Master Mercurius Mysteries

Three young girls have been abducted from their homes. The body of one has been found in a shallow grave. The other two are still missing. The murder has shocked everyone in the peaceful city of Delft, and the mayor is desperate to catch the perpetrator before panic can spread any further. With the bitterly cold January weather intensifying, it is doubtful that the other two girls are still alive. But whoever took them is still at large.

After successfully solving the case of the missing girls in Delft, Master Mercurius has made a name for himself as a private investigator. With unrest occurring both nationally and internationally, William of Orange is obsessed by plots against his leadership. He calls on Mercurius to help to spy on state officials. But before Mercurius has a chance to investigate, his colleague at the University of Leiden is killed. And when one of William's men is also murdered, Mercurius suspects there could be a serial killer on the loose.

Leiden, the Netherlands, 1676: Two years have passed since Master Mercurius last found himself embroiled in a murder case. But now a letter has arrived for him from Stadhouder William of Orange: Mercurius is wanted for another mission. William has decided he wants to marry. And he has his sights set on Princess Mary, the niece of King Charles II of England. William has decided that Mercurius, as an ordained minister, is the perfect person to travel to England and secure the hand of the princess on his behalf.

After a successful trip to England to secure the Princess Mary's hand in marriage to William of Orange, Master Mercurius is back at the University of Leiden. And once more, he finds himself embroiled in a local mystery. A farmer named Wolf was stabbed to death outside his home, and his neighbor Jaco has been arrested for the murder. But Jaco's wife Sara is convinced her husband is innocent, and Mercurius believes her. As Mercurius gathers the facts, it soon becomes clear that Wolf was a deeply unpopular man. But is that enough of a motive for murder?

The Dutch Stadhouder, William of Orange, has summoned Master Mercurius—and that is never good news. Mercurius has gained a reputation for himself with William for successfully undertaking diplomatic missions. And William is now paranoid that his own subjects—and the English exiles living in the Netherlands—are plotting against him. Mercurius is sent to gather information, but he soon finds himself caught up in another mystery. Three Jewish boys have vanished, and the local magistrates are doing nothing to investigate their disappearances.

Master Mercurius has once again been summoned to The Hague by Stadhouder William of Orange. And a letter from William is never good news. King Charles II of England has died and William, with his wife Mary, is now next in line to the throne once the current king, James II dies. But Charles II's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, has put a spanner in the works. Monmouth is being encouraged to stage a rebellion and take the English throne. William needs to stop him so as not to jeopardize his own claim, but he also wants to keep Monmouth as an ally.

After getting Master Mercurius jailed and nearly put to death with one of his schemes, the Stadhouder, William of Orange, has finally left Mercurius in peace. But Mercurius is not able to remain in Leiden for long. A friendly debate on the sin of witchcraft has been proposed between the University of Leiden and the University of Leuven. And the scholars are to meet part-way in the city of Maastricht.