Sarah Hawkswood Book order (chronological)

Midsummer, 1145. The steward of Evesham Abbey is found dead at the bottom of a well pit. The Abbot, whose relationship with the lord Sheriff of Worcestershire is strained at best, dislikes needing external help with the unfortunate incident. However, he grudgingly receives the trio of Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin. As the sheriff's men probe who had more reason to want Walter the Steward dead, they discover that truth is in short supply. With the tensions between the Abbey and the local castle guard reaching boiling point, another killing will force the investigation down a dangerous path.

Author brings to life the mysterious world of twelfth century Worcestershire

January, 1145. Godfrey Bowyer, the best but least likeable bow maker in Worcester, dies an agonising death by poisoning. Although similarly struck down after the same meal, his wife Blanche survives. The number of people who could have administered the poison should mean a very short investigation for the Sheriff's men, Hugh Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll, but perhaps someone was pulling the strings, and that widens the net considerably. Could it be the cast-out younger brother or perhaps Orderic the Bailiff, whose wife may have had to endure Godfrey's attentions? Could it even be the wife herself? With Bradecote eager to return to his manor and worried about his wife's impending confinement, and Underserjeant Walkelin trying to get his mother to accept his choice of bride, there are distractions aplenty, though Serjeant Catchpoll will not let them get in the way of solving this case.

Osbern de Lench is known far and wide as a hard master, whose temper is perpetually frayed. His horse returns to the hall riderless one day and the lifeless body of the lord is found soon after. Was it the work of thieves, or something closer to home? Hugh Bradecote, the wily Serjeant Catchpoll and apprentice Walkelin have suspects aplenty.

October 1143. A mysterious archer melts back into the forest leaving a pile of corpses in his wake. The lord Sheriff of Worcester cannot ignore such a brazen attack, nor the death of a nobleman. And so Hugh Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll are dispatched to hunt an elusive killer and his gang and put a stop to the mounting attacks.

September 1143. Sergeant Catchpoll hopes a fire at a Worcester silversmith's is just an accident, but when there is a second fire, and a charred corpse is discovered, he has no choice but to call in the undersheriff, Hugh Bradecote, to help find the culprit.