Book 1

Wine of Violence

by Priscilla Royal

Published 30 December 2003
Leap forward a century from the days of Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael...She stretched out her hand, struggling to grasp him, reaching for the crude wooden cross he wore on a thin leather strap around his neck. But something seemed to hold her back; some black force scrabbled to keep her soul from deliverance. The priest had not heard her cry. He did not see her fighting to reach him. She must tell him. She must! After all her years devoted to God, Satan should not win her soul over such a misunderstanding, a judgement she'd made with imperfect knowledge and mortal blindness. An innocent person would be hurt, even die, if she did not. She could not have that fouling her conscience. She fought harder to reach her confessor, twisting, crying, moaning for help. Suddenly a hand materialized from the tapestry. It grasped the old prioress firmly and pulled her back to the ground. It was a woman's hand, and the touch was warm. The old prioress looked up and saw St. Mary Magdalene smiling. "Tell me, my child," the saintly voice said. "I will tell Our Lord." She gestured to the glowing man at whose feet she sat. "And He will forgive all as He always has."
The old prioress wanted to weep for joy. "Please tell him that I accused wrongly. It was not the one we feared, but rather the other!" she gasped. And with that, the world turned black.

Book 2

Tyrant of the Mind

by Priscilla Royal

Published 31 January 2006
Praise for Tyrant of the Mind...
"This second medieval mystery featuring the delightfully flawed Eleanor, Prioress of Tyndal, grabs readers by the lapels and forcibly hauls them into eleventh-century East Anglia." -Booklist
"This realistic medieval fare will appeal to devotees of Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael series." -Library Journal
In the winter of 1271, Death stalks the corridors of Wynethorpe Castle on the Welsh border. When the Grim Reaper touches the beloved grandson of the castle lord, Baron Adam sends for his daughter, Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal, and her sub-infirmarian, Sister Anne, to save the child with prayers and healing talents. Escorting them to the remote fortress is Brother Thomas, an unwilling monk fighting his private demons.
Soon after the trio arrives, an important guest is murdered. The prioress' brother, bloody dagger in hand, stands over the corpse. Outside her priory, in a world of armed men, Eleanor may have little authority, but she is determined to untangle the Gordian knot of thwarted passions and old resentments even if it means defying her father, with whom she longs to make peace. As passions rise and time runs short, Eleanor, Anne, and Thomas struggle to find the real killer before wily Death claims another victim and the brother is sent for hanging.
Priscilla Royal grew up in British Columbia and has a degree in world literature from San Francisco State University, where she discovered the beauty of medieval literature. She now lives in Northern California and is a member of Mystery Writers of America, California Writers Club, and Sisters in Crime. Tyrant of the Mind is second in her acclaimed Medieval Mystery series.
www.priscillaroyal.com

Book 3

Sorrow Without End

by Priscilla Royal

Published 2 February 2006

MEDIEVAL MYSTERY: On a remote East Anglian coast stands Tyndal Priory, home to a rare monastic order where men and women live and work together in close proximity. Twenty-year-old Eleanor of Wynethorpe has been appointed prioress by Henry III over the elected choice of the priory itself. Young and inexperienced, Eleanor will face a grave struggle - in a place dedicated to love and peace, she will find little of either.

SORROW WITHOUT END: As the first of winter's storms ravages the East Anglian coast, a man, his soul burning with vengeance, takes the last steps in a journey that began two thousand miles ago...

In the woods surrounding Tyndal Priory, the discovery of a disembowelled corpse wrapped in a crusader's cloak horrifies the community. A bronze dagger planted in the man's chest is engraved with a strange, cursive design. It is no Englishman's weapon. Could it be a Saracen blade? Wielded by an assassin?


Book 4

Justice for the Damned

by Priscilla Royal

Published 10 August 2008
It is May of 1272, and Prioress Eleanor of Tyndale, recovering from a near-fatal winter fever, journeys to Amesbury Priory to visit her aunt in time for the Feast of Saint Melor. Although Eleanor hopes to regain her strength in the midst of pleasant childhood memories, Death reveals a most troublesome fondness for her company. A ghost now haunts Amesbury. Is it perhaps the spirit of a pregnant woman who drowned herself in the River Avon? But soon the specter turns murderous. A man is decapitated near the river where the grim figure walks, yet Sister Beatrice, Eleanor's aunt and acting prioress of Amesbury, shows an uncharacteristic hesitancy about taking charge of any investigation. As others apparently fall victim to the vengeful ghost, Eleanor struggles to put a human face on the restless spirit, and Brother Thomas, pursuing a secret mission for the Church connected with the Priory's famoous Psaltery, finds that his own demons have unexpectedly taken on a very human form.

Book 5

Forsaken Soul

by Priscilla Royal

Published 1 August 2008
The summer of 1273 is peaceful for most of England, but Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal Priory is troubled. Her friend, Crowner Ralf, is newly widowed with a baby daughter. Her new anchoress is terrifying her servants and welcoming visitors to her window at night. And then Martin the Cooper is poisoned at the local inn. Could the murderer be his usual whore, about to be tossed aside for another woman? Or is it the innkeeper's niece who has secret reasons for fearing him? Perhaps the blacksmith did it, a man whose temper might have exploded when he was mocked once too often? Martin certainly had a wealth of enemies. The killer could be any of them. Eleanor offers what help she can to the investigation, as does Sister Anne, a former apothecary. Yet her own problems multiply and Eleanor has good reason to regret her kindness: one of the nocturnal visitors to the anchoress' window has been Brother Thomas, a man the prioress secretly loves. Now his loyalty to her as head of Tyndal Priory is suspect. Bodies multiply. Suspects disappear. No one likes the direction the evidence points, but God's justice must be rendered - even for the most forsaken soul...Priscilla Royal grew up in British Columbia and has a degree in world literature from San Francisco State University, where she discovered the beauty of medieval literature.
Before retiring to write full-time, she worked for the Federal government in a variety of positions, all of which provided a wonderful education in the complexity of human experience and motivation. She is a theater fan as well as reader of history, mysteries, and fiction of lesser violence. She lives in Northern California and belongs to the Mystery Writers of America, California Writers Club, and Sisters in Crime.

Book 6

When one of her company falls ill on a return journey to Tyndal, Prioress Eleanor accepts lodging at a nearby manor. The hospitality may be warm but the underlying passions among the steward's family are scorching. Master Stevyn's wife is having an affair with the groom while a local widow acts more like the lady of the manor than the lady herself. Stevyn's eldest son and spouse are obsessed with sin and heaven, while his youngest son, bound for the Church, unexpectedly returns with more interest in lute playing than the priesthood. It is no surprise when someone's throat is cut. But the sheriff does all he can to avoid offending the family rather than seek the real killer. When he arrests a servant, she herself is stabbed before she can either prove innocence or be taken off for hanging. As strangers in this place, Eleanor and Thomas know nothing about motives or past history, yet God's justice demands that they do what they can before another convenient innocent is condemned. Will they discover the dark secrets that have led to this string of killings before the murderer strikes again?...Priscilla Royal grew up in British Columbia and has a degree in world literature from San Francisco State University, where she discovered the beauty of medieval literature.
She worked for the Federal government in a variety of positions, all of which provided a wonderful education in the complexity of human experience and motivation. She is a theater fan as well as reader of history, mystery, and fiction of lesser violence. She now lives in Northern California and belongs to the Mystery Writers of America, California Writers Club and Sisters in Crime. Chambers of Death is sixth in her medieval mystery series.

Book 7

Valley of Dry Bones:

by Priscilla Royal

Published 27 May 2010
In the late summer of 1274, King Edward has finally been anointed England's ruler, and his queen contemplates a pilgrimage in gratitude for their safe return from Outremer, a journey that will include a stay at Tyndal Priory. Envoys are sent to confirm that everything will be suitable for the king's wife, and Prioress Eleanor nervously awaits them, knowing that regal visits bring along expense and honor. The cost is higher than expected, however, when Death arrives as the unexpected emissary. One of the courtiers is murdered near the hut where Brother Thomas now lives as a hermit. Each member of the party has reason to hate the dead man, including Crowner Ralf's eldest brother, Sir Fulke, and the prioress's nemesis, the man in black. Soon Eleanor is embroiled in the dangerous world of power games, both secular and religious. Indeed, England's future under a new king may offer hope and relief, but skeletons from the past can come back to life like those in the biblical valley of dry bones. Which had cause enough to kill?

Book 8

A Killing Season

by Priscilla Royal

Published 1 October 2011

Book 9

The Sanctity of Hate

by Priscilla Royal

Published 4 December 2012
The summer of 1276 at Tyndal Priory is peaceful - or was until Kenelm's corpse is found floating in the millpond. When Brother Thomas concludes the murder occurred on priory grounds, Prioress Eleanor and Crowner Ralf swiftly agree to help each other solve the crime. The murder victim, a newcomer, was disliked in Tyndal village, and no one wants one of their own hanged for the deed. Fingers quickly point to a Jewish family, refugees under the reloc...

Book 10

Covenant with Hell

by Priscilla Royal

Published 1 December 2013
A medieval pilgrim harbours murderous intentions towards the King. Can Prioress Eleanor stop him before it's too late? Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal is on a pilgrimage, looking for peace and respite, when rumours spread that King Edward is on his way, seeking God's blessing for his recent invasion of Wales. Lurking in this sacred place, however, is an assassin with murderous treason in mind. When a nun falls to her death from the priory bell tower, is it a tragic accident, or a sign of what's to come? Although far away from the gossipy village of Tyndal, Eleanor, like a medieval Miss Marple, must use all her wit, wisdom and insight to unravel the clues to the case. But can Eleanor expose the killer in their midst, or will she too fall victim to one who has made a covenant with hell?

Book 11

Satan's Lullaby

by Priscilla Royal

Published 3 February 2015

Book 12

Land of Shadows

by Priscilla Royal

Published 2 February 2016

Book 15

The Twice-Hanged Man

by Priscilla Royal

Published 6 August 2019

Autumn, 1282
As Edward I wages a bloody conflict with Wales, Prioress Eleanor escorts her younger brother, Robert, and his wife, who is in labor, from their Marcher lands to greater safety at a Wynethorpe manor in a village just inside the English border. They are joined by Brother Thomas, the Prioress's trusted friend, and Sister Anne, who helps navigate the difficult birth and delivers a baby girl.
Mother and child may be healthy, but Death never wanders far from this beloved Prioress—whether she's home at Tyndal in Norfolk or traveling the realm. The local abbot begs her help—the village priest has been found dead and standing over him is, a reliable witness says, the ghost of Hywel, the village stonemason who was recently hanged for slaying some sleeping English soldiers.
Bone tired, Brother Thomas questions the village hangman, who assures him that Hywel was hanged once and then, when the weight of the fat felon strung up alongside him broke the beam of the gallows, was hanged again. The experienced executioner checked all the bodily signs—Hywel was dead. But where is his grave? And what secrets are the mysterious locals keeping from the outsiders visiting their troubled home?