Medieval Mystery Fiction

Anno 1156 auf der Burg Lare im Harz: Die junge Grafentochter Judith steht in Diensten von Kaiser Friedrich I., um dessen junge Gemahlin sie sich liebevoll kümmert. Sie interessiert sich leidenschaftlich für Kräuter- und Heilkunde - und für Silas, den maurischen Leibarzt des Kaisers, der sie nicht nur als Mediziner fasziniert. Doch ihre Liebe scheint keine Zukunft zu haben, denn Judith ist eine Adlige und Silas in den Augen der Welt nur ein Sklave.

London, 1385: Surrounded by ruthless courtiers - including his powerful uncle, John of Gaunt, and Gaunt's artful mistress, Katherine Swynford - England's young king, Richard II, is in mortal peril. Songs are heard across London - catchy verses said to originate from an ancient book that prophesies the ends of England's kings - and among the book's predictions is Richard's assassination. Only a few powerful men know that the cryptic lines derive from a "burnable book", a seditious work that threatens the stability of the realm.

È la primavera del 1227 e la regina di Castiglia è scomparsa in modo misterioso. Strane voci corrono per il regno e alcuni parlano di un intervento del Maligno. L'unico in grado di risolvere l'enigma è Ignazio da Toledo, grande conoscitore dei luoghi e delle genti grazie ai suoi numerosi viaggi tra Oriente e Occidente e alla sua capacità di risolvere arcani e antichi misteri. A Córdoba, dove Ignazio viene convocato, incontra un vecchio magister che gli parla di un libro che tutti stanno cercando.

In molti sono disposti a tutto pur di scoprire il segreto che porta all'antica reliquia. Ferrara, 1347. Il cavaliere Maynard de Rocheblanche sta indagando sulla truce morte del monaco Facio di Malaspina, collegata alla ricerca del leggendario Lapis exilii. Per far luce sulla vicenda, Maynard deve accedere alla corte estense e guadagnarsi la fiducia del marchese Obizzo, signore di Ferrara. Intanto, nella vicina abbazia di Pomposa, l'abate Andrea assiste impotente alla fuga del suo protetto, il giovane miniaturista Gualtiero de' Bruni, diretto ad Avignone con la speranza di ritrovare la madre.

Sulle tracce di un manoscritto antichissimo, un mercante di reliquie attraversa Italia, Francia e Spagna nel Duecento...

Cosa si nasconde dietro una reliquia di cui solo un monaco conosce il segreto? È l'agosto del 1346, quando il valoroso Maynard de Rocheblanche, sopravvissuto a una disfatta militare, entra in possesso di una pergamena con un enigma vergato. Quell'oscuro testo fa riferimento a una reliquia preziosa, avvolta nel mistero, il Lapis exilii.

Anno 1191. Es ist die Zeit nach Barbarossas Tod. Die ehemalige Äbtissin Judith und der maurische Arzt Silas fliehen über die Alpen nach Italien. Aus Liebe zu Silas hat Judith unerlaubt ihr Kloster verlassen. In einer einsamen Hütte in den Bergen vertraut ihnen eine sterbende Frau ihr Kind an. Kurz darauf werden die drei von Barbarossas Nachfolger Heinrich gefangen genommen. Als dieser schwer erkrankt, scheint dies die Chance auf Rettung zu sein, denn nur sie können ihn heilen.

Napoli, Anno del Signore 1229. La scia di omicidi lasciata da un pericoloso e sfuggente cavaliere costringe l'inquisitore Konrad von Marburg a indagare sulla setta dei Luciferiani, devota a un antichissimo culto astrale. Suger de Petit-Pont, un magister medicinae cacciato dall'università di Notre-Dame, si trova suo malgrado coinvolto nella vicenda, attirando su di sé i sospetti di von Marburg. Ma non sarà l'unico a cadere nelle sue mani, avide di assicurare un colpevole alla giustizia divina.

It is the year 1181, and an ageing, battle-worn Sir Philip Fitzwilliam contemplates the changes the last crusade inflicted on the landscape and on his estates. Sir Phillip, concerned by rumors of a shifting balance of power favoring Saladin’s Muslim armies in the Holy Land, fears yet another conflict. He contemplates the future of his estates and those of his two sons, Giles, his favorite, the other Raymond, an aspirant monk, and his beloved, gifted daughter...Aveline. This is her story.

When King Claudio sends Mangus the Magician and his faithful servant, Fabrizio, to Venice to steal a manuscript that explains a magical method of making money, they must succeed in their mission or risk death. The manuscript is key to obtaining great profits for the king-and a secure future for Mangus and Fabrizio.

The Monastery at Whitby is ruled over by the powerful and independent Abbess Hild. But when she needs someone to confide in, she turns to the honest warmth of her friend Fridgyth, the half-pagan herb-wife. A divisive and life-altering decision taken at the Great Synod is swiftly overshadowed as the monastery is ravaged by a deadly plague. As she tends the sick, Fridgyth starts to suspect that not all the deaths are natural. Despite Hild's stern warnings "not to meddle" she sets out to investigate.

The Lion of Mistra is the third in this epic historical series, shaped by the quest for a powerful relic which could save the endangered Byzantine Empire. It's a different world. Bayezid, leader of the Ottomans, is dead; his heirs, Suleyman and Mehmed, are at war with each other; and the dread Tamerlane, who was on the brink of invading China, is also dead. Luke is now pushed into the role of protector of Mistra.

Dopo anni di lotte e di vittorie, Giulio Cesare ha conquistato la Gallia. A Roma, tuttavia, gli avversari del grande condottiero, temendo il suo crescente potere, vogliono metterlo sotto processo, e persino il suo principale collaboratore e amico, Tito Labieno, lo ha abbandonato. Eppure, proprio quando sembra che l'unica scelta possibile sia rinunciare alle proprie ambizioni, Cesare getta il dado e sorprende tutti: varca il Rubicone con la sola XIII legione e muove verso Roma.

London, 1308. “All I need is a plan!” So says Oswald of Harlech, a misplaced Welshman in the heart of London. Besides his trade as a tinker, he also robs houses, cuts purses, plays a crooked shell game, and has a way with the ladies. But this time, caught in the act of robbing a house, he is blackmailed by the scheming Keeper of the King’s Wardrobe into stealing the Crown Jewels from the impenetrable Tower of London.

When Valeria Karjan's hand was given in marriage to the handsome and powerful Count Vlad Dracula, she dreamed of happiness but, instead, her life was filled with longing for her absent husband, their country ravaged by war. When Vlad a last returned from the battlefield, he was a changed man, an alluring and dangerous creature with a thirst for her blood...and more wives.

Virginia Henley's historical romances have won praise for their ability to "illuminate and entertain" ( Publishers Weekly). It is 1322, and the Marcher lords are rebelling against King Edward II. Lady Brianna de Beauchamp, daughter of a powerful Marcher, knows she should not involve herself in the battle. But when she meets dangerously handsome Wolf Mortimer, who has the gift of second sight, she cannot deny her passions.

Stylish gentlemen and ladies await their carriages in the Victorian London night. But lurking in the shadows is one of the creatures of the night, one who brings chilling fear to those he encounters, a man who cannot die yet must prey upon the blood of others to prolong his doomed existence...the vampire Dracula.

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.

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.

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.