A medieval mystery featuring sleuthing monk Brother AthelstanMay, 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 all over the city, striking terror into the hearts of those who oppose them. But who is he?When his chancery clerk is found hanged in a notorious Southwark brothel, the ruthless Thibault, John of Gaunt's Master of Secrets, summons Brother Athelstan to investigate. Did Amaury Whitfield really kill himself following a visit from the terrifying Herald of Hell? Athelstan is unconvinced.In the dead man's possession was a manuscript containing a great secret which he had been striving to decipher. If he could only unlock the cipher and interpret the messages being carried to the so-called Herald of Hell, Athelstan would be one step closer to catching the killer. But can he crack the code...

In the late autumn of 1380, Brother Athelstan is busy enough. He and his parish council are preparing for the annual Christmas mystery play when a series of brutal murders occur at a Southwark tavern. Two young whores are found slain but 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 assemble to this pageant of murder: the Misericord, master thief and cunning man; the Judas man, a bounty hunter who tracks down outlaws and wolfheads; and finally the Knights of the Golden Falcon who assemble to celebrate their annual reunion. Brother Athelstan and Sir John Cranstone have to resolve not only these grisly deaths but also their source—the Great Robbery of the Lombard treasure which occurred in Southwark some twenty years earlier...

“Medieval mystery fans have cause for rejoicing with the return of Brother Athelstan” Booklist on Bloodstone January, 1381. Guests of the Regent, John of Gaunt, Brother Athelstan and Sir John Cranston have been attending a mystery play performed by the Straw Men, Gaunt’s personal acting troupe, when the evening’s entertainment is rudely interrupted by the sudden, violent deaths of two of Gaunt’s VIP guests, their severed heads left on stage. The Regent orders Athelstan to find out who committed such a heinous act, leading Athelstan to tackle his most baffling case yet.ReviewClose attention will reward readers with well-researched historical information, from the minutiae of everyday living to the public events in the lives of the rich and powerful. Mystery buffs, however, are likely to reach the answer before Athelstan.Kirkus Reviews on The Straw Men“Will appeal to John Dickson Carr fans. With dozens of books to his credit, Doherty continues to impress.”Publishers Weekly on The Straw MenAbout the AuthorPaul Doherty studied History at Liverpool and Oxford Universities, and is now headmaster of a school in Essex. He is the author of more than eighty historical mysteries including the Hugh Corbett, Mathilde of Westminster and Canterbury Tales medieval mystery series.

Sleuthing monk Brother Athelstan discovers that past crimes can cause new murder in the latest intriguing medieval mysteryJune, 1381. The rebel armies are massed outside London, determined to overturn both Crown and Church. The Regent, John of Gaunt, has headed north, leaving his nephew, the boy-king Richard II, unprotected.Brother Athelstan meanwhile has been summoned to the monastery at Blackfriars, tasked with solving the murder of his fellow priest, Brother Alberic, found stabbed to death in his locked chamber. Athelstan would rather be protecting his parishioners at St Erconwald's. Instead, he finds himself investigating a royal murder that took place fifty-four years earlier whilst the rebel leaders plot the present king's destruction.What does the fate of the king's great-grandfather, Edward II, have to do with the murder of Brother Alberic more than fifty years later? When he finds his own life under threat, Athelstan discovers that exposing past...

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 . . .