#1 – Servant of Death
Worcestershire, June 1143. Eudo, the feared clerk of Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, is found bludgeoned to death inside Pershore Abbey and arranged before the altar like a penitent. His duties, arrogance and access to power have left monks, servants and visitors with reasons to…
#2 – Ordeal by Fire
Worcester, September 1143. A fire at a silversmith’s workshop appears accidental until another blaze leaves a charred corpse. Further outbreaks and sightings of a hooded figure suggest that someone is using the crowded timber city as a weapon. Catchpoll calls upon Bradecote when the evidence points…
#3 – Marked to Die
October 1143. A skilled archer kills from concealment and vanishes into the woods, while a train of pack mules disappears from the salt road out of Wich. When a lord is murdered in circumstances that connect the attacks, Sheriff William de Beauchamp sends Bradecote and Catchpoll…
#4 – Hostage to Fortune
January 1144. Christina, Hugh Bradecote’s betrothed, leaves on pilgrimage to the shrine of St Edgyth at Polesworth under the protection of an archiepiscopal envoy and his monks. A renegade captures the party and demands the release of a forger held by the sheriff. His hatred of…
#5 – Vale of Tears
April 1144. A stabbed man is found in the water beside Fladbury mill, yet his possessions have not been taken. Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin identify him as a horse dealer whose young wife has attracted lovers and resentment. The missing horse and the victim’s business dealings…
#6 – Faithful Unto Death
June 1144. A naked corpse is discovered near Worcester at the same time that a messenger from the Prince of Powys fails to reach Earl Robert of Gloucester. Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin travel into Wales to confirm whether the dead man is the missing envoy and…
#7 – River of Sins
July 1144. Ricolde, a well-known sex worker in Worcester, is found butchered on an island in the River Severn several miles upstream. The isolated location makes the route to the crime scene as important as the violence itself. Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin trace boats, river settlements…
#8 – Blood Runs Thicker
August 1144. Osbern de Lench rides out to inspect his estate, but his horse returns without him and his body is found soon afterwards. The lord was notorious for anger and harsh treatment, leaving thieves, neighbouring enemies, servants and members of his own household with reasons…
#9 – Wolf at the Door
All Hallows’ Eve, 1144. Durand Wuduweard, the unpopular keeper of the royal Forest of Feckenham, is discovered dead beside his hearth, his body apparently torn by animal teeth. Villagers attribute the killing to a wolf, but the attack inside a cottage and the condition of the…
#10 – A Taste for Killing
January 1145. Godfrey Bowyer, Worcester’s most accomplished and least popular bow maker, dies in agony after a poisoned meal. His wife Blanche eats the same food but survives, apparently reducing the suspects to the small number of people with access to the household and workshop. Bradecote…
#11 – Too Good to Hang
April 1145. Thorgar the Ploughman is found beside the bloodied body of Father Edmund in the village of Ripple and is hanged almost immediately despite protesting his innocence. His sister travels to Worcester and persuades the sheriff that a swift conviction may have concealed the true…
#12 – Litany of Lies
Midsummer 1145. Walter, steward of Evesham Abbey, is found dead at the bottom of a well pit. The abbot’s difficult relationship with the Sheriff of Worcestershire makes the arrival of Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin politically unwelcome, but the evidence excludes an accidental fall. The investigators enter…
#13 – Feast for the Ravens
Worcestershire, September 1145. Two boys find a dead Templar knight in the Forest of Wyre with a bloodstained document naming a traitor concealed on his body. The victim is identified as Ivo de Mitton, who disappeared years earlier under suspicion of murdering his own kin, reopening…
#14 – A Shroud of Snow
Worcester, December 1145. Hamelin Isenmongere, a Gloucester trader in iron and charcoal, is regarded as one of the most popular merchants in the city. His body is found near his riverside warehouse with his skull crushed, leaving Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin to discover which part of…