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An Ancient Evil

by Paul Doherty Book 1 in the Canterbury Tales Mysteries series.

First published 1994

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4.3(1,647)

At the Tabard Inn, Chaucer’s pilgrims agree to exchange tales during their journey to Canterbury, and the Knight begins with a story whose origins reach back to the Norman Conquest. Sir Hugo Mortimer once destroyed a sinister cult in Oxfordshire, but two centuries later a new sequence of ritualised crimes suggests that the beliefs he fought may not have disappeared.

Lady Constance, Abbess of St Anne’s, appeals for royal help as murders spread through Oxford. Special commissioner Sir Godfrey Evesden and clerk Alexander McBain are sent to investigate, following evidence that leads from apparently isolated killings to a secret organisation using fear, legend and religious symbolism to conceal its activities.

Historical Periods

Reign of Richard II1377–1399 CE

Genres

Crime & Mystery Gothic Fiction

Historical people

Geoffrey Chaucer1343–1400

Series reading order

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