Domesday Books (St. Martins)
7 primary works
Book 2
The small village of Maldon is controlled by the wealthy and rapacious Fitzcorbucion family. When the eldest son, Guy, is found murdered, his father demands justice and will stop at nothing to get it. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret arrive into a charged atmosphere and are entangled in a case far more dangerous than their original task.
Book 3
Ralph Delchard, a soldier who fought at the Battle of Hastings, and Gervase Bret, a talented lawyer, have been commissioned by William the Conqueror to look into irregularities brought to light during the compilation of the Domesday Book, the great survey of England. Their investigations take them throughout the kingdom, but the pair often find themselves embroiled in more sinister mysteries in the towns they visit. The King's work is a dangerous business.
The frontier zone of Archenfield in Herefordshire is a no-man's-land, which acts as a bulwark between Norman-controlled English soil, and the Welsh border. Soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret arrive in Hereford for what looks like one of their more straightforward assignments from the crown, to settle conflicting claims to land in Archenfield. Ralph and Gervase are shocked to discover the murder of a principal witness, a wealthy landowner who was burned alive in his own home. No clues remain except an enigmatic red dragon cut into the turf in front of the house.
The frontier zone of Archenfield in Herefordshire is a no-man's-land, which acts as a bulwark between Norman-controlled English soil, and the Welsh border. Soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret arrive in Hereford for what looks like one of their more straightforward assignments from the crown, to settle conflicting claims to land in Archenfield. Ralph and Gervase are shocked to discover the murder of a principal witness, a wealthy landowner who was burned alive in his own home. No clues remain except an enigmatic red dragon cut into the turf in front of the house.
Book 5
When a young girl is found in a holly patch, dead from a snakebite, her premature death shocks the entire town of Canterbury on the day that Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret arrive about the king's business. But when astonishing truths come to light, the pair must look for a force more vicious than a mere reptile.
Book 6
Three powerful Norman lords and a dispossessed Saxon thegn watch their steeds race close to the forest of Woodstock, each lusting for a win. But the first horse past the post has an empty saddle and his rider is lying in a copse with a knife in his back. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret, Domesday commissioners on behalf of the King, are guests of the Sheriff of Oxford while they settle a land dispute. But soon their attentions are focused on a stretch of grass outside Woodstock where a murderer's secrets are to be found.
The solution will not be easy; from the powerful lords with their dynastic ties, to the downtrodden Saxons, living beneath the heavy Norman yoke, Oxfordshire is teeming with malice, hatred and struggles for power. More than one man has reason to wise the rider of the black stallion unseated from his horse. But who would go so far as murder?
The solution will not be easy; from the powerful lords with their dynastic ties, to the downtrodden Saxons, living beneath the heavy Norman yoke, Oxfordshire is teeming with malice, hatred and struggles for power. More than one man has reason to wise the rider of the black stallion unseated from his horse. But who would go so far as murder?
Book 7
Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, is enraged when his hawk is killed by an arrow in the Forest of Delamere. When two poachers are caught, he orders their execution yet neither of them fired the arrow. As Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret come to Cheshire to settle a series of disputes between Church and State, they are guests of the Earl. But when they explore the castle and discover that the Prince of Gwynedd is being held there as a hostage, a number of questions arise. Who is trying to rescue him? Why is Idwal, the over-zealous Welsh priest, lurking in the city? And whose arrow is responsible for a gruesome human death in the forest?
Book 8
Nicolas Picard is riding home from Exeter when he's attacked by a snarling wildcat. Yet, when the body is found, there are lacerations on his neck put there by a human hand. He is involved in a land dispute and his wife claims to be the benefactor on his behalf. Picard's mistress emerges to stake her claim then a third woman - wife of the deceased original owner of the land - comes forward. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret have three human wildcats trying to tear out each other's throats. They wonder if one of the women committed the murder to get her hands on the land, but the root of the mystery lies far deeper than mere avarice.
Book 9
