Medieval Mystery Fiction

As a bard's daughter, Gwen has spent her life traveling from castle to castle and village to village with her family, following the music. In the winter of 1141, Gwen's family is contracted to provide the entertainment for the coming-of-age celebration of a lord's son. But before the celebration can begin, Gwen's father is found over the body of his friend, with a harp string as the murder weapon and blood on his hands. With the lord of the castle uninterested in finding the true killer, it is up to Gwen to clear her father's name before her father's music is silenced...forever.

Master Hugh is asked to provide a sleeping potion for Sir Henry Burley, a friend and guest of Lord Gilbert who has outstayed his welcome at Bampton Castle. The next morning after Master Hugh provides the potion, Sir Henry is found dead, eyes open, in his bed. Master Hugh, the target of the wife’s wrath, is asked by Lord Gilbert to determine the cause of death....

Ireland. AD 672. The abbey of Muman at Imleach Iubhair is being renovated when its guests’ hostel burns to the ground. There is one fatality: Bishop Brodulf of Luxovium, a distinguished visitor and cousin to the King of Franks. Sister Fidelma is asked by Abbot Cuán to investigate the unfortunate incident and soon finds that the bishop had been stabbed to death before the fire had even started.

England, 1120. When Henry I dies with no legitimate male heir, the nation is thrown into chaos. The two rivals for the crown are Henry's daughter Matilda and his nephew Stephen of Blois, both of whom are determined to emerge victorious. A bitter struggle ensues which threatens to reduce England to a barren wasteland and many ordinary people find themselves torn apart from each other in the confusion of deciding which side to fight for.

Hiding from a cadaverous stalker in 1046 England, Thorston races to unleash the magical charms from the diabolical Book Without Words. Suddenly, with success almost in his grasp, he slumps to the floor, muttering cryptic words. Newbery Award-winning author Avi adds this jewel to his many literary gems.

April 1150. War has come yet again to Ceredigion, and Prince Hywel marches south alongside his wily uncle, preparing to battle his own cousins. Meanwhile, Gareth and Gwen learn of murder and treachery among the Hospitallers, who are succoring the ill and wounded within the army. As they investigate, even in the midst of war, they uncover not only murder, but treason and betrayal as well—and inadvertently set the stage for that long-awaited final reckoning within King Owain’s court.

After an ill-considered action one night in London, disgraced knight Crispin Guest heeds the summons of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has specifically requested Guest’s presence. The archbishop has received letters threatening violence against the bones of saint and martyr Thomas à Beckett, the greatest treasure on display in the cathedral in Canterbury. Guest, who has been living by his wits since being stripped of his honor, his title, and his lands, has earned a reputation for solving seemingly impossible puzzles and finding lost objects.

Medieval Europe, 996 AD. Fifteen-year-old Galen survived a horrendous assault, only to be exiled by his family. Taken in by monks and grateful to be spared as a suspected sinner from the execution block, he ekes out a lonely existence of unrelenting pain. But he gains a chance to prove himself worthy when a famous young illustrator arrives at the abbey and selects him to help with an important manuscript.

England, 1110. When King William Rufus of England is killed mysteriously during a hunting accident in the New Forest in 1100, his younger brother Henry, who had been present, loses no time in riding hard to claim both the Treasury and the crown. Rumors quickly being swirling that Henry was himself responsible for Rufus's death. One of Henry's main accusers is his older brother Robert, Duke of Normandy, who believes the throne of England is his by right and threatens to invade from across the Channel.

England, 1154. With King Henry II taking the throne, the long civil war that has ravaged England has finally come to an end. But conflict is now coming from overseas. Henry has inherited territories over the English Channel that are being contested by King Louis VII of France. And the new king's marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine is strained—and becomes even more so when he threatens the Church of England and Thomas Beckett.

Edward Courtenay, the last Plantagenet, has a claim to the throne of England that he must never be allowed to make. Courtenay has already tried to bolster his right to rule by backing Wyatt's failed uprising, and then by trying to wed the Princess Elizabeth, embroiling her in his treasonous plots. Richard, his conscience torn by what he must do, returns to Italy to find Courtenay. Once he completes his task he intends to hand himself to the Order and secure the release of Lizbet and the rest of his men.

England, 1191. King Richard is half a world away, fighting for God and his own ambition. Back home, his country languishes, bankrupt and on the verge of anarchy. People with power are running unchecked. People without are growing angry. And in Nottingham, one of the largest shires in England, the sheriff seems intent on doing nothing about it. As the leaves turn gold in the Sherwood Forest, the lives of six people - become intertwined. And a strange story begins to spread....

Hallowmas 1144. With the harvest festival approaching, Gareth has returned from fighting in the south, hoping for a few months of peace with Gwen before the birth of their first child. But when an innocent foray to the beach turns up the murdered body of Prince Hywel's long lost cousin, a woman thought to have run away with a Dane five years earlier, it is Gareth and Gwen who are charged with discovering her killer.

May 1144. Newly wedded, Gareth and Gwen travel across the border into England on a diplomatic mission with Prince Hywel of Wales. Within moments of their arrival, however, the mission goes awry and a murder case drops (literally) at their feet. Hindered at every turn by a climate of civil war and constantly shifting political alliances, Gareth and Gwen race to solve the murder and expose a plot that threatens not only their lives, but the life of the future king of England himself.

England, 1487—Ludovic Sumerford knows he'll never see a penny from his father's estate. His three older brothers will make sure of that. Fortunately, his smuggling venture brings in more than a few sovereigns. But when he tells a local woman about the sudden death of her brother, money is the least of his worries. Meanwhile, King Henry's insecurity is testing the country to breaking point. He quietly seethes and plots, while rumors of a man claiming to be the rightful heir to the throne of England cause poor decisions.

As the winter of 1323 descends upon a windswept chapel on the edge of Dartmoor, who could blame the young priest, Father Mark, for seeking affection from Mary, the miller's daughter? But when Mary, and her unborn child, are found dead, Mark is the obvious suspect. Called to investigate, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock soon begin to have their doubts. Could one of Mary's many admirers have murdered her in a fit of jealousy? Or might it be someone even closer to home?

England, 1459: Cecily, duchess of York, is embroiled in a plot to topple the weak-minded King Henry VI from the throne. But when the Yorkists are defeated at the Battle of Ludford Bridge, Cecily’s family flee and abandon her to face a marauding Lancastrian army on her own. Cecily can only watch as her lands are torn apart and divided up by the ruthless Queen Marguerite.

Rome, 1518. The church is tarnished by greed. Peasants are rebelling. Tumultuous times demand drastic recourse - before the devil gets his due. Johann Faust is a renowned magician, astrologer, and chiromancer traveling through Germany with his successful troupe: the orphaned juggler Greta and his loyal companion Karl. The avaricious Pope Leo X now requires Johann’s services to replenish the papacy’s drained coffers through alchemy. But the devil, with whom a regretful Johann once agreed to an unholy trade for fame, wants something else.

Un thriller médiéval à mi-chemin entre Le Nom de la rose et Les Piliers de la terre, best-seller en Espagne. Et si une jeune scribe tenait entre ses mains le destin de l'Occident ? Franconie, an 799, à la veille du sacre de Charlemagne. Fille d'un célèbre scribe byzantin, Theresa est apprentie parcheminière.

A mysterious woman pleads for the help of Inspectors Frey and 'Nine-Nails' McGray. Her son, illegitimate scion of the Koloman family, has received an anonymous death threat - right after learning he is to inherit the best part of a vast wine-producing estate. In exchange for their protection, she offers McGray the ultimate cure for his sister, who has been locked in an insane asylum after brutally murdering their parents: the miraculous waters that spring in a small island in the remote Loch Maree.