King Edward I. His reward: a cushy clerk's job. But when the king calls on him again to help foil an assassination plot, things no longer remain so cushy. Corbett's first clue is a suicide committed within the shadowy halls of London's infamous St. Mary's Church. As soon as Corbett discovers the true murderous nature of the incident, he too is stalked by the killers. His investigation takes him on a macabre journey through the mean, disease-infested streets of 13th century London where death and terror rule the nights. What he uncovers is a ghastly demonic cult whose god is Satan, whose goal is to overthrow the throne, and whose members will let no man stand in their way.

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a...  more

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man -- Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars

The young wife of an aging marquis is found murdered in the arms of the Prince Regent. Around her neck lies a necklace said to have been worn by Druid priestesses-that is, until it was lost at sea with its last owner, Sebastian St. Cyr's mother. Now Sebastian is lured into a dangerous...  more

The young wife of an aging marquis is found murdered in the arms of the Prince Regent. Around her neck lies a necklace said to have been worn by Druid priestesses-that is, until it was lost at sea with its last owner, Sebastian St. Cyr's mother. Now Sebastian is lured into a dangerous investigation of the marchioness's death-and his mother's uncertain fate. As he edges closer to the truth -- and one murder follows another -- he confronts a conspiracy that imperils those nearest him and threatens to bring down the monarchy.

Fourth in the "moody and atmospheric" historical mystery series starring "a troubled but compelling antihero."(Booklist) London, 1812. The brutal slaughter of eight young prostitutes in a house of refuge near Covent Garden leaves only one survivor -- and one witness: Hero Jarvis,...  more

Fourth in the "moody and atmospheric" historical mystery series starring "a troubled but compelling antihero."(Booklist) London, 1812. The brutal slaughter of eight young prostitutes in a house of refuge near Covent Garden leaves only one survivor -- and one witness: Hero Jarvis, reform-minded daughter of the Prince Regent's cousin, Lord Jarvis. When the Machiavellian powerbroker quashes any official inquiry that might reveal his daughter's unorthodox presence, Hero launches an investigation of her own and turns to Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for help. Working in an uneasy alliance, Hero and Sebastian follow a trail of clues leading from the seedy brothels and docksides of London's East End to the Mayfair mansions of a noble family with dark secrets to hide. Risking both their lives and their reputations, the two must race against time to stop a killer whose ominous plot threatens to shake the nation to its very core.

In 1811, murder has jarred London's elite. The sons of prominent families have been found at dawn in public places, their bodies mutilated and strange objects stuffed into their mouths. Although Sebastian St. Cyr is distracted by his seemingly doomed relationship with actress Kat Boleyn, the...  more

In 1811, murder has jarred London's elite. The sons of prominent families have been found at dawn in public places, their bodies mutilated and strange objects stuffed into their mouths. Although Sebastian St. Cyr is distracted by his seemingly doomed relationship with actress Kat Boleyn, the oddness of these murders nags at him-and he becomes determined to track down the assassin, even at the risk of his own life.

April 1193. England's King Richard Lionheart languishes in a German prison, and treason scents the air. Richard's younger brother, John, seizes Windsor Castle, and Dowager Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine summons her trusted personal "queen's man," Justin de Quincy, to do the...  more

April 1193. England's King Richard Lionheart languishes in a German prison, and treason scents the air. Richard's younger brother, John, seizes Windsor Castle, and Dowager Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine summons her trusted personal "queen's man," Justin de Quincy, to do the impossible -- mediate a truce with her rebel son. Amid such fateful events, the murder of a Welsh peddler's daughter seems small. But the cruel demise of the beautiful Melangell so troubles Justin that not even a threatened French invasion can keep him from investigating her death. Yet can he bring Melangell's craven killer to justice?

As rural England slowly emerges from the sorrow of World War I, a particularly vicious attack on a household in a small Surrey village leaves five butchered bodies and no explanation for the killings. Sent by Scotland Yard to investigate is Inspector John Madden, a man still recovering from his...  more

As rural England slowly emerges from the sorrow of World War I, a particularly vicious attack on a household in a small Surrey village leaves five butchered bodies and no explanation for the killings. Sent by Scotland Yard to investigate is Inspector John Madden, a man still recovering from his own war experience and from the deaths of his wife and child. The local police dismiss the slaughter as a botched robbery, but Madden detects the signs of a madman at work. With the help of beautiful Dr. Helen Blackwell, who introduces him to the new science of criminal psychology, Madden sets out to capture the killer, even as the murderer sets his sights on his next innocent victims.

The Burren on the western seaboard of Ireland was then, in the year of 1509, as it is now, a land of stony fields and swirling mountain terraces. The people of the kingdom lived peacefully by the ancient Brehon laws of their forebears. On the first eve of May hundreds of people from the...  more

The Burren on the western seaboard of Ireland was then, in the year of 1509, as it is now, a land of stony fields and swirling mountain terraces. The people of the kingdom lived peacefully by the ancient Brehon laws of their forebears. On the first eve of May hundreds of people from the Burren climbed the gouged-out limestone terraces of Mullaghmore Mountain to celebrate the great May Day festival, lighting a bonfire and singing and dancing through the night, then returning through the grey dawn to the safety of their homes. But one man did not come back down the steeply spiralled path. His body lay exposed to the ravens and wolves on the bare, lonely mountain for two nights . . . and no one spoke of him, or told what they had seen. And when Mara, a woman appointed by King Turlough Don O Brien to be judge and lawgiver to the stony kingdom, came to investigate, she was met with a wall of silence.

Former knight turned detective, Crispin Guest, is called to the compound of a successful but reclusive cloth merchant who suspects his wife of infidelity and wants Crispin to look into the matter. In dire need of money, Crispin reluctantly agrees and discovers that the wife is indeed up to...  more

Former knight turned detective, Crispin Guest, is called to the compound of a successful but reclusive cloth merchant who suspects his wife of infidelity and wants Crispin to look into the matter. In dire need of money, Crispin reluctantly agrees and discovers that the wife is indeed up to something. But when he comes to inform his client, he finds the merchant dead in a sealed room, locked from the inside. Now Crispin has come to the unwanted attention of the Lord Sheriff of London and finds himself in the middle of a complex plot involving dark secrets, international intrigue, and a missing religious relic -- one that lies at the very heart of this heinous and impossible crime.

Some secrets are better left at the bottom of a WATERY GRAVE The year is 1769, and Jeremy Proctor, a manly, orphaned lad of fourteen, has been in the employ of Sir John Fielding for more than a year, lending his clear, observant eyes to the blind magistrate of the Bow Street Court in return for...  more

Some secrets are better left at the bottom of a WATERY GRAVE The year is 1769, and Jeremy Proctor, a manly, orphaned lad of fourteen, has been in the employ of Sir John Fielding for more than a year, lending his clear, observant eyes to the blind magistrate of the Bow Street Court in return for a thrilling education in the wicked ways of Georgian London. The case before Sir John in Bruce Alexander's third enthralling period piece, Watery Grave, entails rum doings on one of His Majesty's mighty frigates, which limps into the Tower wharf with a senior officer awaiting court-martial in the brig, charged with shoving the captain overboard during a storm...

In the remote Welsh mountain village of Gwytherin lies the grave of Saint Winifred Now, in 1137, the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the sacred remains for his Benedictine order. Native Welshman Brother Cadfael is sent on the expedition to translate and finds the rustic...  more

In the remote Welsh mountain village of Gwytherin lies the grave of Saint Winifred Now, in 1137, the ambitious head of Shrewsbury Abbey has decided to acquire the sacred remains for his Benedictine order. Native Welshman Brother Cadfael is sent on the expedition to translate and finds the rustic villagers of Gwytherin passionately divided by the Benedictine's offer for the saint's relics. Canny, wise, and all too worldly, he isn't surprised when this taste for bones leads to bloody murder. The leading opponent to moving the grave has been shot dead with a mysterious arrow, and some say Winifred herself held the bow. Brother Cadfael knows a carnal hand did the killing. But he doesn't know that his plan to unearth a murderer may dig up a case of love and justice...where the wages of sin may be scandal or Cadfael's own ruin.

Investigating the death of Lady Eleanor, who had been banished in the wake of her affair with the Prince of Wales, chief clerk Hugh Corbett struggles with the deceptive plot of a killer as the number of victims increases.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury to help in the investigation of two corpses found in an ancient crypt, their violent deaths separated by decades. One is the Bishop of London, the elderly Archbishop's favored but controversial successor. The...  more

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury to help in the investigation of two corpses found in an ancient crypt, their violent deaths separated by decades. One is the Bishop of London, the elderly Archbishop's favored but controversial successor. The identity of the other seems lost in time. Sebastian amasses a list of suspects that range from some of the Prince Regent's closest cronies to William Franklin, embittered son of famous American patriot Ben Franklin -- and finds himself confronting the well-guarded secrets of his own family's history. Now each step he takes toward the killer brings him closer to a devastating truth that could ultimately force him to question who -- and what -- he really is.

November 1302, and Sir Hugh Corbett, Edward I's Keeper of the Secret Seal, together with his manservant, Ranulf, and messenger, Maltote, are sent to Mortlake Manor on the Norfolk coast to confront an evil rarely seen before. A man's headless corpse, its head impaled on a pole, has been...  more

November 1302, and Sir Hugh Corbett, Edward I's Keeper of the Secret Seal, together with his manservant, Ranulf, and messenger, Maltote, are sent to Mortlake Manor on the Norfolk coast to confront an evil rarely seen before. A man's headless corpse, its head impaled on a pole, has been found on a beach and the pretty young wife of a local baker is discovered hanging from a gallows. The scene is set for more gruesome deaths and Corbett soon realises that the icy wastes of Norfolk, where the eerie song of the Dark Angel wind chills those that live in the small villages along the coast, are just as treacherous as the silken intrigue at the royal court or the violence of London's fetid alleyways.

The golden summer of 1303 and Oxford is plunged into chaos. The severed heads of beggars have been tied by their hair to the trees in woods outside the city. John Copsale, the Regent of Sparrow Hall, has been found dead in his bed and it is being whispered that he was murdered by the mysterious...  more

The golden summer of 1303 and Oxford is plunged into chaos. The severed heads of beggars have been tied by their hair to the trees in woods outside the city. John Copsale, the Regent of Sparrow Hall, has been found dead in his bed and it is being whispered that he was murdered by the mysterious 'Bell Man'. Then the college librarian and activist, Robert Ascham is discovered with a crossbow bolt in his chest. King Edward, hearing of the seething unrest in Oxford, arrives unannounced at Sir Hugh Corbett's country manor, and insists that Corbett go to the city to solve the murderous mysteries. And when the King commands, few can resist even if it means knowingly entering a dangerous and violent world... 

The long-awaited third novel in Sharon Kay Penman's much-loved medieval mystery series. Justin de Quincy, the bastard son of a bishop in 12th century England, is featured July 1193: Richard Lionheart, eldest and most favored son of Dowager Queen Eleanor of Aquitane, languishes in an Austrian...  more

The long-awaited third novel in Sharon Kay Penman's much-loved medieval mystery series. Justin de Quincy, the bastard son of a bishop in 12th century England, is featured July 1193: Richard Lionheart, eldest and most favored son of Dowager Queen Eleanor of Aquitane, languishes in an Austrian dungeon, held for ransom by the Holy Roman Emperor. Lusting after the crown in England, his brother John plots with his country's bitterest foe, King Philippe of France, to see to it Richard never leaves Austria alive. But the Queen has already begun to meet the ransom demands, and it is only a matter of time before the Austrians turn over their royal prisoner. And then one of the ransom payments vanishes in the fastnesses of Wales, itself wracked by rebellion and intrigue. Into this maelstrom, Eleanor sends her trusted man, Justin de Quincy-and murder soon follows. First introduced in The Queen's Man-an Edgar nominee for best first mystery-Justin de Quincy returns in what may well be Penman's strongest mystery to date.

Convicted of treason, Crispin Guest was stripped of his title, his land, his money and his friends. Now with only his considerable wits to sustain him, Guest works the mean streets of 14th century London, building a small reputation for his skill. In 1383, a simple-minded tavern girl comes to...  more

Convicted of treason, Crispin Guest was stripped of his title, his land, his money and his friends. Now with only his considerable wits to sustain him, Guest works the mean streets of 14th century London, building a small reputation for his skill. In 1383, a simple-minded tavern girl comes to his door -- a body was found where she works and she’s the only person who could have killed him. Except for the fact that the man was killed in place by a precisely aimed crossbow bolt. Making matters worse, the murdered man was one of three couriers from the French king, transporting a relic intended to smooth the troubled relations between France and England. Events quickly spin out of control and Guest now finds himself the prime suspect in the murder, one with terrible diplomatic implications. As the drumbeat of war between the two countries grow, Guest must unravel the con spiracy behind the murder to save not only his country, but himself as well.

The year is 1867. Winter has just tightened its grip on Dove River, a tiny isolated settlement in the Northern Territory, when a man is brutally murdered. Laurent Jammett had been a voyageur for the Hudson Bay Company before an accident lamed him four years earlier. The same accident afforded...  more

The year is 1867. Winter has just tightened its grip on Dove River, a tiny isolated settlement in the Northern Territory, when a man is brutally murdered. Laurent Jammett had been a voyageur for the Hudson Bay Company before an accident lamed him four years earlier. The same accident afforded him the little parcel of land in Dove River, land that the locals called unlucky due to the untimely death of the previous owner. A local woman, Mrs. Ross, stumbles upon the crime scene and sees the tracks leading from the dead man's cabin north toward the forest and the tundra beyond. It is Mrs. Ross's knock on the door of the largest house in Caulfield that launches the investigation. Within hours she will regret that knock with a mother's love -- for soon she makes another discovery: her seventeen-year-old son Francis has disappeared and is now considered a prime suspect. In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the crime and to the township -- Andrew Knox, Dove River's elder statesman; Thomas Sturrock, a wily American itinerant trader; Donald Moody, the clumsy young Company representative; William Parker, a half-breed Native American and trapper who was briefly detained for Jammett's murder before becoming Mrs. Ross's guide. But the question remains: do these men want to solve the crime or exploit it? One by one, the searchers set out from Dove River following the tracks across a desolate landscape -- home to only wild animals, madmen, and fugitives -- variously seeking a murderer, a son, two sisters missing for seventeen years, and a forgotten Native American culture before the snows settle and cover the tracks of the past for good.

In the summer of 1138, fighting engulfs Shrewsbury as King Stephen battles the Empress Maud for the throne of England. When Shrewsbury Castle falls, and its 94 defenders are hanged as traitors, Brother Cadfael is called upon to administer last rites to the dead. But his careful count reveals 95...  more

In the summer of 1138, fighting engulfs Shrewsbury as King Stephen battles the Empress Maud for the throne of England. When Shrewsbury Castle falls, and its 94 defenders are hanged as traitors, Brother Cadfael is called upon to administer last rites to the dead. But his careful count reveals 95 corpses, and once again the sleuthing monk is on the trail of a murderer this time aided by a lovely young fugitive.

Brother Cadfael, a twelfth-century Benedictine monk living in an abbey in Shrewsbury, England is not only a devout man of the cowl, but also a sleuth of deadly accuracy. In addition to his official duties as the monastery's herbalist, Cadfael finds much unofficial business to occupy his time...  more

Brother Cadfael, a twelfth-century Benedictine monk living in an abbey in Shrewsbury, England is not only a devout man of the cowl, but also a sleuth of deadly accuracy. In addition to his official duties as the monastery's herbalist, Cadfael finds much unofficial business to occupy his time -- like solving some of Shropshire's most perplexing murder cases.  Cadfael is again called upon to expose cold-blooded killers and save lives -- all while trying to honor his monastic vows. Filled with suspenseful plotting and rich in period detail, these medieval whodunnits are truly crime classics. THE LEPER OF SAINT GILES - Cadfeal must unmask the killer responsible for two dead bodies and a marriage that is never to be. MONK'S HOOD - There is an unexplained poisoning, and Cadfael -- with the aid of Sheriff Hugh Beringar and in spite of the abbey's meddling Prior -- repeatedly proves a most resourceful detective. THE SANCTUARY SPARROW - Liliwin, a young minstrel, reaches the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul only a few steps ahead of a angry mob and the brothers offer him forty days' sanctuary. Then Brother Cadfae learns that Liliwin's accusers want to hang him for a crime Liliwin swears he never committed. So who did the dastardly deed? ONE CORPSE TOO MANY - Ninety-four men were executed, but there are 95 bodies. Who was unjustly murdered, and why?  Even the King who ordered the executions wants to know.    

When the beloved Father Adam dies, Abbot Radulfus recommends the young priest Ailnoth for the parish of Holy Cross, known as the Foregate. Ailnoth has much to recommend him, but his zeal and lack of pity quickly alienate him from his flock. So much so that no one is truly sorry when his body is...  more

When the beloved Father Adam dies, Abbot Radulfus recommends the young priest Ailnoth for the parish of Holy Cross, known as the Foregate. Ailnoth has much to recommend him, but his zeal and lack of pity quickly alienate him from his flock. So much so that no one is truly sorry when his body is discovered in the millpond on Christmas morning. Brother Cadfael, herbalist monk and amateur sleuth, fears murder, and because of Father Ailnoth's unholy zeal, the malefactor could he almost anyone. Worse yet, one of the prime suspects is Cadfael's friend Benet, a young man who arrived with Father Ailnoth and went right to work eagerly helping the monk in his Herbarium. With partisans of the dispossessed Empress Maud believed to he in the area, Cadfael wishes that his assistant's identity was not so clearly another piece of the mystery....

Gervase Bonel, with his wife and servants, is a guest at the Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he is suddenly taken ill. Luckily, the abbey boasts the services of the shrewd and kindly Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man's bedside, only to be...  more

Gervase Bonel, with his wife and servants, is a guest at the Shrewsbury Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when he is suddenly taken ill. Luckily, the abbey boasts the services of the shrewd and kindly Brother Cadfael, a skilled herbalist. Cadfael hurries to the man's bedside, only to be confronted by two very different surprises. In Master Bonel's wife, the good monk recognizes Richildis, whom he loved many years ago, before he took his vows. And Master Bonel himself has been fatally poisoned by a dose of deadly monk's hood oil from Cadfael's own laboratory. The Sheriff is convinced that the murderer is Richildis' son, Edwin, who had reasons aplenty to hate his stepfather. But Cadfael, guided in part by his tender concern for a woman to whom he was once betrothed, is certain of her son's innocence. Using his knowledge of both herbs and the human heart, Cadfael deciphers a deadly recipe for murder.

The great annual Fair of Saint Peter at Shrewsbury, a high point in the city's calendar, attracts merchants from far and wide to do business. But when an unseemly quarrel breaks out between the local burghers and the monks from the Benedictine monastery as to who shall benefit from the levies...  more

The great annual Fair of Saint Peter at Shrewsbury, a high point in the city's calendar, attracts merchants from far and wide to do business. But when an unseemly quarrel breaks out between the local burghers and the monks from the Benedictine monastery as to who shall benefit from the levies the fair provides, a riot ensues. Afterwards a merchant is found dead, and Brother Cadfael is summoned from his peaceful herb garden to test his detective skills once more.

It is winter, 1139 AD, and the civil war raging between the followers of King Stephen and those of the Empress Maud sweeps over the city of Worcester. Many refugees are fleeing northward towards Ludlow and Shrewsbury. Two of them, a young orphaned brother and sister of a great family, along with...  more

It is winter, 1139 AD, and the civil war raging between the followers of King Stephen and those of the Empress Maud sweeps over the city of Worcester. Many refugees are fleeing northward towards Ludlow and Shrewsbury. Two of them, a young orphaned brother and sister of a great family, along with the nun who accompanied them, seem to have disappeared in the wild winter landscape. Brother Cadfael of the Benedictine Monastery sets out to find them.

Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in September of the year of our Lord 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pole, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive nineteen-year-old novice. Brother Cadfael has never...  more

Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in September of the year of our Lord 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pole, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive nineteen-year-old novice. Brother Cadfael has never seen two men more estranged than the Lord of Aspley and Meriet, the son he coldly delivers to the abbey to begin a religious vocation. Meriet, meek by day, is so racked by dreams at night that his howls earn him the nickname the Devil's Novice. Shunned and feared, Meriet is soon linked to the missing priest's dreadful fate. Only Brother Cadfael believes in Meriet's innocence, and only the good sleuth can uncover the truth before a boy's pure passion, not evil intent, leads a novice to the noose.

The civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud is raging, and in the fierce Battle of Lincoln, Gilbert Prestcote, sheriff of Shropshire, is taken prisoner. But his captors have also lost a man of value--headstrong young Elis ap Cynan is delivered to the good monks of Shrewsbury after he's...  more

The civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud is raging, and in the fierce Battle of Lincoln, Gilbert Prestcote, sheriff of Shropshire, is taken prisoner. But his captors have also lost a man of value--headstrong young Elis ap Cynan is delivered to the good monks of Shrewsbury after he's found almost drowned in a nearby stream. A trade of the two prisoners is arranged, but while Elis is being held in Shrewsbury he falls in love with Prestcote's daughter, Melicent. What future can they hope for when he must return to Wales in exchange for her father's freedom? Then Prestcote is murdered and young Elis is the object of every suspicion. Only kind Brother Cadfael, herbalist monk and cunning amateur detective, can untangle the threads of this delightful mystery. Indeed, a thread of wool--bright, clear blue wool--holds many answers....

Includes the classics “A Light on the Road to Woodstock,” “The Price of Light,” and “Eye Witness.” These stories chronicle the events that led Brother Cadfael into the monastic life and feature Peters’s complex plots, mastery of language, and deep...  more

Includes the classics “A Light on the Road to Woodstock,” “The Price of Light,” and “Eye Witness.” These stories chronicle the events that led Brother Cadfael into the monastic life and feature Peters’s complex plots, mastery of language, and deep understanding of human nature.

Winter arrived early in 1142, bringing with it a heavy snowfall. The safety of the guest-hall roof at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul comes into jeopardy, and the brothers are called upon to effect repairs. But the icy and treacherous conditions are to prove near fatal for...  more

Winter arrived early in 1142, bringing with it a heavy snowfall. The safety of the guest-hall roof at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul comes into jeopardy, and the brothers are called upon to effect repairs. But the icy and treacherous conditions are to prove near fatal for Brother Haluin. He slips from the roof and crashes to the ground, sustaining terrible injuries -- grave enough for him to want to make his deathbed confession. The confession is heard by the Abbot and Brother Cadfael; a wicked story, of trespasses hard for God or man to forgive. But Haluin does not die. On his recovery, he determines to make a journey of expiation, with Cadfael as his sole companion. It is an arduous journey, physically and emotionally, and one that leads to shocking discoveries; of young lovers thwarted; of deceit and betrayal; of bitter revenge...and of murder. Once again, Brother Cadfael must abandon his herbiary and turn detective.

At the height of the hot summer of 1144, a lucky hit by one of King Stephen's archers rids the Fen country of Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who has amassed his castles and gold by robbing rich and poor alike. Thus, the Benedictine abbey at Ramsey, long used as a den for Geoffrey's...  more

At the height of the hot summer of 1144, a lucky hit by one of King Stephen's archers rids the Fen country of Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who has amassed his castles and gold by robbing rich and poor alike. Thus, the Benedictine abbey at Ramsey, long used as a den for Geoffrey's raggle-taggle marauders, is returned in a thoroughly ruined state to the good brothers of that order. The news comes to Brother Cadfael or the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul in Shrewsbury in the person of the dour, raw-boned Brother Herluin who is soliciting funds and aid to restore Ramsey Abbey to its former splendor. Of much more interest to Cadfael is Herluin's companion, Brother Tutilo, a slightly built lad with a guileless face surrounded by a profusion of brown curls. But Brother Cadfael, long a shrewd judge of character, notes on that brow an intelligence that bespeaks more of mischief than innocence, and he muses that this Brother Tutilo bears watching. The arrival of a French troubadour, his servant, and a girl with the voice of an angel gives Cadfael a feeling in his wise bones that something is about to happen. It does. The late autumn rains bring flood waters right to the altar where the abbey's most precious possession reposes - the bones of Saint Winifred. Only Brother Cadfael knows that moving the holy relic can expose a long hidden secret. He never envisions that the results of disinterment will be the theft of the cherished bones...and murder. Suspicion quickly falls on a guilty-looking Brother Tutilo. But did he do it?

In the summer of 1144, a strange calm has settled over England. The armies of King Stephen and Empress Maud, the two royal cousins contending for the throne, have temporarily exhausted each other. On the whole, Brother Cadfael considers peace a blessing. Still, a little excitement never comes...  more

In the summer of 1144, a strange calm has settled over England. The armies of King Stephen and Empress Maud, the two royal cousins contending for the throne, have temporarily exhausted each other. On the whole, Brother Cadfael considers peace a blessing. Still, a little excitement never comes amiss to a former soldier and Cadfael is delighted to accompany his young friend, Brother Mark, on a mission of church diplomacy to his native Wales. But shortly after their arrival, the two monks are caught up in yet another royal feud. The Welsh prince Owain Gwynedd has banished his brother Cadwaladr, accusing him of the treacherous murder of an ally. The reckless Cadwaladr has retaliated by landing an army of Danish mercenaries, poised to invade Wales and retake his lost lands. As the two armies teeter on the brink of bloody civil war, Cadfael is captured by the Danes. His fellow prisoner is a headstrong yound woman fleeing an arranged marriage--or perhaps her involvement in a murder at Owain's camp. But before Cadfael can untangle the passions that led to one death, he has to survive the brotherly quarrel that could plunge an entire kingdom into deadly chaos.

In the autumn of 1145, Brother Cadfael finds himself in an awkward position. Receiving word that the son he had during the Crusades before he was a monk is in peril, Cadfael decides to attend a peace conference that might result in the young man's freedom. But to get there, Cadfael must leave...  more

In the autumn of 1145, Brother Cadfael finds himself in an awkward position. Receiving word that the son he had during the Crusades before he was a monk is in peril, Cadfael decides to attend a peace conference that might result in the young man's freedom. But to get there, Cadfael must leave the monastery without his abbot's permission.

In the summer of 1143 William of Lythwood returns to Shrewsbury in a coffin...his pilgrimage at last at an end. William's young attendant, Elave, accompanies the body and sets about trying to secure a burial place on the grounds of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, despite William's once...  more

In the summer of 1143 William of Lythwood returns to Shrewsbury in a coffin...his pilgrimage at last at an end. William's young attendant, Elave, accompanies the body and sets about trying to secure a burial place on the grounds of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, despite William's once having been reproved for "heretical views." Elave, too, has evidently learned skepticism. After he drunkenly expresses heretical opinions, the mighty prelate Gerbert brings capital charges gainst him. The beautiful Fortunata, whome Elave adores, becomes a reluctant witness for the prosecution. When violent death follows, Brother Cadfael is once again called from his herbiary to aid his old friend Hugh Beringar, the sheriff. Cadfael's new task is twofold--there are charges of heresy to be rebutted as well as a murder to be solved...

The body of a woman is unearthed in the freshly plowed fields that once belonged to a local potter — now a Benedictine monk. The woman is revealed to be his beautiful young wife, thought to have run away. Medieval Benedictine monk Brother Cadfael must determine if one of his own order is...  more

The body of a woman is unearthed in the freshly plowed fields that once belonged to a local potter — now a Benedictine monk. The woman is revealed to be his beautiful young wife, thought to have run away. Medieval Benedictine monk Brother Cadfael must determine if one of his own order is guilty of the crime.

The year is 1142, and all England is in the iron grip of civil war. And within the sheltered cloisters of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, there begins a chain of events no less momentous than the political upheavals of the outside world. First, there is the sad demise of...  more

The year is 1142, and all England is in the iron grip of civil war. And within the sheltered cloisters of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, there begins a chain of events no less momentous than the political upheavals of the outside world. First, there is the sad demise of Richard Ludel, Lord of Eaton, whose 10-year-old son and heir, also named Richard, is a pupil at the Abbey. The boy refuses to surrender his new powers to his formidable grandmother; supported by Abbot Radulfus, Richard defies the furious Dionysia. A stranger to the region is the hermit Cuthred, who enjoys the protection of Lady Dionysia, and whose young companion, Hyacinth, befriends Richard. Despite his reputation for holiness, Cuthred's arrival heralds a series of mishaps for the monks. When Richard disappears and a corpse is found in Eyton Forest, Brother Cadfael is once more forced to leave the tranquility of his herb garden and devote his knowledge of human nature to tracking down a ruthless murderer.

The year is 1141, and two monks have arrived in Shrewsbury after their abbey in Winchester is destroyed. Brother Humilis, who is very ill, and Brother Fidelis, who is mute, seek refuge at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Paul. From the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael suspects that...  more

The year is 1141, and two monks have arrived in Shrewsbury after their abbey in Winchester is destroyed. Brother Humilis, who is very ill, and Brother Fidelis, who is mute, seek refuge at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Paul. From the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael suspects that something deeper than their common vows binds the two brothers. As Brother Humilis's health fails, Brother Cadfael faces a crisis of belief as he must somehow distinguish between the innocent and the guilty. The author's Brother Cadfael mysteries are her most popular series, leading many fans to become pilgrims themselves -- to Shropshire and the very real Abbey of Saint Peter and Paul at Shrewsbury.

A late spring in 1142 brings dismay to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, for there may be no roses by June 22nd. On that day the young widow Perle must receive one white rose as rent for the house she has given to benefit the abbey or the contract is void. When nature finally complies, a...  more

A late spring in 1142 brings dismay to the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, for there may be no roses by June 22nd. On that day the young widow Perle must receive one white rose as rent for the house she has given to benefit the abbey or the contract is void. When nature finally complies, a pious monk is sent to pay the rent -- and is found murdered beside the hacked rose-bush. The abbey's wise herbalist, Brother Cadfael, follows the trail of bloodied petals. He knows the lovely widow's dowry is far greater with her house included, and she will likely wed again. But before Cadfael can ponder if a greedy suitor has done this dreadful deed, another crime is committed. Now the good monk must thread his way through a tangle more tortuous than the widow's thorny bushes -- or there will be more tears...

In the year of our Lord 1141, civil war over England's throne leaves a legacy of violence - and the murder of a knight dear to Brother Cadfael. And with gentle bud-strewn May, a flood of pilgrims comes to the celebration of Saint Winifred at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, carrying...  more

In the year of our Lord 1141, civil war over England's throne leaves a legacy of violence - and the murder of a knight dear to Brother Cadfael. And with gentle bud-strewn May, a flood of pilgrims comes to the celebration of Saint Winifred at the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, carrying with it many strange souls...and perhaps the knights killer.   Brother Cadfael's shrewd eyes see all: the prosperous merchant who rings false, an angelic lame boy, his beautiful dowerless sister, and two wealthy penitents. In the name of justice Cadfael decides to uncover the strange and twisted tale that accompanies these travelers. Instead he unearths a quest for vengeance, witnesses a miracle, and finds himself on a razor's edge between death or the absolution of love.

November, 1194. Appointed by Richard the Lionheart as the first coroner for the county of Devon, Sir John de Wolfe, an ex-Crusader, rides out to the lonely moorland village of Widecombe to hold an inquest on an unidentified body. On his return to Exeter, the coroner is incensed to find that his...  more

November, 1194. Appointed by Richard the Lionheart as the first coroner for the county of Devon, Sir John de Wolfe, an ex-Crusader, rides out to the lonely moorland village of Widecombe to hold an inquest on an unidentified body. On his return to Exeter, the coroner is incensed to find that his own brother-in-law, Sheriff Richard de Revelle, is intent on thwarting the murder investigation, particularly when it emerges that the dead man is a Crusader and a member of one of Devon's finest and most honourable families.

Twelfth-century Devon. Much of the county lies under the iron rule of the Royal Forest laws, with all hunting reserved to the King. The penalty for killing a deer -- mutilation or death. These harsh laws are rigorously upheld by the King's foresters, notorious for their greed and corruption....  more

Twelfth-century Devon. Much of the county lies under the iron rule of the Royal Forest laws, with all hunting reserved to the King. The penalty for killing a deer -- mutilation or death. These harsh laws are rigorously upheld by the King's foresters, notorious for their greed and corruption. June, 1195. A horse gallops into the sleepy village of Sigford, the broken shaft of an arrow protruding from its rider's back. The embroidered badge sewn on the dead man's tunic identifies him as a senior officer of the Royal Forest. With the victim's purse still full of money, the motive for murder is a mystery. But when a second forest officer is violently attacked, county coroner Sir John de Wolfe begins to uncover evidence of a sinister conspiracy.

Exeter, 1195. When a wealthy mill-owner falls dead across his horse, Sir John de Wolfe, the county coroner, declines to hold an inquest. The man was considerably overweight, had been complaining of chest pains, and showed no signs of injury. A clear-cut case of death from natural causes. But...  more

Exeter, 1195. When a wealthy mill-owner falls dead across his horse, Sir John de Wolfe, the county coroner, declines to hold an inquest. The man was considerably overweight, had been complaining of chest pains, and showed no signs of injury. A clear-cut case of death from natural causes. But events take a sinister turn when a straw doll is discovered hidden beneath the man's saddlebag, a thin metal spike piercing its heart. Convinced that her husband's death was caused by an evil spell, the victim's strident widow begins a campaign against witchcraft and the so-called "cunning women" who practice it. Soon Exeter is in turmoil, a hysterical mob is on the loose, and several local women are in danger. Still, the coroner declines to get involved -- until his own mistress falls under suspicion. Can Crowner John discover the real cause of the merchant's death, unearth the culprit -- and save his beloved Nesta from the hangman's noose?

The arrival of lusty, blaspheming dowager Lady Ermentrude at St. Frideswide convent in 1431 causes quite a stir, but before the obnoxious woman can get what she came for--her niece, the novice Thomasine--she is murdered.

The Abbess Helewise of Hawkenlye-the wisest and most unlikely sleuth since Brother Cadfael-teams up with a canny soldier of fortune in the debut of this irrestible mystery series. It is 1157, and a young nun from Hawkenlye Abbey has been found with her throat slashed. The people of rural Kent...  more

The Abbess Helewise of Hawkenlye-the wisest and most unlikely sleuth since Brother Cadfael-teams up with a canny soldier of fortune in the debut of this irrestible mystery series. It is 1157, and a young nun from Hawkenlye Abbey has been found with her throat slashed. The people of rural Kent are quick to jump to conclusions: Surely the murderer must be one of the felons released by the new king, Richard Plantagenet, as a sign of his goodness and charity. When King Richard dispatches a brave and loyal soldier of fortune, Josse d'Acquin, to investigate the shockingly brutal crime, Josse understands that his mission is to absolve the king from blame. But that is before he meets the surprisingly worldly Abbess Helewise. With a mixture of honesty, wit, and determination, Helewise enlists Josse in her quest to uncover the menace that lurks behind the orderly facade of life in the convent and the surrounding manors. Alys Clare not only recreates the violence and beauty of medieval times but introduces a truly wonderful new pair of detectives.

The Abbess Helewise takes on another strange case with her French partner, Josse d'Acquin. A lumberjack in the Wealken forest has been found dead. The locals would have it that the mythical Forest People are to blame for his violent end. But when the Abbess Helewise steps in to...  more

The Abbess Helewise takes on another strange case with her French partner, Josse d'Acquin. A lumberjack in the Wealken forest has been found dead. The locals would have it that the mythical Forest People are to blame for his violent end. But when the Abbess Helewise steps in to investigate, she thinks a supernatural solution too easy an answer. She consults her friend Josse d'Acquin, a French soldier of fortune who has helped her many a time. He, concerned about the safety of the abbey, ventures into the forest himself, only to find in this so-called haunted wood something that terrifies even him. Now the two must reconcile superstition with their better judgement.

An elderly pilgrim dies in Hawkenlye Vale. Nothing suspicious about that: he was gravely ill when he arrived. Meanwhile Josse d'Acquin has a visit from Prince John. Accompanied by his seer, the Prince urgently seeks news of a stranger, Galbertius Sidonius. Hurrying to Hawkenlye Abbey to...  more

An elderly pilgrim dies in Hawkenlye Vale. Nothing suspicious about that: he was gravely ill when he arrived. Meanwhile Josse d'Acquin has a visit from Prince John. Accompanied by his seer, the Prince urgently seeks news of a stranger, Galbertius Sidonius. Hurrying to Hawkenlye Abbey to enlist the Abbess Helewise's help, Josse finds that she has a problem of her own: a decomposing body has been discovered. Naked, and killed by an expert hand. Josse's brother, Yves, arrives; a visitor at Acquin has been asking for the brothers' father, Geoffroi, who went to Outremer with King Louis and Queen Eleanor. Josse, Yves and the Abbess are hurled into a mystery whose roots stretch back much further than the Second Crusade. And, watching them with his strange dark eyes, is the enigmatic figure of the Prince's Magister...

At the end of a dark and dreary market day, Goody Anne's inn at Tonbridge is finally settling down for the night. But while Anne's serving maid and boy finish up their chores, a man lies dying in the guest chamber-poisoned by a piece of pie made by Goody Anne herself. Josse d'Acquin,...  more

At the end of a dark and dreary market day, Goody Anne's inn at Tonbridge is finally settling down for the night. But while Anne's serving maid and boy finish up their chores, a man lies dying in the guest chamber-poisoned by a piece of pie made by Goody Anne herself. Josse d'Acquin, a knight with a knack for solving mysteries, is troubled by the news of the stranger's death. Josse has been a regular visitor to Goody Anne's, and he hates to think that Anne-or her fine cooking-has fallen suspect. He rides off to the scene of the crime and starts his own investigation. When Josse discovers wolf's bane in the remnants of the pie, he knows that someone must have tampered with Anne's cooking. And when he learns that a charming, handsome nobleman ordered a piece of that very pie, Josse is convinced that the poison was meant for this upper-class guest, and not for the poor stranger who died alone in Anne's guest chamber. After failing to persuade the Sheriff that the death was suspicious, Josse turns to his old friend, the formidable Abbess Helewise. Weakened from a severe bout of fever, the Abbess nonetheless provides a thread of common sense as Josse follows the trail of murder into the ancient, mysterious Wealden Forest, and finds something there that will change his life forever . . . .

The serenity of Hawkenlye Abbey has been disturbed by the arrival of a new nun and her two young sisters. Recently orphaned, Alba has had to leave her convent at Ely to take her grieving sisters far away from the scene of their sorrow. However Abbess Helewise cannot quite believe in the...  more

The serenity of Hawkenlye Abbey has been disturbed by the arrival of a new nun and her two young sisters. Recently orphaned, Alba has had to leave her convent at Ely to take her grieving sisters far away from the scene of their sorrow. However Abbess Helewise cannot quite believe in the selflessness of this gesture; Sister Alba is, everyone agrees, a mean-spirited and turbulent presence. The Abbess's anxieties grow when her old friend Josse d'Acquin is brought to Hawkenlye, half dead from blood poisoning. Then a body is discovered. And one of the sisters goes missing. In order to discover what really lies behind Alba's flight to Hawkenlye, Helewise sets off to visit Ely. She uncovers not only a clever network of lies, but also, hidden in a burnt-out cottage, the horrific remains of a dead man...

A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But before Maude could claim her throne, her cousin Stephen seized it. In their long and...  more

A.D. 1135. As church bells tolled for the death of England's King Henry I, his barons faced the unwelcome prospect of being ruled by a woman: Henry's beautiful daughter Maude, Countess of Anjou. But before Maude could claim her throne, her cousin Stephen seized it. In their long and bitter struggle, all of England bled and burned. Sharon Kay Penman's magnificent fifth novel summons to life a spectacular medieval tragedy whose unfolding breaks the heart even as it prepares the way for splendors to come--the glorious age of Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Plantagenets that would soon illumine the world.

Giordano Bruno was a monk, poet, scientist, and magician on the run from the Roman Inquisition on charges of heresy for his belief that the Earth orbits the sun and that the universe is infinite. This alone could have got him burned at the stake, but he was also a student of occult philosophies...  more

Giordano Bruno was a monk, poet, scientist, and magician on the run from the Roman Inquisition on charges of heresy for his belief that the Earth orbits the sun and that the universe is infinite. This alone could have got him burned at the stake, but he was also a student of occult philosophies and magic. Bruno's pursuit of this rare knowledge brings him to London, where he is unexpectedly recruited by Queen Elizabeth I and is sent undercover to Oxford University on the pretext of a royal visitation. Officially Bruno is to take part in a debate on the Copernican theory of the universe; unofficially, he is to find out whatever he can about a Catholic plot to overthrow the queen. His mission is dramatically thrown off course by a series of grisly murders and a spirited and beautiful young woman. As Bruno begins to discover a pattern in these killings, he realizes that no one at Oxford is who he seems to be. Bruno must attempt to outwit a killer who appears obsessed with the boundary between truth and heresy.

Victorian enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his young assistant Thomas Llewelyn, first introduced in Will Thomas's critically acclaimed debut novel "Some Danger Involved", are back with a new mission. When a bomb destroys the Special Irish Branch of Scotland Yard, all fingers...  more

Victorian enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his young assistant Thomas Llewelyn, first introduced in Will Thomas's critically acclaimed debut novel "Some Danger Involved", are back with a new mission. When a bomb destroys the Special Irish Branch of Scotland Yard, all fingers point to the increasingly brazen factions of Irish dissidents seeking liberation from English rule. Volunteering their services to the British government, Barker and Llewelyn set out to infiltrate a secret cell of the Irish Republican Brotherhood known as the Invisibles. Posing as a reclusive German bomb maker and his anarchist apprentice, they are recruited for the group's ultimate plan: to bring London to its knees and end the monarchy forever. Their adventures take them from an abandoned lighthouse on the craggy coast of Wales to the City of Light, where Llewelyn goes undercover with Maire O'Casey, the alluring sister of an Irish radical. Llewelyn again finds himself put to the test by his enigmatic employer as he is schooled in the deadly science of bomb making.

A Plague on Both Your Houses introduces the physician Matthew Bartholomew, whose unorthodox but effective treatment of his patients frequently draws accusations of heresy from his more traditional colleagues. Besides his practice, Bartholomew is teacher of Medicine at Michaelhouse, part of the...  more

A Plague on Both Your Houses introduces the physician Matthew Bartholomew, whose unorthodox but effective treatment of his patients frequently draws accusations of heresy from his more traditional colleagues. Besides his practice, Bartholomew is teacher of Medicine at Michaelhouse, part of the fledgling University of Cambridge. In 1348, the inhabitants of Cambridge live under the shadow of a terrible pestilence that has ravaged Europe and is traveling relentlessly eastward towards England. Bartholomew, however, is distracted by the sudden and inexplicable death of the Master of Michaelhouse -- a death the University authorities do not want investigated. When three more scholars die in mysterious circumstances, Bartholomew defies the University and begins his own inquiry. His pursuit for the truth leads him into a complex tangle of lies and intrigue that causes him to question the innocence of his closest friends, and even his family. When the Black Death finally arrives and sweeps through the town, Bartholomew's theories of a dark and sinister conspiracy are swiftly replaced by a desperate struggle for personal survival. But, for some, even the dangers of a horrifying death from the bubonic plague are secondary to gaining wealth and power, and Bartholomew is dragged deeper and deeper into a quagmire of deceit which threatens not only his life, but the continued existence of the University and the future of the town.

July 1910: A gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden.Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard did not expect the house to be empty. Nor did he expect to find a body in the cellar. Buried under the flagstones are the remains of Cora Crippen, former music-hall singer...  more

July 1910: A gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden.Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard did not expect the house to be empty. Nor did he expect to find a body in the cellar. Buried under the flagstones are the remains of Cora Crippen, former music-hall singer and wife of Dr. Hawley Crippen. No one would have thought the quiet, unassuming Dr. Crippen capable of murder, yet the doctor and his mistress have disappeared from London, and now a full-scale hunt for them has begun.Across the Channel in Antwerp, the S.S. Montrose has just set off on its two-week voyage to North America. Slipping in among the first-class passengers is a Mr. John Robinson, accompanied by his teenage son, Edmund. The pair may be hoping for a quiet, private voyage, but in the close confines of a luxury ocean liner, anonymity is rare. And with others aboard looking for romance, or violence, or escape from their past in Europe, it will take more than just luck for the Robinsons to survive the voyage unnoticed.An accomplished, intricately plotted novel, Crippen brilliantly reimagines the amazing escape attempt of one of history's most notorious killers and marks the outstanding American debut of one of Ireland's best young novelists.

John Boyne has been heralded as "one of the most imaginative and adventurous of the young Irish novelists working today' by the Irish Independent. He achieved bestseller status and won numerous awards worldwide for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Now in Next of Kin, he steps into the...  more

John Boyne has been heralded as "one of the most imaginative and adventurous of the young Irish novelists working today' by the Irish Independent. He achieved bestseller status and won numerous awards worldwide for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Now in Next of Kin, he steps into the drawing rooms and private clubs of the prewar English aristocracy to offer an unobstructed view of a social elite driven by the conflicting desires to uphold tradition and to acquire vast wealth. It is 1936, and London is abuzz with gossip about the affair between Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson. But the king is not the only member of the aristocracy with a hard decision to make. Owen Montignac, the handsome and charismatic scion of a wealthy family, is anxiously awaiting the reading of his late uncle's will, for Owen has run up huge gambling debts and casino boss Nicholas Delfy has given him a choice: Find 50,000 pounds by Christmas or find yourself six feet under. So when Owen discovers that he has been cut out of the will in favor of his cousin Stella, he finds that even a royal crisis can provide the means for profit, and for murder. Next of Kin vividly captures the spirit of 1930s London, revealing the secrets of the upperclass, complete with gambling, murder, an art heist, and a conspiracy to unseat the new king that could change the future of the country.   

The Blood-Dimmed Tide, set in 1932, marks the return of the beloved Inspector John Madden, whose discovery of a young girl's mutilated corpse near his home in rural England brings him out of retirement despite his wife's misgivings. Soon he finds himself chasing a killer whose horrific...  more

The Blood-Dimmed Tide, set in 1932, marks the return of the beloved Inspector John Madden, whose discovery of a young girl's mutilated corpse near his home in rural England brings him out of retirement despite his wife's misgivings. Soon he finds himself chasing a killer whose horrific crime could have implications far afield in a Europe threatened by the rise of Hitler. 

The murder of a young Polish girl in wartime London puts John Madden on the trail of a ruthless hired killer  On a freezing London night in 1944, Rosa Novak is brutally murdered during a blackout. The police suspect she was the victim of a random act of violence and might have dropped the...  more

The murder of a young Polish girl in wartime London puts John Madden on the trail of a ruthless hired killer  On a freezing London night in 1944, Rosa Novak is brutally murdered during a blackout. The police suspect she was the victim of a random act of violence and might have dropped the case if former police investigator John Madden hadn't been the victim's employer.  Madden's old colleagues at Scotland Yard are working on it, but their scant clues lead them to Europe, where the ravages of the war halt their inquiries. Madden feels he owes it to Rosa to find her killer and pushes the investigation until he stumbles upon the dead girl's connection to a murdered Parisian furrier, a member of the Resistance, and a stolen cache of diamonds.

Vidocq. The name strikes terror in the Parisian underworld of 1818. As founder and chief of a newly created plainclothes police force, Vidocq has used his mastery of disguise and surveillance to capture some of France's most notorious and elusive criminals. Now he is hot on the trail of a...  more

Vidocq. The name strikes terror in the Parisian underworld of 1818. As founder and chief of a newly created plainclothes police force, Vidocq has used his mastery of disguise and surveillance to capture some of France's most notorious and elusive criminals. Now he is hot on the trail of a tantalizing mystery -- the fate of the young dauphin Louis-Charles, son of Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI. Hector Carpentier, a medical student, lives with his widowed mother in her once-genteel home, now a boardinghouse, in Paris's Latin Quarter, helping the family make ends meet in the politically perilous days of the restoration. Three blocks away, a man has been murdered, and Hector's name has been found on a scrap of paper in the dead man's pocket: a case for the unparalleled deductive skills of Eugene Fran?ois Vidocq, the most feared man in the Paris police. At first suspicious of Hector's role in the murder, Vidocq gradually draws him into an exhilarating -- and dangerous -- search that leads them to the true story of what happened to the son of the murdered royal family. Officially, the Dauphin died a brutal death in Paris's dreaded Temple -- a menacing black tower from which there could have been no escape -- but speculation has long persisted that the ten-year-old heir may have been smuggled out of his prison cell. When Hector and Vidocq stumble across a man with no memory of who he is, they begin to wonder if he is the Dauphin himself, come back from the dead. Their suspicions deepen with the discovery of a diary that reveals Hector's own shocking link to the boy in the tower -- and leaves him bound and determined to see justice done, no matter the cost. In The Black Tower, Bayard deftly interweaves political intrigue, epic treachery, cover-ups, and conspiracies into a gripping portrait of family redemption -- and brings to life an indelible portrait of the mighty and profane Eugene Fran?ois Vidocq, history's first great detective.

In the gentle Shrewsbury spring of 1140, the midnight matins of the Benedictine abbey suddenly reverberate with an unholy sound - a hunt in full cry. Pursued by a drunken mob, the quarry is running for its life. When the frantic creature bursts into the nave to claim sanctuary, Brother Cadfael...  more

In the gentle Shrewsbury spring of 1140, the midnight matins of the Benedictine abbey suddenly reverberate with an unholy sound - a hunt in full cry. Pursued by a drunken mob, the quarry is running for its life. When the frantic creature bursts into the nave to claim sanctuary, Brother Cadfael finds himself fighting off armed townsmen to save a terrified young man.    Accused of robbery and murder is Liliwin, a wandering minstrel who performed at the wedding of a local goldsmith's son. The cold light of morning, however, will show his supposed victim, the miserly craftsman, still lives, although a strongbox lies empty. Brother Cadfael believes Liliwin is innocent, but finding the truth and the treasure before Liliwin's respite in sanctuary runs out may uncover a deadlier sin than thievery - a desperate love that nothing, not even the threat of hanging can stop.

From the author of Crowner's Quest and The Poisoned Chalice, The Tinner's Corpse continues the adventures of Sir John de Wolfe, Devon's first county coroner. When Crowner John is summoned to the bleak Devonshire moors to investigate the murder of a tin miner, he has little idea...  more

From the author of Crowner's Quest and The Poisoned Chalice, The Tinner's Corpse continues the adventures of Sir John de Wolfe, Devon's first county coroner. When Crowner John is summoned to the bleak Devonshire moors to investigate the murder of a tin miner, he has little idea how difficult this new investigation will prove to be. The victim worked for Devon's most powerful and successful mine owner, Walter Knapman. There seems to be only one possible motive -- to sabotage Walter's business. But the tinners have their own laws, and they are none too pleased at Crowner John's interference. And then Walter Knapman disappears. A decapitated body, a missing tinner, a disgruntled band of miners and a mad Saxon intent on destroying all things Norman. How on earth can Crowner John sort all this out when his wife hates him, his mistress has spurned him for a younger man, and his clerk is in the grip of a suicidal depression? Only Gwyn, Crowner John's indispensable right-hand man seems to be of any help at all -- until he is arrested for murder and put on trial for his life.

Gilbert de Rideford is a Knight of the Temple of Solomon, and an old acquaintance from Crowner John's crusading days. He claims to have come into possession of a secret that could shake Christendom to its foundations -- and he desperately needs John's help to escape from the secretive...  more

Gilbert de Rideford is a Knight of the Temple of Solomon, and an old acquaintance from Crowner John's crusading days. He claims to have come into possession of a secret that could shake Christendom to its foundations -- and he desperately needs John's help to escape from the secretive order of warrior monks. Suddenly swept into a world of religious intrigue and dangerous politics, Crowner John finds himself undertaking a life-threatening mission to the Island of Lundy -- inhabited solely by notorious pirates -- until finally the awful secret itself is revealed.

1195. Prince John still plots to seize the throne from his brother, Richard the Lionheart---and in his wicked schemes he is supported by Philip of France. The French king offers to help John financially by sending him a mysterious alchemist, a Mohammedan named Nizam, who claims to be able to...  more

1195. Prince John still plots to seize the throne from his brother, Richard the Lionheart---and in his wicked schemes he is supported by Philip of France. The French king offers to help John financially by sending him a mysterious alchemist, a Mohammedan named Nizam, who claims to be able to turn base metals into gold. But the ship transporting Nizam and his retainers is found wrecked off the south Devon coast, its crew savagely slaughtered. Shortly afterwards, a Norman knight named Peter le Calve is foully murdered, his severed head stuck on the rood screen of Exeter cathedral. It's up to Sir John de Wolfe, the county coroner, to find a motive and connection between the killings. And just what is his unscrupulous brother-in-law, the disgraced ex-sheriff and Prince John-sympathizer, Richard de Revelle, trying to hide?

May, 1195. Sir John de Wolfe is summoned at dawn to inspect a corpse that has been discovered in Exeter's cathedral precinct. Aaron of Salisbury, a Jewish money-lender, has been found dead, his head enveloped in a brown leather money bag, a scrap of folded parchment clutched in his hand. On...  more

May, 1195. Sir John de Wolfe is summoned at dawn to inspect a corpse that has been discovered in Exeter's cathedral precinct. Aaron of Salisbury, a Jewish money-lender, has been found dead, his head enveloped in a brown leather money bag, a scrap of folded parchment clutched in his hand. On it is written: "And Jesus went into the temple and overthrew the tables of the money-changers." This is just the beginning of a strange series of murders in which an apt biblical text is left at the scene of the crime. Setting out to track down a literate and Bible-learned killer in an age when only one percent of the population can read or write, Sir John deduces that he is looking for a homicidal priest.

October, 1195. High-spirited young knights, drunken squires, pickpockets, and horse thieves are pouring into Exeter for a one-day jousting tournament. Not even the discovery of a naked corpse in the River Exe can spoil the excitement. During the tournament, there is a serious altercation between...  more

October, 1195. High-spirited young knights, drunken squires, pickpockets, and horse thieves are pouring into Exeter for a one-day jousting tournament. Not even the discovery of a naked corpse in the River Exe can spoil the excitement. During the tournament, there is a serious altercation between Hugo Peverel, a manor lord from Tiverton, and a Frenchman by the name of Reginald de Charterai. When, two days later, Sir Hugo’s blood-soaked body is found in a barn on his estate, de Charterai would seem the obvious culprit. But there’s no shortage of people who wished the despised Hugo dead. All three of his brothers have a motive, as do his stepmother and his attractive young widow. And just what is the connection between Sir Hugo’s murder and the battered body in the River Exe? With so many suspects from which to choose, Sir John is confronted with one of the most difficult cases of his distinguished career. Medieval England is powerfully evoked in these gritty forensic investigations, with Sir John de Wolfe, Devon’s first county coroner, at the heart of each riveting tale.

December, 1194. The well-born ladies of Exeter are not having a good week. First, Christina Rifford, the daughter of a rich merchant, is raped. Then, just months before her marriage, Lady Adele de Courcy is found dead in one of the poorest areas of the city.The common factor is Godfrey...  more

December, 1194. The well-born ladies of Exeter are not having a good week. First, Christina Rifford, the daughter of a rich merchant, is raped. Then, just months before her marriage, Lady Adele de Courcy is found dead in one of the poorest areas of the city.The common factor is Godfrey Fitzosbern, the local silversmith. But despite Crowner John's suspicions and the vengeful accusations of the families, it is John's duty to protect Godfrey until he can find definite proof of his guilt. Aided by his mistress Nesta, hindered by his social-climbing wife Matilda and her power-hungry brother, Sheriff Richard de Revelle, John slowly begins to put the pieces together. But a final, brutal act of violence will bring a new twist to the investigation ...

Christmas Eve, 1194. Sir John de Wolfe gratefully escapes a party being given by his wife to examine the body of a canon who has been found hanged. Suicide is suspected, but it is soon apparent that there is far more to this case than meets the eye. As always, his investigations are hampered by...  more

Christmas Eve, 1194. Sir John de Wolfe gratefully escapes a party being given by his wife to examine the body of a canon who has been found hanged. Suicide is suspected, but it is soon apparent that there is far more to this case than meets the eye. As always, his investigations are hampered by his brother-in-law, the sheriff Sir Richard de Revelle. But John must tread carefully, for it is not merely petty revenge that Richard has in mind this time, he is plotting treason and John is getting far too close to the truth for comfort...

Exeter, 1195. During renovations at the new school in Smythen Street, funded by Crowner John's brother-in-law Richard de Revelle, a semi-skeletalized body is found in the loft of an outhouse. The coroner is called in to investigate. When the dead man is identified as the missing treasurer of...  more

Exeter, 1195. During renovations at the new school in Smythen Street, funded by Crowner John's brother-in-law Richard de Revelle, a semi-skeletalized body is found in the loft of an outhouse. The coroner is called in to investigate. When the dead man is identified as the missing treasurer of the guild of Cordwainers, de Revelle immediately puts the blame on a young outlaw -- a Cornish knight named Nicholas de Arundell -- whose Devon manor de Revelle had illegally appropriated while Arundell was away at the Crusades. The ex-sheriff claims the body was dumped there to discredit his new school. The investigation takes on greater urgency when another guild-master is found dead on the road from Tavistock to Exeter. Is Nicholas de Arundell, the "noble outlaw," really responsible? Or could there be another culprit entirely?

When an unidentified body is discovered in the harbor town of Axmouth, Sir John de Wolfe -- the county coroner -- is summoned to investigate. The manner of the young man's death is a matter of some dispute, but it was clearly no accident. In the ensuing murder investigation, Sir John is...  more

When an unidentified body is discovered in the harbor town of Axmouth, Sir John de Wolfe -- the county coroner -- is summoned to investigate. The manner of the young man's death is a matter of some dispute, but it was clearly no accident. In the ensuing murder investigation, Sir John is frustrated by what appears to be a conspiracy of silence among the seamen and townsfolk. There are many inhabitants of Axmouth who seem willing to go to extreme lengths to ensure that the shocking truth behind the death remains hidden. Sir John will need courage, cunning, and determination if he is to solve the case and escape from the town with his life.  

In five interlinked chronological tales (and a prologue), a brilliant cast of medieval sleuths created by Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Philip Gooden, and Simon Beaufort, pursues the bloody mystery of a relic powerful and cursed a fragment of the True...  more

In five interlinked chronological tales (and a prologue), a brilliant cast of medieval sleuths created by Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Philip Gooden, and Simon Beaufort, pursues the bloody mystery of a relic powerful and cursed a fragment of the True Cross. July, 1100: Jerusalem has fallen to the Crusader armies, the Holy City lies ransacked. Amidst the chaos, an English knight named Geoffrey Mappestone is entrusted with a precious religious relic: a piece of the True Cross, allegedly stained with the blood of Christ. The relic is said to be cursed: anyone who touches it will meet a gruesome end as soon as it leaves their possession. Several decades pass, and the Cross turns up in the possession of a dealer -- robbed and murdered en route to Glastonbury. Investigating the death, Bernard Knight’s protagonist, Crowner John, learns of the relic’s dark history. Oxford, 1269: the discovery of a decapitated monk leads Ian Morson’s academic sleuth William Falconer to uncover a link to the relic. Exeter, 1323. Michael Jecks’ Sir Baldwin Furnshill has reason to suspect the relic’s involvement in at least five violent deaths. Thirty years on, suspicious deaths occur in Cambridge during a contentious debate about Holy Blood relics. Once more, as Matthew Bartholomew and Brother Michael are to discover, the tainted relic has a crucial part to play. Finally, the relic is dispatched to London, where it falls into the hands of an unscrupulous book dealer -- and where Philip Gooden’s Nick Revill will determine its ultimate fate. An enthralling read, perfect for mystery lovers, history buffs, or anyone who appreciates an intricately plotted tale.

From its first arrival in Britain with the Norman forces of William the Conqueror, violence and revenge are the cursed sword's constant companions. From an election scandal in 13th-century Venice to the battlefield of Poitiers in 1356, the sword of shame brings bad luck and disgrace to all who...  more

From its first arrival in Britain with the Norman forces of William the Conqueror, violence and revenge are the cursed sword's constant companions. From an election scandal in 13th-century Venice to the battlefield of Poitiers in 1356, the sword of shame brings bad luck and disgrace to all who possess it in this compelling collection of five interlocking mysteries.

1191. During excavation work at Glastonbury Abbey, an ancient leaden cross is discovered buried several feet below ground. Inscribed on the cross are the words: Hic iacet sepultus inclitus rex arturius ...Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur. Beneath the cross are skeletal remains. Could...  more

1191. During excavation work at Glastonbury Abbey, an ancient leaden cross is discovered buried several feet below ground. Inscribed on the cross are the words: Hic iacet sepultus inclitus rex arturius ...Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur. Beneath the cross are skeletal remains. Could these really be the remains of the legendary King Arthur and his queen, Guinevere? As the monks debate the implications of this extraordinary discovery, the bones disappear -- spirited away by the mysterious Guardians, determined to keep the king's remains safe until the ancient legend is fulfilled and Arthur returns to protect his country in the hour of its greatest need. A missing right hand. A gang of ruthless bodysnatchers. Brother accused of killing brother. As the secret of the bones' hiding place is passed from generation to generation, those entrusted to safeguard Arthur's remains must withstand treachery, theft, blackmail and murder in order to keep the legend intact.

575 AD: A baby is washed up on the Irish coast and is taken to the nearest abbey. He grows up to become a scholar and a monk, but, in early adulthood, he appears to have become possessed, scribbling endless strange verses in Latin. When the Abbott tries to have him drowned, he disappears. Later,...  more

575 AD: A baby is washed up on the Irish coast and is taken to the nearest abbey. He grows up to become a scholar and a monk, but, in early adulthood, he appears to have become possessed, scribbling endless strange verses in Latin. When the Abbott tries to have him drowned, he disappears. Later, his scribblings turn up as the Book of Bran, his writings translated as portents of the future. Violence and untimely death befall all who come into the orbit of this mysterious book.

Novice lawyer Gil Cunningham finds his true vocation not as a priest but as an investigator. This meticulously researched historical mystery is the debut of a medieval Scottish investigator. Gil Cunningham is a recently qualified lawyer whose family expects him to enter the priesthood. At the...  more

Novice lawyer Gil Cunningham finds his true vocation not as a priest but as an investigator. This meticulously researched historical mystery is the debut of a medieval Scottish investigator. Gil Cunningham is a recently qualified lawyer whose family expects him to enter the priesthood. At the May Day dancing at Glasgow Cross, Gil notices an attractive woman who is subsequently murdered. When he finds the body of the woman in the new building under construction at Glasgow Cathedral, he is asked to investigate. The corpse was the runaway wife of cruel, unpleasant nobleman John Semphill. She had left him to live with a blind harper whom she bore an infant son. With the help of Maistre Pierre, the French master mason whose lovely daughter has captured his heart, Gil identifies a callous multiple murderer that no one would have suspected.  

Gil Cunningham, a young notary, has escaped a life in the church to become the Archbishop's Questioner, only to be accused of causing a man's death by witchcraft. He must solve the crime to save himself. 

"McIntosh's characterizations and period detail are first rate and bode well for future entries in this series."-Publishers Weekly"The next Cunningham adventure is to be welcomed."-Historical Novels ReviewGil Cunningham returns to Glasgow University only to be involved in murder and...  more

"McIntosh's characterizations and period detail are first rate and bode well for future entries in this series."-Publishers Weekly"The next Cunningham adventure is to be welcomed."-Historical Novels ReviewGil Cunningham returns to Glasgow University only to be involved in murder and espionage.Glasgow 1492. Gil Cunningham returns to his old university for the Nicholas Feast, where he and his colleagues are entertained by a play presented by some of the current students. One of the actors, William Irvine, is later found murdered. With the assistance of Alys, to whom Gil has recently become betrothed, Gil begins to disentangle a complex web of espionage and blackmail involving William's tutors and fellow students. Matters are further complicated by the arrival of Gil's formidable mother who is determined to inspect his betrothed. Little do Alys and Gil realize that it will be she who provides the final, vital key to unmask the murderer and unveil his motives.Pat McIntosh, like Gil Cunningham, is a graduate of Glasgow University. Born and brought up in Lanarkshire, the author lived and worked in Glasgow for many years and is now settled on the West Coast with a husband, three cats, and a daughter.

Gil Cunningham's friend Augie Morison is a merchant. When he opens a barrel sent from the Low Countries that is supposed to contain books, he finds a decapitated head -- and a treasure. There is an inquest the next day before the Provost at which Morison is accused of the crime and...  more

Gil Cunningham's friend Augie Morison is a merchant. When he opens a barrel sent from the Low Countries that is supposed to contain books, he finds a decapitated head -- and a treasure. There is an inquest the next day before the Provost at which Morison is accused of the crime and imprisoned. He implores Gil to help him. The trail of the treasure and of the barrel containing it, which they attempt to follow in order to identify the dead man -- and his murderer -- leads Gil and his betrothed's father, a French Master Mason, from the royal court of King James at Stirling, to a cooper's yard in Linlithgow, and then to another corpse, found intact, lying on the bare slopes of the Pentland hills.

Gil Cunningham is developing a reputation as an investigator in medieval Glasgow; he becomes "the archbishop's questioner." When the warden of St Serf's is found dead in the almshouse garden, Gil is asked to look into his death. The warden appears to have been killed on the...  more

Gil Cunningham is developing a reputation as an investigator in medieval Glasgow; he becomes "the archbishop's questioner." When the warden of St Serf's is found dead in the almshouse garden, Gil is asked to look into his death. The warden appears to have been killed on the previous night, but there are those who are convinced he was present at that morning's service. The elderly residents, the almshouse nurse, and Humphrey, her deranged favorite, have been set against one another by the dead man's scheming. And then there is the discarded mistress and almshouse ghost to consider. Tracing the dead man's last movements between the Cathedral precinct and the shores of the Clyde, Gil Cunningham is both helped and hindered by his two sisters who have come to Glasgow for his wedding to Alys. An uncanny event, followed by the arrival of Gil's godfather, precipitates the crisis. Finally, it is Alys who helps Gil identify the warden's killer.

In Sir William’s remote part of Scotland it seems almost possible that a young boy could have been stolen away by the fairies and returned forty years later without having visibly aged. And if the boy isn’t Davie Drummond, who is he? Then he suffers a succession of near-fatal...  more

In Sir William’s remote part of Scotland it seems almost possible that a young boy could have been stolen away by the fairies and returned forty years later without having visibly aged. And if the boy isn’t Davie Drummond, who is he? Then he suffers a succession of near-fatal “accidents.” Could there be a connection with four other local singers who have vanished, one of them with political information of value to Scotland’s enemies? Gil Cunningham and his wife Alys have been sent to Perthshire to investigate.

In the pages of Margaret Frazer's national bestselling Sister Frevisse series, the player Joliffe has assumed many roles on stage, to the delight of those he entertains. Now, in the company of a troupe of traveling performers, he finds himself cast in the role of sleuth... In the spring...  more

In the pages of Margaret Frazer's national bestselling Sister Frevisse series, the player Joliffe has assumed many roles on stage, to the delight of those he entertains. Now, in the company of a troupe of traveling performers, he finds himself cast in the role of sleuth... In the spring of 1435, Joliffe and his fellow players are sent to the village of Ashewell not only to stage plays, but to uncover come dark secrets about the town's three wealthy families: the Ashewells, the Medcotes, and the Gosyns. A rivalry has been brewing among the families, entangling the entire town in a web of seduction, deception, and blackmail. Matters go beyond the breaking point when someone turns to murder to settle their grievances. And if one murder is good, why not another? If all the world is a stage, then it's up to Joliffe to bring the curtain down on this tragedy - before another man takes his final curtain call....

A medieval mystery featuring Dame Frevisse, a nun of the order of St. Frideswide as she investigates the murder of a peasant working for the convent. Suspects include a rich man who may be coveting the peasant's land.  

Leaving St. Frideswide on pilgrimage was a welcome respite for Sister Frevisse -- as was her errand along the way to Minster Lovell. But Frevisse's stay at the minster turned deadly when murder visited the quiet manor. Guest Lionel Knyvet was afflicted with a dreadful disease -- and during one...  more

Leaving St. Frideswide on pilgrimage was a welcome respite for Sister Frevisse -- as was her errand along the way to Minster Lovell. But Frevisse's stay at the minster turned deadly when murder visited the quiet manor. Guest Lionel Knyvet was afflicted with a dreadful disease -- and during one of his violent fits, an innocent person lost his life. Most of the household assumed that Lionel killed the man. But Frevisse knew too much about murder to be easily fooled... "Dame Frevisse is a stalwart, appealing sleuth." -- Mostly Murder "Frazer's writing is both erudite and vivid, and she has the ability to bring characters to life within a strong, clear story." -- The Drood Review of Mystery "This series is full of the richness of the fifteenth century, handled with the care it deserves. Margaret Frazer's tales are charmingly and intelligently contrived." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "Accurate period detail, adroit characterization, and lively dialogue add to the pleasure." -- Publishers Weekly

When Robert Fenner is caught between the woman he was forced to marry years ago and the young heiress who has captured his heart -- at the same time that his lands and family are threatened by potential warfare -- Dame Frevisse also finds herself caught up in rival plots and passions. Now, drawn...  more

When Robert Fenner is caught between the woman he was forced to marry years ago and the young heiress who has captured his heart -- at the same time that his lands and family are threatened by potential warfare -- Dame Frevisse also finds herself caught up in rival plots and passions. Now, drawn from the nunnery into a web of conflicting loyalties, she must see that justice is done after honest loves and dishonest lusts spawn anger, greed, and finally, murder.  

Sister Frevisse has made an unusual journey to London, to meet the new prioress of St. Frideswide's. At the urging of her abbot, she stays with her wealthy cousin Alice, lady wife of the earl of Suffolk. But Frevisse suspects more is involved than a friendly visit -- for this London home...  more

Sister Frevisse has made an unusual journey to London, to meet the new prioress of St. Frideswide's. At the urging of her abbot, she stays with her wealthy cousin Alice, lady wife of the earl of Suffolk. But Frevisse suspects more is involved than a friendly visit -- for this London home houses a secret that has turned deadly -- Alice is involved in the dangerous political machinations of the duc of Orleans and King Henry VI. Their private correspondence is being routed through the Suffolk's home until one messenger dies under mysterious circumstances and Frevisse is asked to carry letters in his place. Can she find the traitor and murderer before he strikes again?

FAMILY SECRETS AND A LEGACY LOST... In the summer of 1448, when Sir Ralph Woderove is found murdered near his estate, not even his family mourns. A hard, vicious man of many quarrels, Sir Ralph could have been killed by almost anyone. And though the consensus is that his soul has surely gone...  more

FAMILY SECRETS AND A LEGACY LOST... In the summer of 1448, when Sir Ralph Woderove is found murdered near his estate, not even his family mourns. A hard, vicious man of many quarrels, Sir Ralph could have been killed by almost anyone. And though the consensus is that his soul has surely gone to Hell, Sir Ralph will continue to infuriate his heirs in death through the grossly inadequate terms of his estate's settlement. It falls to Dame Frevisse to escort Sir Ralph's widow and daughter back to their manor, when another death occurs under questionable circumstances - making it clear that not all grievances have been laid to rest. And as family secrets are dragged out into the light, Dame Frevisse realizes that there is a murderer among them who will not rest until the Woderove legacy has been settled once and for all... Book 13 of the Sister Frevisse Medieval Mysteries series.

In Margaret Frazer's latest medieval mystery, the "pious and perceptive" (New York Times) Dame Frevisse accompanies her prioress on a visit of mercy to a nunnery-where she becomes entangled in an inheritance dispute, a family feud, and the chaotic aftermath of a brutal murder. "A wonderful...  more

In Margaret Frazer's latest medieval mystery, the "pious and perceptive" (New York Times) Dame Frevisse accompanies her prioress on a visit of mercy to a nunnery-where she becomes entangled in an inheritance dispute, a family feud, and the chaotic aftermath of a brutal murder. "A wonderful series. Frevisse, with her common sense and humor and tang of salt, is one of my favorite sleuths." (Sharon Kay Penman, author of The Queen's Man) "Meticulous detail that speaks of trustworthy scholarship and a sympathetic imagination." (The New York Times) "Full of the richness of the fifteenth century...Margaret Frazer's tales are charmingly and intelligently contrived." (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

AMBITION, TREACHERY, AND THE THRONE OF ENGLAND It is the year 1447, and powerful men from all of England have been summoned to Parliament in the great pilgrimage town of Bury St. Edmunds. Most come to make laws and pass taxes. But a small group of nobles will use this chance to bring down...  more

AMBITION, TREACHERY, AND THE THRONE OF ENGLAND It is the year 1447, and powerful men from all of England have been summoned to Parliament in the great pilgrimage town of Bury St. Edmunds. Most come to make laws and pass taxes. But a small group of nobles will use this chance to bring down their greatest rival through treachery... From her nunnery, Dame Frevisse is brought into this swirl of politics and plotting by the ambitious Bishop of Winchester. While she is meant to merely observe and report to him what she sees, she is instead drawn into the dangerous maelstrom encircling the throne of England. And what Dame Frevisse will soon discover is that desperate acts of loyalty and love are not always enough to save men from murder... or an innocent man from the gallows...

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN... Who could ever want to harm two young boys, ages five and six? When the boys are half brothers to Henry VI, King of England, the list is long and distinguished. A lady in their mother's household flees with the boys to St. Frideswide's and asks Sister...  more

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN... Who could ever want to harm two young boys, ages five and six? When the boys are half brothers to Henry VI, King of England, the list is long and distinguished. A lady in their mother's household flees with the boys to St. Frideswide's and asks Sister Frevisse to offer them sanctuary. Unable to refuse children, Frevisse takes them in and conceals them. But as attempts are made on the boys' lives inside St. Frideswide's walls, Sister Frevisse realizes that from the ambitious and the wicked, there is no sanctuary... The fifth book in the Sister Frevisse Medieval Mysteries series.

When his band of traveling players are taken in by a patron, Joliffe and company find that murder has taken their place in the spotlight -- and it's up to them to catch a killer in the act.

Recently widowed and still grieving, Cristiana Helyngton finds her life wrenched apart by her late husband's greedy and ambitious relatives, who are determined to have control of her lands and her daughters. Kidnapped, defamed, and imprisoned in a nunnery, she must find a way to save herself...  more

Recently widowed and still grieving, Cristiana Helyngton finds her life wrenched apart by her late husband's greedy and ambitious relatives, who are determined to have control of her lands and her daughters. Kidnapped, defamed, and imprisoned in a nunnery, she must find a way to save herself before she can save her children. For Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery, Cristiana is at first simply a duty among others, but questions rise and troubles deepen -- and then turn deadly. Cristiana, to secure her freedom and save her daughters, must use a secret entrusted to her by her husband as he was dying -- but it is a secret that could bring down those lords nearest the king and destroy, rather than save, those most dear to her. Frevisse, drawn into trouble far deeper than she initially imagined, must decide where her deepest loyalties lie: to the truth-or to England's peace. And whatever she chooses, in the end her help may be of little use against the ruthless men threatened by the secret on which all of Cristiana's hopes depend.

MOURNING DARKENED A MEDIEVAL MANOR... AND SO DID MURDER Death, the pious say, is the great mystery, and Sister Frevisse finds it puzzling indeed. She has come to Ewelme Manor to grieve for her uncle; Bishop Beaufort arrives to mourn for an old friend. Neither expected querulous Sir Clement...  more

MOURNING DARKENED A MEDIEVAL MANOR... AND SO DID MURDER Death, the pious say, is the great mystery, and Sister Frevisse finds it puzzling indeed. She has come to Ewelme Manor to grieve for her uncle; Bishop Beaufort arrives to mourn for an old friend. Neither expected querulous Sir Clement Sharpe to stand at the funeral feast, dare God to strike him down... and then collapse! Since other guests have supped on the same meat and wine without ill-effect, all believe the Lord's hand smote Sir Clement. The wily Bishop Beaufort, however, secretly orders Frevisse to snoop from the kitchens to the chapel for an unusual poison. But the clever nun has her eyes open for something else: a killer with a venomous hatred... or a diabolic love.

Performing at the wedding of Sir Edmund Deneby's daughter, the player Joliffe has another task to perform--as a spy. As he uncovers the secrets of the Denebys' sordid history, it becomes clear that this wedding celebration is destined to end in tragedy.

The latest Medieval mystery in the acclaimed series finds Dame Frevisse on a mission in London to recover gold from the coffers of the murdered Duke of Suffolk and give the gold to her cousin. Frevisse's co-conspirators in this secrecy are seamstress Anne Blakehall and her lover, a...  more

The latest Medieval mystery in the acclaimed series finds Dame Frevisse on a mission in London to recover gold from the coffers of the murdered Duke of Suffolk and give the gold to her cousin. Frevisse's co-conspirators in this secrecy are seamstress Anne Blakehall and her lover, a Jewish trader smuggling the gold through Anne's shop. But their mission is jeopardized when a crucified body is discovered, supposedly scarred with Hebrew letters, stirring up anti-Semitic sentiment in the populace.

Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery is in London to assist her cousin Alice, the widowed Duchess of Suffolk, in burying her husband -- but the late Duke was so hated that even being in the presence of his corpse is unsafe. Wandering player Simon Joliffe is also in London, on a mission...  more

Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery is in London to assist her cousin Alice, the widowed Duchess of Suffolk, in burying her husband -- but the late Duke was so hated that even being in the presence of his corpse is unsafe. Wandering player Simon Joliffe is also in London, on a mission with vital information for the exiled Duke of York: a list naming the English noblemen who purportedly betrayed their King by conspiring with the French, including some of Suffolk's men, whom Joliffe has been seeking -- and now found dead. Joining the player on his search for the men on the list, Frevisse starts to wonder whether or not the list is real -- or part of an even greater conspiracy against the crown.

Joliffe and company play spies amongst the British aristocracy as lords and clergymen vie for the coveted position of regent to the young King Henry VI. But when men who know too much begin to die in violent ways, the players start to fear for their own lives.

MINSTRELS AND MURDER AT A MEDIEVAL ABBEY It was Christmastime, and the sisters of St. Frideswide cannot turn away travellers...even the players knocking at the nunnery door. But along with the motley troupe comes the grievously wounded husband of the cloister's scullery maid, Meg. They...  more

MINSTRELS AND MURDER AT A MEDIEVAL ABBEY It was Christmastime, and the sisters of St. Frideswide cannot turn away travellers...even the players knocking at the nunnery door. But along with the motley troupe comes the grievously wounded husband of the cloister's scullery maid, Meg. They swear they found the drunken wastrel in a ditch...but the tale sounds like another song and dance. Especially when two dead bodies are waiting in the wings... Now Sister Frevisse must find out if one of the actors is a murderer in masquerade -- or face a very unmerry Yuletide season...

In the pages of Margaret Frazer's national bestselling Dame Frevisse Mysteries, the player Joliffe has assumed many roles on stage, to the delight of those he entertains. Now, in the company of a troupe of traveling performers, he finds himself cast in the role of sleuth... In agreeing...  more

In the pages of Margaret Frazer's national bestselling Dame Frevisse Mysteries, the player Joliffe has assumed many roles on stage, to the delight of those he entertains. Now, in the company of a troupe of traveling performers, he finds himself cast in the role of sleuth... In agreeing to serve the powerful Bishop Beaufort, Joliffe and his players have made what could become a deal with the devil. It surely seems so in the winter of 1436, when the Bishop sends Joliffe alone to France and into the middle of a war. There, Joliffe is to act as a servant to the duchess Jacquetta of Bedford -- young, beautiful, and recently widowed. But his real mission is to train as a spy under the late duke's spymaster, and he soon finds that all the wealth of a widow's household is no defense against murder, a city's walls no defense against enemies within -- and not only men can serve as spies.

Dame Frevisse must determine whether Sister Cecely, newly returned to the nunnery with her young son, is truly interested in repenting for her sin--or if she's just in hiding after involvement in schemes that threaten everyone at St. Frideswide.

Act of mercy, act of murder... On her way to a baptism, Sister Frevisse finds blood is thicker than water... and as easily spilled. Waylaid by a band of outlaws, she learns that their leader is her long-lost cousin Nicholas. He asks Frevisse's help to get him pardoned for his crimes. But...  more

Act of mercy, act of murder... On her way to a baptism, Sister Frevisse finds blood is thicker than water... and as easily spilled. Waylaid by a band of outlaws, she learns that their leader is her long-lost cousin Nicholas. He asks Frevisse's help to get him pardoned for his crimes. But while Frevisse is lodging at the home of Nicholas's business companion, someone commits an unpardonable act: murder. Now Frevisse must discover who robbed a rich landowner of his purse and his life -- even if it means her own kin is condemned...

After Domina Alys was made prioress, St. Frideswide's became little more than a guest-house for her relatives, the Godfreys. There was no peace to be had anywhere, especially for Sister Frevisse. Constantly tormented by Domina Alys, Frevisse was further dismayed to discover that St. Fridwswide's...  more

After Domina Alys was made prioress, St. Frideswide's became little more than a guest-house for her relatives, the Godfreys. There was no peace to be had anywhere, especially for Sister Frevisse. Constantly tormented by Domina Alys, Frevisse was further dismayed to discover that St. Fridwswide's modest stores were being depleted by the Godfrey clan. When a long-standing family rivalry begins with a kidnapping and ends with a murder, it is up to Frevisse to rid the nunnery of its unwelcome- and deadly- guests.

Invited by a neighbor to meet new friends, Josse d’'Acquin is struck by the beauty of the young wife and the age gap between her and her wealthy husband. But first impressions can be deceptive, and soon a tragic death sets Josse off on a trail of danger and intrigue. For in order to...  more

Invited by a neighbor to meet new friends, Josse d’'Acquin is struck by the beauty of the young wife and the age gap between her and her wealthy husband. But first impressions can be deceptive, and soon a tragic death sets Josse off on a trail of danger and intrigue. For in order to untangle the terrible secrets of the past, he is forced to venture to a place of bloody legend, home to a brutal race known as Deadfall. The Abbess Helewise is engaged by events closer to home. The frightful death she witnessed is terrible enough, but to have her nuns held responsible is far worse. Helewise finds herself drawn down the same mysterious path taken by Josse, as the peril he faces reaches out to the Abbey itself...

Richard the Lionheart is still being held hostage after his crusade; in paying his ransom, his people have been made paupers. Abbess Helewise is struggling to keep the Abbey going through a brutal winter, fending off the starvation of her nuns and the townspeople. In the midst of this hardship,...  more

Richard the Lionheart is still being held hostage after his crusade; in paying his ransom, his people have been made paupers. Abbess Helewise is struggling to keep the Abbey going through a brutal winter, fending off the starvation of her nuns and the townspeople. In the midst of this hardship, a loved one returns to Helewise after twenty years, in desperate need of help. Her son. Then a man is found strangled, dangling from a tree near the Abbey. The next day, her son flees. Helewise and Knight Josse d’Acquin must now investigate the past—to a time before Helewise took the veil. Was her handsome husband and her enigmatic father-in-law all that they seemed? And can she prevent another terrible murder—or will the sins of the fathers be laid upon her innocent son?

 It is midsummer 1195. An impoverished man claims to have discovered Merlin's tomb and builds a hostel for pilgrims while spreading the word that his find is a place of miracles. This blasphemous intrusion is deeply resented both by the community at Hawkenlye Abbey and the pagan people...  more

 It is midsummer 1195. An impoverished man claims to have discovered Merlin's tomb and builds a hostel for pilgrims while spreading the word that his find is a place of miracles. This blasphemous intrusion is deeply resented both by the community at Hawkenlye Abbey and the pagan people of the forest. Though the finger of blame points at both communities following the man's murder, the perennial sleuths Josse d'Acquin and Abbess Helewise soon discover that other parties also had an interest in his death. His wife does not seem distressed at his passing, possibly because she is pregnant despite having not slept with her husband for nearly six months.

January, 1194. A very sick man is making his way to Hawkenlye Abbey to take the Holy Water cure. In his delirium, the Virgin Mary appears before him—a seeming recurrence of the miraculous sighting that led to the establishment of the Abbey. As he watches the beautiful woman approach, he...  more

January, 1194. A very sick man is making his way to Hawkenlye Abbey to take the Holy Water cure. In his delirium, the Virgin Mary appears before him—a seeming recurrence of the miraculous sighting that led to the establishment of the Abbey. As he watches the beautiful woman approach, he begins to pray. But she strikes him with a club, then rolls him into a ditch. Winter becomes increasingly bitter. It is only when the thaw comes that the corpse is discovered by two travelers. It appears that he had come from France, carrying papers that Abbess Helewise asks Josse d’Acquin to decipher. As Josse sets off to find out what he can about the man, the two travelers who have brought them the body fall sick. And the sickness looks very much like plague…

The new priest who has arrived at Hawkenlye Abbey is a cruel fanatic. When he is found dead in a ditch after threatening the abbess, few mourn his passing. Unfortunately his assailants have as little love for the abbey as they had for the deceased and that spells danger for everyone.

By 1322, Mathilde of Westminster was considered the finest physician in London. But in her years as lady-in-waiting to Princess Isabella, who married the feckless Edward II, she was drawn into the murky politics of the English court, where sudden, mysterious death was part of the tapestry of...  more

By 1322, Mathilde of Westminster was considered the finest physician in London. But in her years as lady-in-waiting to Princess Isabella, who married the feckless Edward II, she was drawn into the murky politics of the English court, where sudden, mysterious death was part of the tapestry of life. Many years later, when the glory is gone and all that remains are bittersweet memories, Mathilde looks back and chronicles her turbulent life. She has a keen eye for symptoms and causes – and not just the medical kind. With her sharp, suspicious intellect ready to distinguish between a fatality and an unnatural death, Mathilde is confronted by a host of chilling murders, personal danger and the murky intrigue that lies at the heart of the English and French courts at the beginning of the fourteenth century. The source of these horrors is the fierce political rivalry between Philip of France and Edward of England which manifests itself in a series of gruesome killings, one of which, actually takes place during Edward II’s Coronation of January 1308, when a knight of the Royal Household, Sir John Baquelle was crushed to death.

It's 1308 and England hovers on the brink of civil war. Edward II, his wife Isabella and the royal favourite Peter Gaveston Earl of Cornwall, have been forced to retreat to the King's folly. Just an arrowshot away lie the Great Lords and Philip IV of France, who are demanding that the...  more

It's 1308 and England hovers on the brink of civil war. Edward II, his wife Isabella and the royal favourite Peter Gaveston Earl of Cornwall, have been forced to retreat to the King's folly. Just an arrowshot away lie the Great Lords and Philip IV of France, who are demanding that the Earl of Cornwall be charged with high treason. Edward is trapped, and worse, he has learnt that Philip has the 'Poison Maiden' on his side, a formidable spy who did untold damage during his father's reign. As Edward tries in vain to unmask the identity of the spy, Mathilde, handmaiden to the Queen, also attempts to identify the source of this threat. Soon the crisis spills over into violence. The Lords attempt to take Gaveston by force and the King and his Court, including Mathilde, are forced to flee. As the enemy closes in, Mathilde finds herself embroiled in a life and death struggle for the English crown.

The year is 1838, and after more than ten years in the planning, the famous United States Exploring Expedition is set to launch into uncharted waters from the coast of Virginia. A convoy of seven ships filled with astronomers, mapmakers, naturalists, and the sailors charged with getting them...  more

The year is 1838, and after more than ten years in the planning, the famous United States Exploring Expedition is set to launch into uncharted waters from the coast of Virginia. A convoy of seven ships filled with astronomers, mapmakers, naturalists, and the sailors charged with getting them around the world, the "Ex. Ex." is finally underway, with much fanfare.Aboard the convoy as ship's linguist is Wiki Coffin. Half New Zealand Maori and half American, Wiki speaks numerous languages and is expected to help the crew navigate the Pacific islands that are his native heritage. But just before departure Wiki, subject to the unfortunate bigotry of the time, is arrested for a vicious murder he didn't commit.The convoy sails off, but just before the ships are out of reach Wiki is exonerated, set free to catch up with his ship and sail on. The catch: the local sheriff is convinced that the real murderer is aboard one of the seven ships of the expedition, and Wiki is deputized to identify the killer and bring him to justice. Full of the evocative maritime detail and atmosphere that have won her numerous awards for her nonfiction, Joan Druett's A Watery Grave is the mystery debut of a masterful maritime writer.

Thief. Informer. Double-dealer. Pimp. Will Shadwell may not be the most moral of men, but to gentleman spy Henry Gresham he is invaluable. During the reign of King James I a man must know his enemies to survive and Shadwell is one of Gresham’s best sources.Then Shadwell is discovered...  more

Thief. Informer. Double-dealer. Pimp. Will Shadwell may not be the most moral of men, but to gentleman spy Henry Gresham he is invaluable. During the reign of King James I a man must know his enemies to survive and Shadwell is one of Gresham’s best sources.Then Shadwell is discovered brutally murdered. And before Gresham is able to establish why, he is summoned by the man he fears most: Robert Cecil, the King’s Machiavellian Chief Secretary. Cecil wants Gresham to investigate Sir Francis Bacon’s private life. When Gresham begins his inquiries, he uncovers a plot so audacious it is scarcely believable: a conspiring clutch of Catholic lords and a trail of gunpowder underneath the Houses of Parliament.From the court of King James to the deadly underworld of Jacobean London, Martin Stephen’s superb debut novel is as rich in atmosphere as it is in tension. Historical fiction of the highest order, The Desperate Remedy is a thrilling tale of courtly machinations.

Seraphin Monge begins a quiet march of revenge against his family?s killers. But for each murder he plots, another hand silently executes it in his place. In this gripping thriller set in Upper Provence, unexpected secrets set in motion a dreadful unveiling of the past.

Louis-Charles, Duc de Normandie, enjoyed a charmed early childhood in the gilded palace of Versailles. At the age of four, he became the dauphin, heir to the most powerful throne in Europe. Yet within five years he was to lose everything. Drawn into the horror of the French Revolution, his...  more

Louis-Charles, Duc de Normandie, enjoyed a charmed early childhood in the gilded palace of Versailles. At the age of four, he became the dauphin, heir to the most powerful throne in Europe. Yet within five years he was to lose everything. Drawn into the horror of the French Revolution, his family was incarcerated and their fate thrust into the hands of the revolutionaries who wished to destroy the monarchy.In 1793, when Marie Antoinette was beheaded at the guillotine, she left her adored eight-year-old son imprisoned in the Temple Tower. Far from inheriting a throne, the orphaned boy-king had to endure the hostility and abuse of a nation. Two years later, the revolutionary leaders declared Louis XVII dead. No grave was dug, no monument built to mark his passing.Immediately, rumors spread that the prince had, in fact, escaped from prison and was still alive. Others believed that he had been murdered, his heart cut out and preserved as a relic. As with the tragedies of England's princes in the Tower and the Romanov archduchess Anastasia, countless "brothers" soon approached Louis-Charles's older sister, Marie-Therese, who survived the revolution. They claimed not only the dauphin's name, but also his inheritance. Several "princes" were plausible, but which, if any, was the real heir to the French throne?The Lost King of France is a moving and dramatic tale that interweaves a pivotal moment in France's history with a compelling detective story that involves pretenders to the crown, royalist plots and palace intrigue, bizarre legal battles, and modern science. The quest for the truth continued into the twenty-first century, when, thanks to DNA testing, the strange odyssey of a stolen heart found within the royal tombs brought an exciting conclusion to the two-hundred-year-old mystery of the lost king of France.

An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto. When the eccentric and enigmatic Barker...  more

An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto. When the eccentric and enigmatic Barker takes the case, he must hire an assistant, and out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved," he chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man with a murky past. As they inch ever closer to the shocking truth behind the murder, Llewelyn is drawn deeper and deeper into Barker's peculiar world of vigilante detective work, as well as the heart of London's teeming underworld. Brimming with wit and unforgettable characters and steeped in authentic period detail, Some Danger Involved is a captivating page-turner that introduces an equally captivating duo.

This riveting suspense debut introduces both a stellar new voice and a remarkable detective, an outsider who must use his extraordinary talents to solve the one case that may redeem him. Shortly after midnight on July 17, 1918, the imprisoned family of Tsar Nicholas Romanov was awakened and led...  more

This riveting suspense debut introduces both a stellar new voice and a remarkable detective, an outsider who must use his extraordinary talents to solve the one case that may redeem him. Shortly after midnight on July 17, 1918, the imprisoned family of Tsar Nicholas Romanov was awakened and led down to the basement of the Ipatiev house. There they were summarily executed. Their bodies were hidden away, the location a secret of the Soviet state.A decade later, one man lives in purgatory, banished to a forest on the outskirts of humanity. Pekkala was once the most trusted secret agent of the Romanovs, the right-hand man of the Tsar himself. Now he is Prisoner 4745-P, living a harsh existence in which even the strongest vanish into the merciless Soviet winter.But the state needs Pekkala one last time. The man who knew the Romanovs best is given a final mission: catch their killers, locate the royal child rumored to be alive, and give Stalin the international coup he craves. Find the bodies, Pekkala is told, and you will find your freedom. Find the survivor of that bloody night and you will change history.In a land of uneasy alliances and deadly treachery, pursuing clues that have eluded everyone, Pekkala is thrust into the past where he once reigned. There he will meet the man who betrayed him and the woman he loved and lost in the fires of rebellion?and uncover a secret so shocking that it will shake to its core the land he loves.With stunning period detail and crackling suspense, Eye of the Red Tsar introduces a complex and compelling investigator in a fiercely intelligent thriller perfect for readers of Gorky Park, Child 44, and City of Thieves. From the Hardcover edition.

As 1879 draws to a close, this Rocky Mountain boomtown has infected the world with silver fever. It's not much different than the dot.com mania or the corporate scams that heat up over a century later. Unfortunately for Joe Rose, a precious-metals assayer, death stakes its own claim....  more

As 1879 draws to a close, this Rocky Mountain boomtown has infected the world with silver fever. It's not much different than the dot.com mania or the corporate scams that heat up over a century later. Unfortunately for Joe Rose, a precious-metals assayer, death stakes its own claim. Joe's body is found trampled into the muck behind Inez Stannert's saloon. Inez already had much more to deal with than pouring shots of Taos Lightning and cleaning up a corpse. A lady educated on the East Coast, she has a past that doesn't bear close scrutiny, including her elopement with a gambling man who has recently disappeared. Most townsfolk, including Inez's business partner, Abe Jackson, dismiss Joe's death as an accident. Death, after all, is no stranger in Leadville. But Inez wonders: Why was this loving husband and father carrying a brass token good for "one free screw" at the parlor house of Denver madam Mattie Silks? When Joe's widow Emma asks Inez to settle Joe's affairs, almost against her will, Inez uncovers skewed assays, bogus greenbacks, and blackmail. Lies and secrets run deep in Colorado, secrets more likely to lead to a hanging than to today's congressional hearings or country-club prisons for the crooked and the greedy. Then again, maybe Joe's murder was purely personal....

The railroad is coming to Leadville and its rich Rocky Mountain mines. And who is coming to celebrate its arrival but Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the U.S. and former commander of the Union armies. Like other residents in the Colorado boomtown this summer of 1880, Inez Stannert regards...  more

The railroad is coming to Leadville and its rich Rocky Mountain mines. And who is coming to celebrate its arrival but Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the U.S. and former commander of the Union armies. Like other residents in the Colorado boomtown this summer of 1880, Inez Stannert regards the news as mixed. Some folks have wicked memories of the war, others have a stake in the competing railroad lines. And photographer Susan Carothers, Inez's friend, is caught in the deadly crossfire.. Iron Ties is Ann Parker's second novel, following Silver Lies, winner of the Willa (Cather) Literary Award for Historical Fiction, the Colorado Gold Award, and finalist for the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award and the Spur Award for Best Novel of the West. www.annparker.net

An aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father -- and preserve the Catholic faith from Cromwell’s ruthless terror. The year is 1537. . . Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned...  more

An aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father -- and preserve the Catholic faith from Cromwell’s ruthless terror. The year is 1537. . . Joanna Stafford, a Dominican nun, learns that her favorite cousin has been condemned by Henry VIII to be burned at the stake. Defying the sacred rule of enclosure, Joanna leaves the priory to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with the king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, is sent to the Tower of London. The ruthless Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, takes terrifying steps to force Joanna to agree to spy for him: to save her father’s life she must find an ancient relic -- a crown so powerful, it may hold the ability to end the Reformation. Accompanied by two monks, Joanna returns home to Dartford Priory and searches in secret for this long-lost piece of history worn by the Saxon King Athelstan in 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain. But Dartford Priory has become a dangerous place, and when more than one dead body is uncovered, Joanna departs with a sensitive young monk, Brother Edmund, to search elsewhere for the legendary crown. From royal castles with tapestry-filled rooms to Stonehenge to Malmesbury Abbey, the final resting place of King Athelstan, Joanna and Brother Edmund must hurry to find the crown if they want to keep Joanna’s father alive. At Malmesbury, secrets of the crown are revealed that bring to light the fates of the Black Prince, Richard the Lionhearted, and Katherine of Aragon’s first husband, Arthur. The crown’s intensity and strength are beyond the earthly realm and it must not fall into the wrong hands. With Cromwell’s troops threatening to shutter her priory, bright and bold Joanna must now decide who she can trust with the secret of the crown so that she may save herself, her family, and her sacred way of life. This provocative story melds heart-stopping suspense with historical detail and brings to life the poignant dramas of women and men at a fascinating and critical moment in England’s past.

Sussex, England 1780: Anatomist and recluse Gabriel Crowther is reluctantly drawn into the lives of local high society when a dead body is found by impulsive, frustrated Harriet Westerman. Her lands share a boundary with the great estate of the county, Thornleigh Hall, home of the crippled Earl...  more

Sussex, England 1780: Anatomist and recluse Gabriel Crowther is reluctantly drawn into the lives of local high society when a dead body is found by impulsive, frustrated Harriet Westerman. Her lands share a boundary with the great estate of the county, Thornleigh Hall, home of the crippled Earl of Sussex, his beautiful second wife and his alcoholic younger son. The Earl's heir disappeared after a family dispute some fifteen years earlier, and has not been seen since. Meanwhile, in London, two children lose their father in a violent attack. Their new young guardian, a young writer, attempts to protect them in the confusion of the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots as he dodges his creditors among the alleyways, and learns more of his wards' complicated history -- which may lead back to Sussex. When a second body is discovered near Thornleigh Hall, the pressures on Harriet and Gabriel begin to mount and the secrets of the Hall, both ancient and modern, threaten to overwhelm them all.

Cumbria, 1783. A broken heritage; a secret history... The tomb of the first Earl of Greta should have lain undisturbed on its island of bones for three hundred years. When idle curiosity opens the stone lid, however, inside is one body too many. Gabriel Crowther's family bought the...  more

Cumbria, 1783. A broken heritage; a secret history... The tomb of the first Earl of Greta should have lain undisturbed on its island of bones for three hundred years. When idle curiosity opens the stone lid, however, inside is one body too many. Gabriel Crowther's family bought the Gretas' land long ago, and has suffered its own bloody history. His brother was hanged for murdering their father, the Baron of Keswick, and Crowther has chosen comfortable seclusion and anonymity over estate and title for thirty years. But the call of the mystery brings him home at last. Travelling with forthright Mrs Harriet Westerman, who is escaping her own tragedy, Crowther finds a little town caught between new horrors and old, where ancient ways challenge modern justice. And against the wild and beautiful backdrop of fells and water, Crowther discovers that his past will not stay buried.

A locked room. A dark threat. A place of poisonous lies. Germany, 1784. Daniel Clode cannot say whether or not he killed the woman. They were found together in a locked room, dressed for the Carnival. But what of the strange madness he feels, and how did she drown on dry land? Harriet Westerman...  more

A locked room. A dark threat. A place of poisonous lies. Germany, 1784. Daniel Clode cannot say whether or not he killed the woman. They were found together in a locked room, dressed for the Carnival. But what of the strange madness he feels, and how did she drown on dry land? Harriet Westerman knows Daniel is not a murderer; her sister would not have married such a man. She and the reclusive anatomist Gabriel Crowther must travel to the Duke of Maulberg's Court to save him from the silken, venal plotting of the castle, and from the axeman's steel. But their journey across Europe brings them to an alien and capricious land, full of lies and shadows, where no one can be trusted.

London, 1781. Harriet Westerman anxiously awaits news of her husband, a ship's captain who has been gravely injured in the king's naval battles with France. As London's streets seethe with rumor, a body is dragged from the murky waters of the Thames. Having gained a measure of...  more

London, 1781. Harriet Westerman anxiously awaits news of her husband, a ship's captain who has been gravely injured in the king's naval battles with France. As London's streets seethe with rumor, a body is dragged from the murky waters of the Thames. Having gained a measure of fame as amateur detectives for unraveling the mysteries of Thornleigh Hall, the indomitable Mrs. Westerman and her reclusive sidekick, anatomist Gabriel Crowther, are once again called on to investigate. In this intricate novel, Harriet and Gabriel will discover that this is no ordinary drowning -- the victim is part of a plot to betray England's most precious secrets.  

The new book in the Viennese Mystery series - Vienna, 1900. Lawyer Karl Werthen is puzzling over the suicide of a local councilman when he is assigned by Karl Wittgenstein, a powerful industrialist with many enemies, to find his recently missing son, Hans. Werthen quickly discovers that the...  more

The new book in the Viennese Mystery series - Vienna, 1900. Lawyer Karl Werthen is puzzling over the suicide of a local councilman when he is assigned by Karl Wittgenstein, a powerful industrialist with many enemies, to find his recently missing son, Hans. Werthen quickly discovers that the young man appears to be alive and well in another country. But when a friend of Hans ? a journalist who wrote a number of articles claiming the councilman who committed suicide was corrupt ? is found dead, also from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Werthen fears that sinister forces are at work . . .

From a basement office in London’s notorious Bethlehem Hospital, Sebastian Becker investigates wealthy eccentrics whose dubious mental health may render them unable to manage their own affairs.  His interview with rich landowner, Sir Owain Lancaster, whose sanity has been in question...  more

From a basement office in London’s notorious Bethlehem Hospital, Sebastian Becker investigates wealthy eccentrics whose dubious mental health may render them unable to manage their own affairs.  His interview with rich landowner, Sir Owain Lancaster, whose sanity has been in question since a disastrous scientific adventure in the Amazon killed his family and colleagues, coincides with the disappearance of two young local girls. When the children are found slain, Lancaster claims that the same dark forces that devastated his family have followed him home. It is not the first time that children have come to harm in his rural countryside town, though few are willing to speak of incidents from the past.  Becker must determine whether this mad nobleman is insane and a murderer, or if some even more sinister agency is at work.  Struggling on his small salary, and with unexpected help from a son who needs special care, Becker and his wife make sacrifices so Becker can stay on the case after an innocent man is convicted of the crime. The answers he seeks may be found with the assistance of the local investigator and a young suffragette who fled Arnmouth, but couldn’t flee the horrors she encountered there.  From dank asylums to the lush and treacherous Amazon, through the makeshift studios of the early film industry and a traveling fair of freaks and illusions, Sebastian Becker’s search for answers brings him face to face with madmen and monsters, both imagined and real.  Confronting immense danger in his hunt for the truth, he will explore murder, tragedy, and the tempestuous depths of his own mind.

Known as the father of forensics and a likely influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, real-life police inspector James McLevy is here reinvented by David Ashton in this the first thrilling Inspector McLevy Mystery, Shadow of the Serpent. 1880, Edinburgh, Election fever grips the city. But while the...  more

Known as the father of forensics and a likely influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, real-life police inspector James McLevy is here reinvented by David Ashton in this the first thrilling Inspector McLevy Mystery, Shadow of the Serpent. 1880, Edinburgh, Election fever grips the city. But while the rich and educated argue about politics, in the dank wynds of the docks it's a struggle just to stay alive. When a prostitute is brutally murdered, disturbing memories from thirty years ago are stirred in McLevy who is soon lured into a murky world of politics, perversion and deception?and the shadow of the serpent.