Step back into the turbulent late 14th century in this captivating historical mystery series. Follow the dangerous exploits of a royal spy entangled in deadly conspiracies and murder investigations. Aided by a colorful cast of allies, including his apothecary wife and a shrewd tavern owner, he navigates a world of political intrigue and dark secrets. These stories offer a rich tapestry of historical detail and suspenseful plotting.
But there seems to be a common thread - the herbal remedies dispensed by Nicholas Wilton, Master Apothecary.Dispatched to York, in disguise, to unravel the mystery, Owen Archer, former Captain of Archers, apprentices himself to the Apothecary. But it is from Wilton's beautiful wife Lucie that he must learn the arcane secrets of the trade.
Devilish Deception And Unholy Murder Put Owen Archer On A Bloody Trail Through The Cloisters.
Owen Archer, the intriguing Welsch archer-turned-sleuth, is back-in another riveting challenge to Ellis Peters! High summer, 1365-and York is glorious with pageantry for the Feast of Corpus Christi. But wool merchant Will Crounce, who acts in "The Last Judgement," meets his maker all too soon, his throat slit in the shadow of the great cathedral. When Crounce's severed hand is found in fellow-merchant Gilbert Ridley's tavern lodging, the Archbishop calls in Own Archer. To unravel a second murder, and the grisly warning of another severed hand, Owen will need his sharp mind, his bow and arrows, and even his wife Lucie's apothecary skills. For soon he will be drawn into a tangle of greed, treachery, and passion that runs from Ridley and the wool trade all the way to the royal court.
When a young nun, Joanna Calverley, dies of fever in the town of Beverley, they waste no time in burying her, fearing the plague. But nine months later a woman turns up claiming to be Joanna, saying she faked her own death. When murder follows close on her heels, John Thoresby, Archbishop of York, knows he must enlist the help of his favourite detective, Owen Archer. While Owen sets off for Leeds and Scarborough to speak with the Percy family and Geoffrey Chaucer, who is spying for the King, his wife Lucie tries to discover from Joanna the events of her missing year. Soldiers fleeing to France, relic-trading and incest are just a few of the secrets which emerge.
The 13th Century one-eyed sleuth, Owen Archer, investigates a murder against the background of a political dispute between King Edward III and Pope Urban V. The victim was the king's agent, visiting abbeys to gain support for the king's position.
Set in Anno Domini 1369, the much loved Queen Philippa lies dying at Windsor and the plague has returned to the city of York. With plague rife and the city's inhabitants besieging his wife, the Apothecary, for new cures, Owen Archer is unwilling to become involved. There is too little to link the victims to each other: the riddle seems unsolvable.
The sixth medieval whodunnit to feature Owen Archer, one-eyed former soldier and occasional sleuth, opens as he accompanies a pilgrimage to Wales. His task is to recruit archers to send to France, but he must also investigate the threat of an uprising against the English, led by a Welshman.
It is late spring, the year of our Lord 1370. Owen Archer, ex-soldier and spy, is preparing to depart Wales, his work for John of Gaunt completed. But his attempts to arrange safe passage home to York are thwarted by a mysterious suicide. And in York, Lucie Wilton is disheartened by her husband's long absence.
England 1371: a solemn convoy wends its way into York. William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, is bringing home the remains of Sir Ranulf Pagnell, patriarch of a powerful local family, who has died in France. When it appears the dead woman was a midwife known to many of the city's women, including Lucie, Owen's wife, his quest becomes personal.
As the crowds around the murdered man thicken, one-eyed spy Owen Archer is quickly brought to the scene by his adoptive son, Jasper. And as Owen and Jasper get closer to the truth, they find their own lives in danger...
Owen Archer, Thoresby's master of the guards, is determined to ensure that his lord's last days are as peaceful as possible, but his plans are thrown into disarray when Thoresby agrees to a visit from Joan, Princess of Wales, wife of the Black Prince and mother of the young heir to the throne of England.
1374. When a prominent citizen is found dead in the woods, rumours spread like wildfire that wolves are running loose throughout the city. Persuaded out of retirement to investigate, Owen Archer is convinced that a human killer is responsible. Teaming up with Geoffrey Chaucer, Owen's enquiries will draw him headlong into a deadly conspiracy.