Paul Doherty Books In Order

Satan in St Mary’s

1284 and Edward I is battling a traitorous movement founded by the late Simon de Montfort, the rebel who lost his life at the Battle of Evesham in 1258. The Pentangle, the movement’s underground society whose members are known to practice the black arts, is thought to be behind the apparent suicide of Lawrence Duket, one of the King’s loyal subjects, in revenge for Duket’s murder of one of their supporters. The King, deeply suspicious of the affair, orders his wily Chancellor, Burnell, to look into the matter. Burnell chooses a sharp and clever clerk from the Court of King’s Bench, Hugh Corbett, to conduct the investigation. Corbett together with his manservant, Ranulf, late of Newgate is swiftly drawn into the tangled politics and dark and dangerous underworld of medieval London.

The Angel of Death

In 1298, Edward I of England invaded Scotland and brutally sacked the town of Berwick, razing to the ground the Red House of the Flemings who had permission to trade there. He little knew his action would have far reaching repercussions. A year later, Edward convokes a great assembly of the realm in St Paul’s Cathedral. They are to hear Mass after which the main celebrant, Walter de Montfort, has been delegated to lecture the King on not taxing the Church. During the Mass, de Montfort dies a sudden and violent death. Hugh Corbett, the King’s clerk, is given the task of solving the mystery and tracking down the murderer. Against the background of Edward’s struggle to maintain himself, both at home and aborad, Corbett’s investigations become tortuous and laced with danger…

The Prince Of Darkness

Hugh Corbett, a clerk and spy in the court of Edward I, is sent to investigate the mysterious death of Lady Eleanor Belmont, former mistress to Prince Philip of Wales, and he discovers a scandal that could entangle the English Crown.

Murder Wears a Cowl

In early 1302 a violent serial killer lurks in the city of London, slitting the throats of prostitutes. And when Lady Somerville, one of the Sisters of St Martha, is murdered in the same barbaric fashion, her death is closely followed by that of Father Benedict in suspicious circumstances. Edward of England turns to his trusted master clerk, Hugh Corbett, to reveal the identity of the bloodthirsty assassin. Joining Corbett on his mission are his devious manservant Ranulf and his faithful horseman Maltote. In the dark, fetid streets of the city and in the desolate abbey grounds, they encounter danger and deceit at every turn. Only Ragwort, the mad beggar, has seen the killer strike, and the one clue that Corbett has to help him is Lady Somerville’s cryptic message: ‘Calcullus non facit monachum ‘ the cowl does not make the monk.

The Assassin in the Greenwood

In a new mystery for Hugh Corbett, the fourteenth century clerk and spy for England’s Edward I, confronts a bloody secret war against France’s Philip IV, a Robin Hood wannabe, a massacre of tax collectors, and a mysterious murder.

Satan’s Fire

1303 and the Old Man of the Mountain remembers back to when he nearly killed Edward I thirty years before. He now decides to release an imprisoned leper knight to avenge old grievances and take the King’s life. A few months later two nuns are returning to their monastery in York, where they are confronted by the horrific sight of a man being consumed by fire, the sickly smell of burning flesh lingering in the air. News of the grisly death greets Edward as he arrives in York for secret negotiations with the leaders of the military Templar Order. His unease deepens when an attempt is made on his life. When the assassin, wearing Templar livery, is found dead having been engulfed by a mysterious fire Edward immediately turns to his Keeper of the Secret Seal, Hugh Corbett, to investigate.

The Demon Archer

The death of Lord Henry Fitzalan on the feast of St Matthew, 1303, is a matter widely reported but little mourned. Infamous for his lecherous tendencies, his midnight trysts with a coven of witches and his boundless self interest, he was a man of few friends. So when Hugh Corbett is asked to bring his murderer to justice it is not a matter of finding a suspect but of choosing between them. Immediate suspicion falls on Lord Henry’s chief verderer, Robert Verlian. His daughter had been the focus of the Lord’s roving eye in the weeks before his death and Fitzalan was not a man to take no for an answer. But the culprit could just as easily be Sir William, the dead man’s younger brother. It is no secret that Sir William covets the Fitzalan estate, but would he kill to inherit it? For Sir Hugh Corbett the possibilities are endless, but even he could never have imagined the real truth behind the murder!

Corpse Candle

The year is 1303, and the Benedictine monks of the abbey of St. Martin’s in the Marsh are accustomed to a comfortable existence within their sprawling, peaceful estate. But that begins to change when Abbot Stephen, a well respected leader and a personal friend of King Edward I, is found brutally murdered in his chamber with the door and windows locked from the inside. Soon Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the King’s Seal, arrives with his two henchmen to investigate. Rumors about the ghost of robber baron Sir Geoffrey Mandeville riding through the Lincolnshire fens with a retinue of ghastly horseme*n have been circulating by way of explanation; Mandeville’s ghost is also thought to be responsible for the Corpse Candles glowing in the dark, supposedly forewarning men of their own deaths. But Corbett disregards the tales, suspecting that someone much closer to home is responsible for the bloody acts. As the mysterious death toll mounts, Corbett sets about unearthing the dark secrets that the abbey and its inhabitants have been hiding for far too long.

The Magician’s Death

Scholars conven at Corfe Castle, to crack the code of Roger Bacon’s Book of Secrets. When murder and mayhem ensue, Sir Hugh Corbett must thread through a maze of mystery while trying to unlock Bacon s great secrets.

The Waxman Murders

In 1300, an English privateer named ‘The Wax Men’ was trapped and overrun by two powerful war cogs flying the streamers of the powerful Hanseatic League of North Germany. The ship was carrying a casket containing the ‘Carta Mysteriosa’, a collection of valuable and detailed maps and sea charts. The rulers of Europe, not to mention their merchant princes, would wade through a sea of blood to obtain them. Three years later Wilhelm Von Paulents, a representative of the Hanseatic League, comes to England. Rumours have it that he owns the sea charts and Sir Hugh Corbett is sent to negotiate with Von Paulents. But the German visitors fall ill of some mysterious ailment and the manor of Maubisson, which has been set aside for them, is cordoned off in accordance with city health regulations. Then, on the morning of the fourth Sunday in Advent, Corbett is summoned to a scene of bloody mayhem and murder: Von Paulents, his wife, son and clerk have been barbarously assassinated. The ‘Carta Mysteriosa’ have not been stolen. So why were the murders committed and by whom? Corbett investigates and, once again, he enters the world of shadows to confront the Seed of Cain.

Nightshade

January 1304 and Hugh Corbett, devoted emissary of King Edward I, has been charged with yet another dangerous mission. Scrope, an unscrupulous manor lord, has reneged on his promise to hand over a priceless ornate cross he stole from the Templars during the Crusades. Furthermore, he has massacred as heretics fourteen members of a religious order, whose corpses now hang in the woods near Mistleham in Essex. The King, determined to restore order, sends Corbett to Mistleham in his stead. But as Corbett reaches the troubled village, it becomes obvious that the situation has worsened. A mysterious bowman has appeared, killing townspeople at random. Is one of the Brethren responsible, or have the Templars arrived to wreak revenge? Can Corbett restore Mistleham to peace, and return the treasure to the King, before further blood is shed?

The Mysterium

In Paul Doherty’s brilliant new novel, will Hugh Corbett find the deadly assassin stalking London’s streets? February 1304, and London is in crisis. A succession of brutal murders shocks the city as it comes to terms with the fall from power of Walter Evesham, Chief Justice in the Court of the King’s Bench. Accused of bribery and corruption, Evesham has sought sanctuary to atone for his sins. When Evesham is discovered dead in his cell at the Abbey of Sion though, it appears that The Mysterium, a cunning killer brought to justice by Evesham, has returned to wreak havoc. Sir Hugh Corbett is ordered to investigate the murder. Has The Mysterium returned or is another killer imitating his brutal methods? As Corbett traces the ancient sins that hold the key to discovering the murderer’s identity he must face his most cunning foe yet.

The White Rose Murders

In 1517 the English armies have defeated and killed James IV of Scotland at Flodden and James’s widow queen, Margaret, sister to Henry VIII, has fled to England, leaving her crown under a Council of Regency. Roger Shallot is drawn into a web of mystery and murder by his close friendship with Benjamin Daunbey, the nephew of Cardinal Wolsey, first minister of Henry VIII. Benjamin and Roger are ordered into Margaret’s household to resolve certain mysteries as well as to bring about her restoration to Scotland. They begin by questioning Selkirk, a half mad physician imprisoned in the Tower. He is subsequently found poisoned in a locked chamber guarded by soldiers. The only clue is a poem of riddles. However, the poem contains the seeds for other gruesome murders. The faceless assassin always leaves a white rose, the mark of Les Blancs Sangliers, a secret society plotting the overthrow of the Tudor monarchy…
This novel was previously published under the pseudonym Michael Clynes.

The Poisoned Chalice

Sir Roger Shallot and his scholarly master, Benjamin, are sent to Paris at the behest of King Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey to investigate the murder of British diplomat Richard Falconer, a crime that may be tied to an unidentified, high ranking French spy.

The Grail Murders

When Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason, the rogue Roger Shallot and solemn Benjamin Daubney are ordered to watch and then to find what Stafford sought the Holy Grail and Excalibur or meet Stafford’s fate themselves.

A Brood of Vipers

Raffish Sir Roger Shallot, servant to Cardinal Wolsey’s nephew during the reign of Henry VIII, must solve a new mystery that involves his traveling to Italy, contending with Turkish corsairs, coping with black magic, and, possibly, saving all of Europe.

The Gallows Murders

When the feared royal executioners, the Gallowsmen, begin to die grisly deaths themselves and a mysterious figure attempts to blackmail King Henry VIII, roguish Sir Roger Shallot must unravel a treasonous plot against the throne of England.

The Relic Murders

In the autumn of 1523, Roger Shallot, self proclaimed physician, rogue, charlatan and secret emissary of King Henry VIII, has nothing to do. His master, Benjamin Daunbey, has been sent to Italy on a diplomatic mission, leaving him in charge of their manor outside Ipswich. Shallot, forbidden both to practise the art of medicine and to approach the beautiful Miranda, takes to reading. Discovering the potential wealth which can be accrued by the finding and selling of true relics, he goes in search of his own. Almost immediately he is in trouble and in prison. Rescued by the return of his master and the influence of Cardinal Wolsey, Shallot finds himself at court, where he is ordered by the King and Cardinal to break the law to steal back for the crown the Orb of Charlemagne, now under close guard at the priory at Clerkenwell. Benjamin and Roger have no choice but to agree to the task! Before long they are drawn, not only into the shadowy underworld of Tudor London and the illegal trade of relics, but also into murder and blackmail.

The Nightingale Gallery

It is 1376, and the famed Black Prince has died of a terrible rotting sickness, closely followed by his father, King Edward III. The crown of England is now left in the hands of a mere boy the future Richard II and the great nobles have gathered like hungry wolves around the empty throne. A terrible power struggle threatens the country, and one of London’s powerful merchant princes is foully murdered within a few days of Edward’s death. Coroner Sir John Cranston and Dominican monk Brother Athelstan are ordered to investigate, and the body count begins to rise, Cranston and Athelstan are drawn ever deeper into a dark web of intrigue.

The House Of The Red Slayer

The Constable of the Tower of London, Sir Ralph Whitton, is found murdered in a cold, bleak chamber. The door is still locked from the inside and guarded by trusted retainers so how did the assassin get in? And why was Sir Ralph so terrified by a message he received a few days before his death?

Murder Most Holy

It is the early summer of 1379 and Sir John Cranston Coroner of the city of London has trapped himself in a wager with Signior Gian Galeazzo, Lord of Cremona, who has challenged him to resolve a certain murder mystery within two weeks. Men have been repeatedly found dead in the scarlet chamber of one of Cremona’s manors. They have no marks upon them, they have neither drunk nor eaten poison, and there are no secret passageways or entrances to the room. They are united only by the have awful expressions of terror upon their faces. Realizing that his reputation and future wealth now rest upon the solving of this mystery, Cranston seeks the help of his faithful secretarius Brother Athelstan in untangling the perplexing case.

The Anger Of God

In autumn 1379, the power of the British crown is invested in John of Gaunt, and the kingdom is seething with discontent. The French are attacking the southern ports and peasants are planning a revolt organized by a mysterious leader who proclaims himself IRA DEI, The Anger Of God. Meanwhile Gaunt’s tenuous plans are plunged into chaos by a series of bloody murders in London. In desperation, Gaunt turns to Sir John Cranston to catch the killer and recover a vanished king’s ransom in gold. Together with his ally Brother Athelstan, Cranston must face threats from the most powerful clas*ses as well as attacks from the seedy underworld along with a chilling exorcism in order to bring a subtle murderer to justice.

By Murder’s Bright Light

It is the winter of 1379 and a sea of trouble is besetting England as French privateers continue to attack the southern coast on a path to threaten London itself. In response an English flotilla of warships, with God’s Bright Light in its number, has dropped anchor in the Thames. When the sun rises on the flotilla s first morning, the first mate and two of the crew of God s Bright Light have disappeared without a trace. Sir John Cranston the wine loving Coroner of the City and his clerk Brother Athelstan are summoned to resolve the mysteries on board the ill omened warship. In particular, they must search out the truth behind the death of Sir Henry Ospring, who after visiting the ship s captain was later viciously stabbed to death in a tavern chamber. As Cranston and Brother Athelstan investigate, they find themselves in the thick of a bloody battle as scandal, treason, and murder rule the day.

The House Of Crows

It is 1380 and the British King’s parliament is debating on whether to grant money and supplies to the Regent John of Gaunt for his war against the French. Following the assassination of the Shrewsbury representatives, John orders Sir John Cranston London’s coroner to investigate lest the parliament suspect the Regent himself of committing the crime. Meanwhile both Cranston and his ally Brother Athelstan have their own problems: the coroner is puzzled by a thief stealing cats from Cheapside, and Athelstan is concerned by claims that a devil is prowling his parish. Against the colorful pageantry of medieval court life and the dark slums of London, Cranston and Brother Athelstan must pit their wits against an assassin in The House Of Crows.

The Assassin’s Riddle

It is the summer of 1380 and the corpse of Edwin Chapler clerk of the Office of the Green Wax of the Chancery has been pulled from the Thames. Though Chapler’s death was caused by drowning, he also received a vicious blow to the back of the head before his plunge into the river. Bartholomew Drayton a usurer and money lender is then found dead in his strongroom, a crossbow firmly embedded in his chest. Sir John Cranston, the Coroner of the City of London, comes to survey the scene and is perplexed to find the windowless strongroom was locked and barred from the inside at the time of the murder. When other clerks are found murdered, each with a riddle pinned to his corpse, Cranston enlists the help of his secretarius Brother Athelstan, and together they must pit their wits against a deadly adversary bent on murder and mayhem.

The Devil’s Domain

In the summer of 1380 a French captain is murdered in Hawkmere Manor a lonely, gloomy dwelling place otherwise known as The Devil’s Domain which is used by Regent John of Gaunt to house French prisoners captured during the bloody battles waged on the Narrow Seas. Sir John Cranston and Brother Athelstan are summoned to investigate the mysterious death but their path is riddled with obstacles. How could the murderer have entered the Frenchman s chamber when the room was locked from within? Their aide in the investigation, Sir Maurice Maltravers, is more of a hindrance than a help due to his suffering from the misery of heartbreak. Lady Angelica, the woman he intended to marry, has been whisked away to a convent by her tyrannical and disapproving father. It soon becomes apparent to Cranston and Brother Athelstan that only when the lovers are reunited will any progress be made in the murder investigation.

The Field Of Blood

After the discovery of three savagely murdered bodies in his parish, Brother Athelstan finds himself involved in the hunt for a dangerous killer. It is clear that two of the victims a who*re and a preacher surprised the assassin, who was then forced to kill them. But the identity of the third victim and the reason someone would go to so much trouble to kill him remains a mystery. Could the slaying have any connection with Sir John Cranston’s attempt to save a woman unjustly accused of stabbing a clerk?

The House of Shadows

In the late autumn of 1380, Brother Athelstan and his parish council are busy preparing for the annual Christmas mystery play when two young who*res are found slain at a Southwark tavern. Their deaths are only the beginning of a series of gruesome killings which occur around the parish of St. Erconwald s. A whole host of mysterious characters have assembled to this pageant of murder, among them the Misericord, master thief and con man; the Judas man, a bounty hunter who tracks down outlaws; and the Knights of the Golden Falcon, who assemble to celebrate their annual reunion. Brother Athelstan and Sir John Cranston must resolve not only the various grizzly deaths but also their source: the Great Robbery of the Lombard treasure which occurred in Southwark some 20 years earlier.

Bloodstone

An intriguing new Brother Athelstan historical mystery December, 1380. When the corpse of Sir Robert Kilverby is discovered in a locked room, Brother Athelstan accompanies the King’s coroner to investigate. For Sir Robert had in his possession a priceless relic, a sacred Bloodstone, which has now disappeared. Did Sir Robert die of natural causes or was he murdered? Athelstan is sceptical of rumours of a curse hanging over Sir Robert, but when it is discovered that a second old soldier has been gruesomely slain on the same night, the rumours no longer seem so far fetched…

An Ancient Evil

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A Tapestry of Murders

Chaucer’s pilgrims, quarrelling amongst themselves, are now in open countryside enjoying the fresh spring weather as they progress slowly towards Canterbury. A motley collection of travellers, they each have their dark secrets, hidden passions and complex lives. As they shelter in a tavern from a sudden April shower they choose the Man of Law to narrate the next tale of fear and sinister dealings. In August 1358, the Dowager Queen Isabella, mother of King Edward III, the ‘She Wolf of France’, who betrayed and destroyed her husband because of her adulterous infatuation for Roger Mortimer, lies dying of the pestilence in the sombre fortress of Castle Rising, where her ‘loving’ son has kept her incarcerated. According the Man of Law, Isabella dies and her body is taken along the Mile End Road and laid to rest in Greyfriars next to the mangled remains of her lover, who has paid dearly for his presumption in loving a queen. Nevertheless, as in life so in death Isabella causes intrigue, violence and murder. Nicholas Chirke, an honest young lawyer, is brought in to investigate the strange events following her death and quickly finds himself at his wits’ end trying to resolve the mysteries before a great scandal unfolds.

A Tournament of Murders

When a medieval knight, Gilbert Savage, learns from his dying squire the true nature of his heritage and his father’s disgraceful death, he vows to avenge his family’s name.’

The Hangman’s Hymn

Stumbling upon an execution, Chaucer’s pilgrims witness a hanging that leaves the carpenter in a dead faint. That evening, he narrates the tale of a Gloucester hangman whose involvement in the secretive punishment of three witches unleashes a vicious spate of revenge killings.

A Haunt of Murder

As the sun sets, Chaucer’s pilgrims find themselves lost in a Kent forest rumoured to be haunted. Huddled around the fire, trying to ignore the cries of screech owls and other, more frightening sounds of the night, the Clerk of Oxford agrees to tell a ghostly tale of love and death that will chill the blood.

A Shrine of Murders

When a series of murders paralyzes the town of Canterbury in the fifteenth century, physician and chemist Kathryn Swinbrooke, assisted by bumbling Irish soldier Colum Murtagh, searches for a killer with literary tastes and rather personal motives.

The Eye of God

Physician and chemist Kathryn Swinbrooke of Canterbury, England, returns in her second medieval mystery, full of Chaucerian allusions, to investigate, with soldier Colum Murtagh, a series of murders connected with the disappearance of a royal relic, The Eye of God.

The Merchant of Death

The third mystery in a medieval series set in Canterbury continues the unlikely partnership of physician Kathryn Swinbrooke and soldier Colum Murtagh as a painter confesses to murder and Kathryn and Colum are trapped in a snowstorm with a killer. By the author of The Eye of God.

The Book of Shadows

Medieval physician Kathryn Swinbrooke races against time to solve the murder of Tenebrae, an evil magus and blackmailer, to save her beloved Colum Murtagh, a soldier for the crown, and uncovers a host of suspects, including an anxious group of London goldsmiths.

Saintly Murders

In the late summer of 1472, medieval physician and apothecary Kathryn Swinbrooke is summoned to investigate yet another puzzling situation in Canterbury. She is appointed by the Archbishop as Advocatus Diaboli the Devil’s Advocate to argue against the beatification of Roger Atworth, a friar in the Order of the Sack and the confessor of Dame Cecily of York, King Edward’s mother. Atworth has died under mysterious circumstances, and there are rumors afloat of miraculous happenings surrounding his body. At the same time, an infestation of rats has begun to afflict Canterbury. Never in the history of the city has such an invasion occurred, and the topic is one everyone’s lips. Meanwhile, when Kathryn begins asking questions at the friary about Atworth’s death, she discovers that the logical explanation is murder, not a miracle. His involvement with Cecily may have brought about his demise, and Kathryn suspects a link between his death and that of an English spy outside the friary. With the murderer still on the loose, what began as a search for the town’s ills becomes instead Kathryn’s pursuit of a killer.

A Maze of Murders

A violent past haunts Sir Walter Maltravers, the wealthy lord of Ingoldby Hall. As a commander during the War of the Roses, he fought alongside Edward IV at the bloody, fratricidal Battle of Towton. Decades earlier, and thousands of miles away, he served in the fanatical bodyguard of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaeologus. There, as Turkish Jannisaries breached Constantinople’s walls and set the city aflame, Sir Walter committed what may have been an unforgivable sin: instead of defending the emperor with his last drop of blood, Maltravers fled. But not before scooping up all the treasure he could carry, including the Lacrima Christi a giant ruby said to be a holy relic of incalculable value. When the ruby disappears from Canterbury s Franciscan monastery, Sir Walter fears the emperor s vengeful loyalists the Athanatoi have tracked him to his estate. He doesn t have much time to ponder his dilemma. Crawling on his bare knees to the shrine at the center of his enormous private hedge maze, the penitent Sir Walter encounters his axe wielding killer…
. Maltravers s head turns up days later, impaled on a pole. Gossips in Canterbury whisper of the fabled Athanatoi, come to claim their bloody due from a traitor. But apothecary Kathryn Swinbrooke doesn t think so. Her Irish fianc e, Colum Murtagh, the King s Commissioner in Canterbury, is called in to investigate the crimes. A Renaissance woman in a Middle Age world, Swinbroke comes to believe that all is not as it seems within the cozy confines of Ingoldby Hall. She asks tough questions of the wealthy power players who seem to hover around the murder case. And before long, the death toll mounts: a maid, a madwoman, a scribe, a retainer…
. One thing becomes abundantly clear: if Swinbrooke and Murtagh don t nail down the killer or killers soon, they ll be next!

A Time For The Death Of A King

She was a passionate lover. Was she also a murderess?Edinburgh, 1567. Like an angel of mercy, beautiful Mary, Queen of Scots nurses her ill husband before suddenly leaving his bedside to attend the wedding festivities of her maid of honor. Hours later, the calm night is shattered by a devastating explosion. The king’s body is found in a field with a cloak, a chair, a slipper and a dagger by his lifeless corpse. Incredibly, there is not a mark on him. For a queen besieged by her enemies, it was the hour of her darkest danger…
Scotland, land of wild moors and pagan passion is swept by violence and bloodshed. When stolen letters cast suspicion on the queen herself, she is accused of murder. Only the shadowy scholar Nicholas Segalla, a man who has solved many of history’s most famous murders, can uncover the truth. Was the fiery Mary the perpetrator of the King’s bloody murder, or the object of a ruthless plot of betrayal, crafted by England’s most masterful assassin, the Raven Master?

In The Time Of The Poisoned Queen

In 1558, heretics are being burned at the stake all over England. Queen Mary Tudor faces an ever tightening circle of deceit. Rumors and whispers abound that she, like her minister, is being slowly murdered by some subtle poison .

A Murder in Macedon

In the summer of 336 B.C., Philip of Macedon, a master of ancient Greece, is about to celebrate his glorious reign. Philip, intent on his moment of glory, has summoned all of Greece to the great celebrations in the old capital of Aegae. At his crowning moment, Philip is murdered by Pausanias, the young captain of his guard. As the Macedonian court sinks into chaos, his son Alexander must fight for his rights against treachery both at home and abroad, all the while searching for those responsible for his father’s death. Martin’s Press.

A Murder in Thebes

The second in the critically acclaimed Alexander the Great Mystery series, A Murder in Thebes has it’s roots in the blood soaked intrigue that swirled beneath Alexander’s triumphs and shattered conquests. Thebes has fallen under Alexander the Great’s power, but the days following are filled with murderous treason. Lysander and Mamnon, Alexander’s two favorite officers, have been killed by a dangerous spy, and Alexander’s rule is precarious until he solves the riddle of Oedipus’s crown. Protected by the shrine dedicated to the legendary Oedipus, the crown can only be handed over to one pure in heart and innocent of any crime against his own parents. Alexander is determined to seize the crown, not only as a vindication of his divine status, but also as an answer to the malicious rumors that he had a hand in his own father’s murder. But the crown is not easily had, watched over by a priestess and surrounded by poisonous snakes and a glowing bed of charcoal. Alexander relies for help on his two Israelite friends, Miriam and Simeon Bartmaeus. They are faced with the inescapable legend that Oedipus killed his father, married his own mother, and became King of Thebes. Now for Alexander to assume power they must learn who betrayed Lysander the Thebes and how did Mamnon, guarded and protected in his own locked chamber, fall to his death? Who is killing Macedonian sentries in the dead of night? Is it true that the specter of Oedipus has returned to Thebes to exact vengeance to Macedon?

The House of Death

First volume in the magnificent new mystery series featuring Alexander the Great; It is 334 BC and the young Alexander sits with his troops by the Hellespont, poised to attack the empire of the great King Darius III. To win the approval of the gods for his enterprise he makes many offerings, yet the smoke does not rise, the sacrificial animals are flawed. Worse, his guides are being brutally murdered, Persian spies are in the camp, and Alexander’s generals have their own secrets. Into this turmoil comes telamon, a physician, and boyhood friend of Alexander. As the climax builds and Alexander throws off his nervous fears, winning a brilliant and bloody triumph over the Persians, Telamon at last succeeds in unmasking their enemies.

The Godless Man

It is now 334 B.C., and Alexander has smashed the Persian armies at the Battle of the Granicus and is roaming the western Persian Empire like a hungry predator, living up to his nickname of the Wolf of Macedon. Arriving in one of his prizes, the great city of Ephesus, the success of his campaign is threatened by a series of violent murders brought about by a high ranking Persian spy known only as the Centaur. Worse, one of Alexander’s old tutors, Leonidas, is found floating face down in a stagnant pond at the House of Medusa and this doesn t look like an accident, since the House of Medusa is linked with a guild of assassins who formerly flourished in Ephesus. So once again Alexander s friend and physician, Telamon, must set about unraveling this swirling mass of blood strewn mysteries, this time working hand in hand with the king s eerie Master of Secrets, Aristander. As always, one of the biggest obstacles is the volatile and unpredictable nature of Alexander himself, a consummate actor whose lust for power and glory matches the carnage and intrigue that dog his footsteps like the Furies themselves.

The Gates of Hell

Spurred by dreams of conquest but dogged by treachery, the volatile young Alexander has set his ambitious eyes on the prize city of Halicarnassus in this new novel by Paul Doherty a writer who offers what Publishers Weekly calls ‘a rare example of historical fiction that isn’t overloaded with history and doesn’t give suspense short shrift.’ It is 334 B.C. Exultant with victory, Alexander is marching south to Halicarnassus, a city of treasures and an ancestry that links the bold but superstitious conqueror to his assassinated father’s past. Outside the city, at the farmstead where Alexander’s court and commanders set up camp, a series of gruesome murders draws the great warrior’s trusted friend, the physician Telamon, into a search for Persian spies operating inside the Macedonian ranks and reaping a bloody harvest through intrigue, terror, and sabotage. And on the other side of the famous Triple Gate in the city’s fortified walls, three formidable enemies the Lion Darius’s commander in chief Memnon of Rhodes, the Persian satrap Orontobates, and the Greek renegade Ephialtes lay the trap they have cunningly devised to make this battle Alexander’s hellish last.

The Mask of Ra

His great battles against the sea raiders in the Nile Delta have left Pharaoh Tuthmosis II weak and frail, but he finds solace in victory and the welcome he is sure to receive on his return to Thebes. Across the river from the Egyptian capital, however, not all take pleasure in his homecoming. Reunited with his wife, Hatusu, and his people, Tuthmosis stands before the statue of Amun Ra, the roar of the crowd and the fanfare of the trumpets ringing in his ears. But within an hour the Pharaoh is dead, and his unfinished tomb ritually polluted by a witch. The people of Thebes cannot forget the murder and the desecration any more easily than they can forget the frightful omen of wounded doves flying overhead. Rumor runs rife, speculation sweeps the royal city, and Hatusu vows to uncover the truth. With the aid of Amerotke, a respected judge of Thebes, she embarks on a path destined to reveal the great secrets of Egypt. The Mask of Ra is a compelling and dramatic novel set against the background of Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty a time of great change, as warlike Pharaohs fought to control not only the tribes on their western and southern borders, but to bring their subjects firmly under their rule.

The Anubis Slayings

A series of grisly slayings ignite passions in Pharaoh’s Egypt. Is it the work of humans or has the god Anubis himself come to earth intent on sabotaging peace negotiations with the dreaded Mitanni?Only Amerotke, wise and trusted judge of the powerful female Pharaoh, Hatusu, can sort through the tangle of intrigue that surrounds the killings and discover the truth. It began in the temple of Anubis. With the hated but humbled Mitanni camped outside Thebes, preparing to prostrate themselves before Pharaoh, few things could be worse for Egypt’s bargaining position than a series of sensational murders right in the inner sanctum of its most heavily guarded temple. Except perhaps the daring theft of its most cherished national treasure. Or maybe the mysterious deaths of several Mitanni ambassadors who’d been assured Pharaoh’s divine protection…
Now Amerotke is up to his ears in intrigue. As the body count grows, it becomes apparent that someone or something wants his name added to it. But is the jackal headed god, Anubis, really stalking his enemies?Or is there a logical explanation?It will take all of Amerotke’s powers of reason to find the answer before Egypt’s enemies move the strong and seductive Pharaoh into checkmate. AUTHORBIO: P.C. Doherty is the author of several acclaimed mystery series including The Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan, the Hugh Corbett medieval mysteries, and the Canterbury Tales of mystery and murder. He lives in England.

The Slayers of Seth

The past comes to life once again in the fourth installment of this Ancient Egypt murder mystery series that the New York Times calls ‘resurrectionist magic!’Lord Amerotke, Pharaoh’s chief judge, is already in the midst of a murder case. A young, ambitious scribe, Ipumer supposedly in love with the daughter of a powerful general had hoped to become betrothed. Instead, he is dead from poisoning and the prosecution has indicted his lover, Lady Neshratta, who apparently grew tired of the dalliance. If found guilty, she will be buried alive in the desert sands of the Red Lands. But before the trial is concluded, the powerful female Pharaoh’s chief advisor summons Amerotke to the Temple of Seth, where he is awaited by the remains from another high profile murder. One of Egypt’s great heroes has been brutally killed and Pharaoh Hatusu herself has decided to intervene. She believes that General Balet’s murder is only the beginning of something more sinister, and she calls on Amerotke for help. There is more to the deaths than meets the eye…
but can Amerotke track down the killer or killers before he strikes again?

The Assassins of Isis

Rahimere’s tomb: a House of Eternity whose owner had gone across the horizon into the Far West. Somewhere deep in the desert and rich with treasures of the ages, its location has long been kept a closely guarded secret. But now, the Sebaus a sect which takes its name from demons has plundered and pillaged the sepulchre for its most powerful secret. This time the wrath of the fiery Pharaoh Queen Hatusu will know no bounds. She must fight to protect the tombs of her kin and tighten her grip on the collar of Egypt, in the midst of its most sweltering season. But then, when Egypt’s great military hero, General Suten, is bitten to death by a swarm of venomous vipers, it appears events have spiralled out of her control. Meanwhile, a dark shadow lies across the Temple of Isis. Renowned as an oasis of calm and healing, the peace has been disturbed. Four of the Hesets, the temple handmaids, have vanished without trace. Will Lord Amerotke, Pharaoh’s Chief Judge, be able to unravel the mysteries before further violence erupts? Or will he find that the perpetrators are in league with forces beyond his jurisdiction?

The Poisoner of Ptah

At a peace treaty signing between Egypt and Libya in Thebes, three of Egypt’s leading scribes die violently on the Temple forecourt, the victims of a vile poisoning. To add to the mounting unease, a prosperous merchant and his young wife are found drowned. Rumors soon sweep the imperial city. The Poisoner of Ptah has returned. It falls to Amerotke, Chief Judge of the Halls of Two Truths, to investigate these hideous crimes his hunt for the Poisoner leads him to discover yet more suspicion and potential danger. This story sees the Judge pit his wits against a cunning opponent who seems intent on spreading his death dealing powders. Amerotke enters the twilight world of glorious Thebes where life can be so rich and yet death so swift and brutal.

The Spies of Sobeck

In Paul Doherty’s new novel, Amerotke, Chief Judge of the Hall of Two Truths, is once again summoned to the Imperial Palaceo: Tekreth, Guardian of the Door of Sobeck, has fallen to his death from the roof of his stately mansion. According to all evidence, it was an accident but Pharaoh Queen Hatusu is not convinced. Increasingly worried about reports of mysterious disappearances along the Sobeck Road, the imperial highway stretching south, she believes that Tekreth’s death could be part of a far greater problem. Amerotke, aware of the reports from the Sobeck Road, has also heard rumours about the Shemai, a cult devoted to death, based along its borders. Before Amerotke can start to consider either of these matters though, a gruesome mass murder occurs at the Necropolis. The funeral party for revered scribe, Ptulimis, has been poisoned and Amerotke must immediately investigate the abomination. As Amerotke probes further, he suspects that all these events may be connected and that dangerous forces are at work in Pharaoh Hatusu’s realm. Will Amerotke be able to uncover the truth before Egypt is overrun by its sinister and dangerous underworld?

Domina

Murder and intrigue in Ancient Rome.

Agrippina mother of Nero, wife of Claudius must use her wits to stay alive. Emerging victorious in a clandestine plot to end the reign of Tiberius, she also proves to be a formidable opponent to her insanely cruel brother, Caligula. But as she rises to power as the wife of Claudius, her one weakness becomes apparent: her ambitious love for Nero. In the treacherous arena of Ancient Rome, Agrippina knows that each player must battle to survive or die.

Murder Imperial

313 AD. At the dawn of the fourth century, the Roman empire is beset by economic problems, barbarian incursions and religious divides. After a series of tyrannical rulers, Emperor Diocletian has divided the empire into east and west. Now, with Constantine’s victory over Maxentius in the west, Rome finally appears to be emerging from its turbulent past. But instead of enjoying the fruits of his victory, Emperor Constantine is in trouble. In order to consolidate his power and under the guidance of his mother Helena, he plans to harness the power of the increasingly influential Christian Church. Then a series of murders brings his loyalties into question. The emperor frequents courtesans from the Guild of Aphrodite, three of whom have been found dead all with crosses etched on their foreheads and each cheek. In order to protect her son’s future, Helena, aided by the priest Anastasius, calls upon the service of an ‘agente in rebus politicis’ or spy. Claudia is the niece of a tavern owner and is placed as a wine server in Constantine’s household. But Claudia has secret motives of her own…

The Song of the Gladiator

It is 313 AD, and tempers are rising in Rome. The Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena are trying to make sense of the new Christian religion which is spreading through the Empire. Scholars are locked in a bitter struggle over whether Christ really was the son of God, and Constantine invites delegates from both sides to debate before him at his villa. Soon after the meeting, envoys from both sides are found murdered in a most macabre fashion, and the Holy Sword is later discovered to be stolen. Helena calls on the help of her secret agent Claudia a shrewd, unobtrusive detective to untangle the dangerous web of intrigue.

The Queen of the Night

As the sun’s insidious heat beats down, murderous forces lurk in the underbelly of 4th century Rome. The normally cosseted world of the city s rich and powerful is rocked by a series of violent abductions as children of the elite are kidnapped and held for ransom. Meanwhile, veteran soldiers men who served Constantine along the Great Wall in northern Britain are being barbarously murdered. The indignities inflicted on their corpses are reminiscent of the gruesome practices of the Picts whom they fought so many years ago. The Empress Helena summons her secret agent, Claudia, in a bid to resolve these macabre occurrences. But Claudia has problems of her own. The perfectly preserved corpse of a young Christian woman has been disinterred in her uncle s garden and it falls to her to investigate this mystery too. Now she must track her way through a murky tangle of politics, religion, and murderous violence, ever aware that the slightest mistake could cost her life.

Murder’s Immortal Mask

September 314 AD and once more death strikes the sprawling streets of Imperial Rome in Paul Doherty’s new Claudia novel. When two prostitutes are found murdered their bodies ripped open and their right eyes gouged out it’s feared a notorious killer, the Nefandus, has returned. Rumoured to be an imperial officer, he once waged bloody murder amongstRome’s prostitutes but vanished before his identity could be discovered. Has he reappeared, or is someone working in his guise? Desperate to retain order, the Empress Helena turns to her most trusted agent, Claudia. Helena commands her to discover the truth behind the Nefandus, beforeRome descends further into chaos and confusion.

An Evil Spirit Out of the West

Known as the Veiled One, the ugly and deformed Akenhaten is a shadowy figure. As a child he was overlooked and despised by his own father, but as an adult he is thrust into the political limelight when his elder brother dies. Mahu, ambitious and ruthless, watches the young prince carve his path to power. He becomes Akenhaten’s protector and confidant and stands by as Akenhaten proclaims that there is only one God and that he is that God s only son. Revolution and chaos ensure in a dramatic reign filled with fraud, abduction, assassination, betrayal, and treachery. When Mahu becomes suspicious of Akenhaten s majestic and glorious wife Nefertiti and the political skill of her brother Ay, he suspects that a hidden and malign influence may have placed Akenhaten s life in grave peril.

The Season of the Hyaena

Mahu former Chief of Police and Keeper of the Secrets of the Heart is presiding over an uneasy quiet in the Royal Circle at Thebes following the disappearance of the Pharaoh Akenhaten and the abandonment of his new, sun worshipping religion. Members of different factions are barely held together by loyalty to the six year old Emperor Tutankhamun when extraordinary news reaches the city: Akenhaten has returned to Egypt. The words are greeted with dismay by all who hear them, as Akenhaten is assumed to be dead, and Mahu can certainly vouch that the woman claiming to be the Emperor’s wife is a fraud. The strange man claiming to be emperor who has appeared in the Delta must be investigated before the divergent factions rip the Egyptian empire asunder.

The Year of the Cobra

After being called to the court of the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Mahu discovers that the boy king is suffering from a serious mental illness. With no heir apparent, the kingdom is close to collapse. Meanwhile Egypt’s enemies, the Hittites, are advancing through Canaan, and Ay First Minister of Akenhaten, father of Nefertiti, brother of Queen Tiye still plots for power. He has woven his web, and the traps are now set.

The Cup of Ghosts

By 1322, Mathilde of Westminster was considered the finest physician in London. But in her years as lady in waiting to Princess Isabella, who married the feckless Edward II, she was drawn into the murky politics of the English court, where sudden, mysterious death was part of the tapestry of life. Many years later, when the glory is gone and all that remains are bittersweet memories, Mathilde looks back and chronicles her turbulent life. She has a keen eye for symptoms and causes and not just the medical kind. With her sharp, suspicious intellect ready to distinguish between a fatality and an unnatural death, Mathilde is confronted by a host of chilling murders, personal danger and the murky intrigue that lies at the heart of the English and French courts at the beginning of the fourteenth century. The source of these horrors is the fierce political rivalry between Philip of France and Edward of England which manifests itself in a series of gruesome killings, one of which, actually takes place during Edward II’s Coronation of January 1308, when a knight of the Royal Household, Sir John Baquelle was crushed to death.

The Poison Maiden

It’s 1308 and England hovers on the brink of civil war. Edward II, his wife Isabella and the royal favourite Peter Gaveston Earl of Cornwall, have been forced to retreat to the King’s folly. Just an arrowshot away lie the Great Lords and Philip IV of France, who are demanding that the Earl of Cornwall be charged with high treason. Edward is trapped, and worse, he has learnt that Philip has the ‘Poison Maiden’ on his side, a formidable spy who did untold damage during his father’s reign. As Edward tries in vain to unmask the identity of the spy, Mathilde, handmaiden to the Queen, also attempts to identify the source of this threat. Soon the crisis spills over into violence. The Lords attempt to take Gaveston by force and the King and his Court, including Mathilde, are forced to flee. As the enemy closes in, Mathilde finds herself embroiled in a life and death struggle for the English crown.

The Darkening Glass

Mathilde of Westminster must face a dangerous foe in the third novel in Paul Doherty’s acclaimed series. March 1312 and England is divided. Edward II is in conflict with his barons over royal favourite Gaveston, and Queen Isabella is momentously pregnant with the first union of Plantagenet and Capetian blood. Meanwhile, rebel Robert Bruce prowls the Scottish border seeking advancement. Mathilde of Westminster senses a challenge for the throne is imminent. When the great Earls step up their campaign, the King and Queen are forced to flee to a fortified priory in Tynemouth, now vulnerable to the Scottish marauders on land and Bruce’s allies at sea. With threats all around, the royal party can only despair when one of their camp is murdered. Will Mathilde be able to find the perpetrator before the King loses control of the throne?

The Templar

The Templars exploded onto the public conciousness with Dan Brown’s THE DA VINCI CODE, now journey with Paul Doherty to 1095 and experience the founding of The Templar Order in all its epic and brutal detail. 1095 and crusading fervour has swept Europe. Christ’s fief of Jerusalem has been seized by the Infidels. The Frankish Knights of the West are to march east to liberate the Holy City. Hugh de Payens and Godefroi of St Omer, the soon to be founders of The Templar Order, and Hugh’s younger sister, Eleanor, leave the security of their homes in Burgundy, France, with a plan to join Count Raymond of Toulouse’s army, and march across the known world to Jerusalem. Follow the crusaders as they march through Europe into the glories of Byzantium and onto Syria. Witness the hardships, bloodshed and trickery on their treacherous travels to the Holy Land and know that though the crusaders’ journey, and this novel, will end with their entry into the Holy City, the Crusades have yet to begin in earnest.

The Templar Magician

Murder and mayhem set at the time of the secretive Templar Order. The year is 1152, and Jerusalem is still in the hands of the Crusaders, although the lofty ideals of before have now been replaced by subtle power play. Meanwhile, in England, King Stephen is waging bloody war against Henry Fitzempress. The Templar Order, now fifty years old, is a wealthy power, glittering with tempting riches. Against this background of bloodshed, Robert de Payens, grandson of Eleanor, one of the co founders of the Temple, and Englishman Edward Sendal find themselves caught up in a murder mystery when Raymond, Count of Tripoli, is brutally assassinated. Who would have wanted to murder Raymond, and is it possible that the answer may lie within the hallowed ranks of the Templar order itself?

The Death of a King

The fate of kings is not always glorious…
. Indeed, England’s Edward II so angered his wife, her lover, and his subjects when he flaunted his male favorites that they revolted, deposed him, and made him prisoner. History records Edward II was eventually murdered most foully in Berkeley Castle and buried most publicly in Gloucester cathedral. But was he? The heir, Edward III, charges Chancery Clerk Edmund Beche with uncovering the truth of the matter. Beche’s investigation is torturous, blocked by hidden records, outright lies, unexpected confessions, double crosses, and a high body count. Grave digging, burglary, and soldiering at the bloody battle of Crecy await him. But he’s a most determined man…
. When you read it you will see why there is no sequel. This edition contains a full bibliography with all pseudonyms.

The Rose Demon

Black magic and murder in medieval England.

Matthias Fitzosbert, illegitimate son of a parish priest, has a unique relationship with Rosifer, the fallen angel the spirit he loves yet hates, strives to placate yet ultimately must flee. The story of Matthias is played out against the vivid panorama of the Middle Ages: the fall of Constantinople; the last throes of the Wars of the Roses; the terror of witchcraft; the loneliness of the Scottish marches; the battlefields of Spain; and, finally, the lush jungles of the Caribbean, where The Rose Demon and Matthias meet for a final, and deadly, confrontation.

The Haunting

In 1866, Father Oliver Grafield, a Catholic priest and exorcist, is asked to allay The Haunting experiences occurring at Candleton Hall. Within hours of his arrival there, he experiences the phenomena pools of blood on the floor, a woman dressed in black, and a foreboding sense of malevolence.

The Soul Slayer

Eighteen year old Rebecca Lennox, daughter of a former priest, is ostracized by the villagers of Dunmow. They regard her as cursed, by both her cleft palate and her gift of second sight. Rebecca finds solace in the statue of St. Michael the Archangel, to whom she prays devotedly within the sanctity of her old parish church. But when a young Catholic priest arrives in the village, it seems that she has finally found a mortal confidant. Michael is not repelled by her infirmity, and his charm and gentleness remind her of her beloved statue. Then changes come to Dunmow. A new parson is appointed more interested in the black arts than the teachings of religion. For Henry Frogmore, holy orders are an opportune cover for his nefarious activities, but in Rebecca and Michael, he finds powerful opponents. And in the ensuing struggle, the price for each of them is dear.

The Plague Lord

In 13th century China, at the seat of the great Mongol Lord, Kublai Khan, sinister events are unfolding. Members of the Guild of Pourers, the city cleaners, are being picked off one by one in a series of horrific murders. What is the link between these deaths and the reappearance of the Water Lily sect, a secret society dedicated to the service of The Plague Lord, Wen Yi Kwei? With rumors of demonic forces at work, Kublai Khan summons his trusted advisor and friend, the Venetian Marco Polo, to discover the truth. But will he be able to stem the tide of evil before it’s too late? And will the Water Lily sect succeed in unleashing the full fury of Wen Yi Kwei, the great baron of Hell?

The Mysterious Death of Tutankhamun

What or who really caused the death of Egypt’s splendid young king? More than 3,000 years after his death, the entire civilized world is familiar with the face and burial site of one very special young Egyptian ruler, whose fabulous burial treasure represents one of the Ancient World s most glorious and successful civilizations. It is assumed he died of natural causes. But how did he really die? In this exciting and thought provoking account of the life and death of Tutankhamun, the basis for a new two part Discovery Channel documentary airing in fall 2002, Paul Doherty reveals how King Tut s famous calm and beautiful death mask conceals a story of bloody intrigue at the Egyptian court. The boy king came to the throne when religious dissent threatened the vast empire and died mysteriously at the age of only eighteen. Was he secretly assassinated by the powerful cabal that ran the court and the country? Could the powerful first minister, Ay, have murdered him to seize the pharonic crown for himself? What part did Ankhesenamun, Ay s granddaughter, and Tutankhamun s beautiful queen, play in the court s intrigues? And what about the hurried burial in a virtually unmarked grave was it to conceal the evidence of fatal head wounds? Doherty believes that modern research, coupled with the original testimony of Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb, can answer all these questions and present an even more fascinating scenario. He offers important new theories about Tutankhamun, both as a man and a Pharaoh, and an illuminating explanation of the intrigue that surrounded his sudden and untimely end. Color photographs add to this intriguing investigation into the death of Egypt’s most famous Pharoah.

Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II

For good reason, the queen in chess inherits its fearsome power on the game board from the reputedly murderous maneuvers of the fourteenth century Queen Isabella of England, as historian and biographer Paul Doherty shows in his engaging account of a savage chapter in medieval English history. What begins with a peace match the marriage of the twelve year old daughter of France’s Philip IV to the dissolute Edward II in 1308 ends in bloody conflict, a possible regicide, the usurpation of royal power, execution, and exile. In a lively narrative that brings a fresh perspective to the history of Isabella s catastrophic marriage, Doherty illuminates the people, passions, and politics that prompted the young queen, after thirteen years, to flee the feckless, ineffectual king who had sacrificed the English army to ignominious and unnecessary defeat at Bannockburn and to escape court intrigues and her personal persecution by men like the sinister Hugh Despenser. At Isabella s command, though, Despenser eventually met a gruesome death, when she returned to England with the exiled Roger Mortimer and a mercenary army that deposed Edward and enthroned the conquering queen in the name of her young son, Edward III.

The Death of Alexander the Great

A vivid, dramatic and exciting analysis of the mysterious death of one of the greatest heroes in history As he lay siege to the world Alexander harboured the belief he was the son of God and desired everlasting glory by conquering all to the ends of the earth. Alexander the Great: Death of a God analyses this outstanding figure who achieved so much before his premature end. He was an enigma, a man who wanted to be a god, a Greek who wanted to be Persian, a defender of liberties who spent most of his life taking away the liberties of others, and a king who could be compassionate yet ruthlessly wipe out an ancient city like Tyre and crucify 3,000 of its defenders along the seashore. Alexander the Great: Death of a God also scrutinizes the circumstances surrounding the young king’s death in the summer palace of the Persian kings. Did Alexander die of alcohol poisoning? Or where there other, more sinister factors involved? Alexander had been warned not to enter Babylon. The holy man, Calanus of India, before he had climbed on his own funeral pyre, warned Alexander he would meet him in Babylon. So was his death there so predictable? The great general had surrounded himself with outstanding captains of war. Did these aggressive, violent and ambitious men have a hand in Alexander’s death? Were they tired of Alexander’s desire to march to the rim of the world? Were they becoming increasingly disturbed by their leader’s growing despotic tendencies as they realized more of their colleagues appeared to die by accident or illness than at the pitched battles at the Granicus, Gaugemela, or Issus? And was it they who ultimately made a decision to bring this young god’s life to a violent, untimely end?

The Great Crown Jewels Robbery of 1303

Many people know of Colonel Blood’s attempt to steal the Crown Jewels during the reign of Charles II 1660 1685. However, Blood’s conspiracy wasn’t the first, and certainly not the most successful. In 1303, while Edward I of England was north of the Scottish border trying to crush William Wallace, he’d stashed his treasure safely in Westminster Abbey behind iron bound doors, in a place of sanctity which housed Christ’s body, not to mention pious Benedictine monks. Enter Richard Puddlicott, a former merchant who had been arrested in the Low Countries because of Edward I’s debts. This charming dissolute rogue infiltrated the Abbey’s inner circle entertaining them on the proceeds of their own silver and, before long, had helped himself to a good part of the treasure. The King’s fury knew no bounds, but Puddlicott ran his men a merry dance before eventually being captured and sent along with forty monks to his death in the Tower. This compelling work is an exhilarating tale of cunning deceit, lechery, feisty villains, meddling monks, greedy goldsmiths, and devious pimps and prostitutes. It takes the lid off both the medieval underworld and the assumed piousness of the monastic community.