Medieval Historical Mystery

Año 1284. Cae la noche en una de las ciudades medievales más bellas del mundo. Poderosas montañas y murallas inexpugnables la protegen de los reinos que la rodean y codician. ¿Te atreves a caminar por sus estrechas calles, por sus empinadas cuestas y sus asombrosos rincones? Empieza a oscurecer. Sientes frío. Escuchas los rumores acerca de las inexplicables muertes que se están sucediendo. De los secretos que esconden los gremios. De la peligrosa mujer encerrada en las mazmorras.

Susanna Dallet is the daughter of a Flemish painter and wife to a philandering husband, living in the court of Henry VIII. When her husband is murdered, Susanna is suddenly left with a household to provide for and nothing to her name. Her days of anonymity are over when Susanna finds that guild rules preventing women from working do not apply at the king’s court, and she manages to secure a position as a miniature-portrait painter. Before long, she has not only made a name for herself, she is close to those who surround Princess Mary. But even in this lofty company, Susanna is not safe....

1579, St Andrews. A thirteen-year-old boy meets his death on the streets of the university city of St Andrews, and suspicion falls upon one of the regents at the university, Nicholas Colp. Hew Cullan, a young lawyer recently returned home from Paris, uncovers a complex tale of passion and duplicity, of sexual desire in conflict with the repressive atmosphere of the Protestant Kirk and the austerity of the academic cloister.

Since losing his knighthood, Crispin Guest has crafted a new reputation for himself. From the shadowy corners of London to the halls of the royal court he is known as the Tracker, an investigator for hire who can find anyone or anything. But when the Archbishop of Canterbury hires him to expose the culprit threatening the sacred relics of a holy martyr, Crispin finds himself a stranger in an unfamiliar land.

When an unwelcome visitor arrives at Hild's monastery, Fridgyth the herb-wife is forced to hold her tongue. The widow of the fierce Mercian king, who once brought death and destruction to the coastal community, is an uneasy sight for many. Although everyone is thankful for Northumbria's fragile peace, painful memories are still fresh, and some can think of nothing but revenge. A young tanner is found dead after a mysterious liaison - his brother is nowhere to be seen, and the boy who used to help him is terrified to speak.

1236. Beautiful Ailenor of Provence, cultured and intelligent, is only 13 when she marries Henry III. Aware of the desperate importance of providing heirs to secure the throne from those who would snatch it away, she is ruthless in her dealings with Henry's barons. As conflict escalates between them, Ailenor's shrewd and clever Savoyard uncles come to support her, but her growing political power is threatened when Henry's half-siblings also arrive at court. Henry and Ailenor become embroiled in an unpopular war to protect Gascony, the last English territory on the continent.

Summer 1381. The Great Revolt has been crushed. Brother Athelstan, meanwhile, is preparing for a pilgrimage to St Thomas Becket's shrine in Canterbury to give thanks for the well-being of his congregation after the violent rebellion. But preparations are disrupted when Athelstan is summoned to the scene of a brutal triple murder.

May 1381.The Great Revolt draws ever nearer. The Upright Men openly roam the streets of London, waiting for the violence to begin. Their mysterious envoy, the Herald of Hell, appears at night, terrifying those who oppose them. But who is he? When his chancery clerk is found hanged in a notorious Southwark brothel, Brother Athelstan is summoned to investigate. In the dead man's possession was a manuscript containing a great secret which he had been striving to decipher. Can he crack the code before the Great Revolt begins?

Richard and Jack finally return from Europe to a troubled England. Will they manage to complete the task they have been set, and release Lizbet and the rest of the men from their Island jail? Will they beat Andrew Kineer back to England, or will he arrive before them and succeed in striking his own deal with the Knights of St John? Mary is still on the throne, although her state of health is of increasing concern to those around her. Philip, armed with much of England's wealth has left her to continue with the war against France.

“Action, drama, desire, revenge: Shadow Music includes all the necessary ingredients for romantics to plunge into the moors, mountains and magical myth of medieval Scotland.”—The Roanoke Times Prized for her exquisite beauty, Princess Gabrielle of St. Biel, the daughter of one of...

York, 1367. Owen Archer and his old comrade, Ned Townley, are each leading companies of the king's men north of York to Fountains and Rievaulx abbeys respectively, on a mission to win the support of the powerful abbots for William of Wykeham becoming the Bishop of Winchester. But trouble stalks Ned Townley—Sir William of Wyndesore's men at Windsor suspect he killed a page in a jealous rage over his betrothed. Is the rumor true?

The narrow, stinking streets of medieval London can sometimes be a dark place. Burglary, arson, kidnapping, and murder are everyday events. The streets even echo with rumors of the mysterious art of alchemy being used to make gold for the king. Join Seb, a talented but crippled artist, as he is drawn into a web of lies to save his handsome brother from the hangman's rope. Will he find an inner strength in these, the darkest of times, or will events outside his control overwhelm him? Only one thing is certain - if Seb can't save his brother, nobody can.

Anno Domini 1040. Christianity has swept unstoppably across Scandinavia, leaving few enclaves of the old ways clinging on to their fading world as King Olof of Sweden works to convert his people. A young warrior, Halfdan, has witnessed the ‘mercy' of the Christian lords, watched his people attacked, his village burned and the Odin stone toppled as heretical. Watched his father cut down by an ambitious Christian jarl and his zealous priest. Among the ashes of his world, he vowed an oath of vengeance before all the gods.

In the summer of 1143, William of Lythwood arrives at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, but it is not a joyous occasion—he's come back from his pilgrimage in a coffin. William's body is accompanied by his young attendant Elave, whose mission is to secure a burial place for his master on the abbey grounds. An already difficult task is complicated when Elave drunkenly expresses his heretical opinions, and capital charges are filed. When a violent death follows, Sheriff Hugh Beringar taps his friend Brother Cadfael for help.

After losing his knighthood, Crispin Guest has found a new calling as the Tracker, a private investigator who can locate anything—or anyone. Now famed French alchemist Nicholas Flamel needs Crispin to locate his wife, Perenelle, and his apprentice, Thomas Cornhill. But the case takes a sinister turn when Flamel's apprentice is found murdered. The kidnapper promises that Flamel's wife will be next...unless he hands over his precious Philosopher's Stone, a magical object that can turn lead into gold.

1264. Storm clouds are gathering as Simon de Montfort and the barons of the realm challenge the power of Henry III. The barons demand reform; the crown demands obedience. England is on the brink of civil war. Adam de Norton, a young squire devoted to the virtues of chivalry, longs only to be knighted, and to win back his father's lands. Then a bloody hunting accident leaves him with a new master: the devilish Sir Robert de Dunstanville, who does not hesitate to use the blackest stratagems in pursuit of victory.

Eager to return to his native Norway, Thorgrim agrees to participate in one last raid under the command of a man he does not trust. But the Northmen, he finds, are no longer simply invaders on foreign soil. They have become a part of the Irish kings' ongoing struggle for power, and, far from securing a means to return home, Thorgrim and his men are plunged into a battle for the throne of Tara - a battle that will test their strength and loyalty as none has before.

In summer of 1144, a strange calm has settled over England. The armies of King Stephen and Empress Maudhave temporarily exhausted each other. Brother Cadfael, herbalist-sleuth of Shrewsbury's Benedictine Abbey, agrees to accompany wise young Brother Mark on Church business in Wales. But the brothers soon find themselves caught up in yet another feud. A Welsh prince has banished his brother, accusing him of the treacherous murder of an ally, and the country teeters on the brink of civil war. Cadfael has to survive the brotherly quarrel that could plunge an entire kingdom into chaos.

It is four years since the death of King Edward I, but his reign of terror has cast long shadows over the kingdom. At Holyrood Abbey, sheltered in the depths of the Welsh march, the old king's former bodyguards protect his secret relics and watch over a mysterious prisoner who is kept in the abbey's dungeon. But their peaceful existence is shattered when Abbot Henry is poisoned. Summoned to Holyrood, Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the Secret Seal, finds the fortress in chaos. Brothers Anselm and Richard have been brutally slain by nails driven deep into their skulls.

Al-Andalus 998 AD. Galen and Alcuin have been taken prisoner by the Moors. Galen is a Moorish doctor’s latest project. Alcuin languishes in the dungeons, watching over the bishop, who is slowly being tortured to death for a treasure. Galen and Alcuin must learn how to survive in a strange new kingdom which is rapidly turning hostile towards Christians. Martyrdom, a life of slavery, or escape are their only options. But how can they escape when they have been separated?