Alan Gordon Books In Order

Fools’ Guild Books In Publication Order

  1. Thirteenth Night (1998)
  2. Jester Leaps In (2000)
  3. A Death in the Venetian Quarter (2002)
  4. The Widow of Jerusalem (2003)
  5. An Antic Disposition (2004)
  6. The Lark’s Lament (2007)
  7. The Moneylender of Toulouse (2008)
  8. The Parisian Prodigal (2010)

Anthologies In Publication Order

  1. Sketching (2018)

Fools’ Guild Book Covers

Anthologies Book Covers

Alan Gordon Books Overview

Thirteenth Night

In late December 1200 A.D. a merchant arrives at the tavern near the Guildhall of the Fools’ Guild with a message for one of the jesters. The message is brief: ‘Orsino is dead.’ Fifteen years before, the jester, using the name of Feste, secretly interceded on the Guild’s behalf in a dynastic crisis in the Duchy of Orsino, thus spoiling the plans of Saladin’s agent, Malvolio. These events, recorded centuries later somewhat differently in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, led to Malovino’s humiliation and his oath of revenge. Now, with the unexpected death of the Duke of Orsino, Feste suspects murder and sees the hand of Malvolio behind it. With the backing of the Guild, Feste secretly returns to Orsino disguised as a merchant, to find out what really happened to the Duke and to ferret out Malvolio. But fifteen years is a long time and Malvolio could be disguised as anyone. Only one thing is certain: Feste must uncover and foil the plot before he is found out by Malvolio, who has been planning his revenge on Feste for a very long time.

Jester Leaps In

In 13th century Europe, political turmoil is the order of the day and the Fool’s Guild and its agents jesters, jugglers, and knaves to a man works behind the scenes to manipulate events, trying to maintain a balance of power. Theophilos, a member of the Guild known by many names, is still recovering from his last mission during which he was severely wounded and nearly lost his life but, in the person of Viola, found himself an apprentice and a wife. But there is no rest for the wicked. While he is recovering on the Dalmatian coast, the Guild approaches him with another mission. A crusade is being launched, with Venice as the staging ground, but some believe that Venice means to turn it to it’s own ends. At the same time, there is trouble in Byzantine throne a pretender to the throne is gathering European backers. And to make matters worse, all of the Guild’s agents in Constantinople have gone suddenly and mysteriously missing. So now, the newly married Theophilos and Viola must go to Constantinople to gather information, thwart the rivals of the Guild, stop the war, and maybe just maybe stay alive.

A Death in the Venetian Quarter

In 1203, the relative peace of the Byzantine Empire is imperiled when the ships of the Fourth Crusade show up outside the walls of Constantinople. Instead of traveling to the Holy Land to battle the infidels, the Crusade, having sailed out of Venice, has been subverted and is now besieging the city. The jester known as Feste, his wife Viola, and their compatriots within the city are faced with catastrophe as the peace the Fool’s Guild has worked so hard to maintain is about to be shattered. With such a disaster looming, the death of one silk merchant in the Venetian Quarter of Constantinople seems insignificant. But Philoxenites, the Imperial Treasurer and one of the most power schemers at court, has taken a special interest in the case and wants Feste to investigate Venetian merchant’s death. The merchant, of course, was not what he appeared to be and, if Constantinople is to have any hope of surviving the troops outside its gates, Feste must quickly uncover what forces were at work when the merchant lost his life.

The Widow of Jerusalem

1204 A.D. The Fools Guild is on the run from an increasingly intolerant Church. Arriving too late at the Guildhall to join them, the jester couple Theophilos and Claudia and their newborn daughter Portia must now flee the Papal army, having first risked their lives to steal, of all things, a tavern sign. As they journey across the Alps, Theophilos recounts to his wife a story from the Third Crusade, of the most beautiful woman in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and her dwarf jester, Scarlet. In 1191, as Richard the Lionhearted leads his forces in an attempt to recapture Jerusalem from the army of Saladin, Theophilos and Scarlet are quietly manipulating events to bring about an end to the bloodshed. Their mission leads them to Tyre, the only city in the Kingdom of Jerusalem to withstand Saladin. Governed by a rogue general, the city is aswarm with refugees, spies, and splintered factions vying for power and position, and even success may only prove fatal. The key chesspiece amidst the swirling intrigues remains Isabelle, the Queen of Jerusalem, desired by many but married against her will to a man decades her senior. But there are forces at work that will stop at nothing, and it is up to Scarlet to protect the interests of the Guild, the lives of the people, and the future of Isabelle. Drawn from actual events, The Widow of Jerusalem is a tale of intrigue and ambition, love fulfilled and love unrequited, and a trio of historical deaths that have never been fully explained. Until now.

An Antic Disposition

In 1204 A.D., the Fools’ Guild is on the run from an enraged Pope Innocent III and the Papal troops he’s dispatched to destroy them. Now, hidden in their secret enclave deep within the Black Forest, the fools, troubadours and novitiates, including the jester couple Theophilos and Claudia, come together for their evening gathering to hear Father Gerald, their ancient leader, tell one of the greatest stories from the history of the Guild. It begins in Denmark, during a time of civil war when three men laid claim to the throne while a fourth watched and bided his time. Into the strategically crucial town of Slesvig, the Guild sends Terence of York, who is promptly dubbed Yorick by the Duke’s young son, Amleth. What unfolds is a tale of treachery, tragedy and bloodshed that is the true story behind one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies. But Father Gerald’s history contains secrets never known to anyone outside the Guild, and as he recounts it, Theophilos feels a chill steal over his heart. For not even Father Gerald knows the ending of this story. But Theophilos does.

The Lark’s Lament

In 1204 A.D., the Fools’ Guild is in hiding, under attack from the forces of Pope Innocent III. Theophilos and Claudia, jesters with the Guild, are sent to enlist the help of a former guild member the minstrel Folquet, now the abbot Folq at a Cistercian monastery to intercede with the pope on their behalf. But while they are at the abbey pleading their case, a gruesome murder takes place a monk is killed in the librarium and a cryptic message written on the wall in his blood.
In the wake of the murder, Folq issues an ultimatum to Theophilos. If he learns the meaning of the message and finds the killer, Folq will help the Guild. But if the Jester fails, Folq will have the pope declare the Guild anathema. With the future of the Guild on the line, Theophilos, his wife, and their apprentice go off in search of Folquet’s past and the meaning of the message, uncovering a long ago series of events that were as deadly then as they are proving to be now.

The Moneylender of Toulouse

In 1204 A.D., Theophilos, jester and agent for the Fools Guild, is sent to Toulouse with his jester wife, infant daughter and young apprentice with one simple mission get the current Bishop to quietly retire so that the position can be filled with one more sympathetic to the Guild’s goals. Arriving just before Christmas, they quickly learn that the Bishop is in some hot water with a man widely known as the local money lender. A man who, a day after pressing the Bishop particularly hard, is found floating face down in a tanner’s vat. Now, with time running out for him to accomplish their mission and thus protect the Guild, Theophilos has but one option left: find out what actually happened the night that The Moneylender of Toulouse ended up so spectacularly dead.

The Parisian Prodigal

Only a fool would pass this one up. Laurie R. King In 1205, Theophilos a fool by trade, a family man by choice, and a spy by design belongs, along with his family, to the Fools Guild, a group that secretly maintains the fragile order of society. In Toulouse, that order is threatened when, unexpectedly, a man claiming to be a full brother of the ruling count is found one morning in a local bordello next to a dead who*re, killed with his own sword. Now, Theophilos and his family must uncover the truth.

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