The Angel of Death

by Paul Doherty Book 4 in the Hugh Corbett Mysteries series.

First published 1989

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In 1299, Edward I summons a great assembly to St Paul’s Cathedral as conflict deepens between the crown and the Church over taxation. During Mass, Walter de Montfort, chosen to challenge the king’s demands, dies suddenly and violently before the gathered political and ecclesiastical elite. The death appears connected to events at Berwick the previous year, when Edward’s Scottish campaign brought destruction to the town and to the Flemish merchants of the Red House.

Hugh Corbett, the king’s clerk and investigator, is ordered to discover who killed de Montfort and why. His inquiry moves through court, clergy and mercantile interests while England remains entangled in war with Scotland. The murder becomes part of a wider struggle over royal power, revenge and the consequences of Edward’s campaigns.