Mediaeval Mystery – serie

1217: Commoner-turned-earl’s-man Edwin Weaver has returned to Conisbrough Castle after his blood-soaked adventure in Lincoln. Now carrying a dagger for protection, he has no chance to rest, for preparations are already underway for a noble wedding. But his weapon will be little help against the armed band of outlaws terrorising the area. When the household marshal is murdered under the earl’s own roof, and Edwin is asked to resolve the situation before the wedding plans can be jeopardised. Edwin is convinced that there is more to his death than meets the eye and, as he digs deeper, he realises that the killer’s true target might be someone much closer to home. The third book in C.B. Hanley’s popular Mediaeval Mystery series, following The Bloody City.

1217: Lincoln is not a safe place to be. A French army has captured the city, and the terrified citizens huddle in the rubble of their homes as the castle, the last remaining loyal stronghold in the region, is besieged. Edwin Weaver finds himself riding into grave danger after his lord volunteers him for a perilous mission: he must infiltrate the city, identify the traitors who are helping the enemy, and return to pass on the intelligence. The last man who attempted such a thing was captured by the French, his head hacked off and catapulted over the castle wall as a warning. The city is awash with violence and blood, and Edwin is pushed to the limit as he has to decide what he is prepared to do to protect others. He might be willing to lay down his own life, but would he, could he, kill? The second book in C.B. Hanley’s popular Mediaeval Mystery series, following Sins of the Father.

1217: England has been invaded. Much of the country is in the iron grip of Louis of France and his collaborators, and civil war rages as the forces of the boy king try to fight off the French. Most of this means nothing to Edwin Weaver, son of the bailiff at Conisbrough Castle in Yorkshire, until he is suddenly thrust into the noble world of politics and treachery: he is ordered by his lord the earl to solve a murder which might have repercussions not just for him but for the future of the realm. Edwin is terrified but he must obey; he takes on the challenge and learns more until he uncovers a horrific secret which has been dead and buried for fifteen years, a secret which might kill them all – and realises there are some questions to which he might not wish to know the answers. The first book in C.B. Hanley’s popular Mediaeval Mystery series.

The sixth book in a thrilling series of mediaeval mysteries by C.B. Hanley. November 1217: Edwin Weaver is back in his home village of Conisbrough. But if he thinks life is going to be peaceful, he’s wrong: the new bailiff is unpopular and cruel, and soon his murdered corpse is discovered. Everything points to the culprit being a foreigner, and the villagers are happy to have an outsider take the blame; Edwin isn’t so sure and is determined to investigate. However, his former friends, all with something to hide, are increasingly hostile to him and resent his interference. The more he discovers, the more he is convinced that the stranger is innocent, but this comes with dangers of its own. With the sheriff due to arrive any day expecting to supervise a swift execution, Edwin and his wife Alys must join forces to solve the mystery before it is too late.

‘Politics, family rivalries and political tensions are all stirred up to create a thrilling adventure … unputdownable!’ - Sharon Bennett Connolly, historian, and author of Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of SurreyApril 1219: Edwin Weaver finds himself at Tickhill Castle under false pretences. Earl Warenne wants Tickhill for himself and is convinced that a royal order for the castle to be handed over has been hidden, so he’s sent Edwin to find it and told him not to come back until he does. Frantic with worry about the danger to his family, Edwin is forced to lie to everyone around him while searching for a document that might not even exist.The situation escalates when a body is found and the earl musters armed troops to take the castle by force; Edwin must race against time to discover the crucial information so he can stop the violence and bloodshed. But his quest for the truth is more dangerous than he could possibly have anticipated, and he must endure tragic and wrenching loss before his duty is complete.

June 1221: a tragic death at Conisbrough sends Edwin Weaver and his friend Sir Martin on an unexpected journey. But a baffling letter follows them, one which plunges them into danger as they travel to the manor of Martin’s estranged father, deep inside Sherwood Forest, to find a dying man who can only gasp out a few cryptic phrases.Edwin has his work cut out to solve the mystery – the people with the most compelling reasons to commit the murder could not possibly have done so, while those with the opportunity have seemingly no motive. Martin, meanwhile, must try to reconcile himself with his family even as he remains convinced that he is destined to bring ill luck and death wherever he goes.When another murder attempt is made, Edwin realises he must work quickly to stop more death being visited on the innocent.

March 1223: Edwin and Alys receive an unexpected visit from Edric, Alys’s brother, whom they haven’t seen for years. He has fled from his home in Lincoln to ask for their help – he’s been accused of murder, declared an outlaw and sentenced to death.Edric’s story is so bizarre that Edwin thinks it can only be true; determined to help, he and Alys travel to Lincoln in an unauthorised attempt to discover what really happened. There, he grapples with his dislike of an unfamiliar, money-obsessed society, while she discovers that family reunions might not be as joyful as they were expected to be. Under the pressure of time Edwin is forced to take more risks than he usually would, putting Alys and her family in grave danger.Some people will do anything for gain, no matter how terrible the results for others: ambition might be expensive, but life is cheap.

1217: The war for the throne of England is far from over but as commoner-turned-earl’s-man Edwin Weaver waits to see where his lord’s loyalties lie, a messenger arrives from Roche Abbey: one of the monks has been murdered. The abbot needs help to find the killer and Edwin soon finds himself within the unfamiliar and claustrophobic confines of the abbey, where faces are hidden and a killer stalks unnoticed. Drawn ever deeper into a web of lies and deceit, Edwin not only has to discover the identity of the murderer, but must also decide where his real duty lies.The fourth book in C.B. Hanley’s popular Mediaeval Mystery series, following Whited Sepulchres.