“If your taste is for well-written crime and well-written historical fiction, they are combined tantalisingly here”
Crime Time
It was rather more years ago than I care to remember that I first met Bernard Knight and Ian Morson, and the two were such delightful company, that it struck me it would be fun to go on speaking engagements with them. Shortly thereafter I met Susanna Gregory (always a lovely woman), and then Karen Maitland (likewise), and Philip Gooden and Chris (CJ) Sansom.
L-R CJ Sansom, Bernard Knight, Susanna Gregory, Philip Gooden, Michael Jecks
We travelled around, visiting libraries and bookshops, and had a great time talking about our characters and the life of a writer today. Sadly many of the festivals, libraries and bookshops have closed now, but we found a way to keep our brand, and pleasure in each other’s company, from flagging, by embarking on a series of collaborative novels, the ten Medieval Murderers books. Below are the ones I was involved with.
Sadly, of course, CJ Sansom has now died. A lovely guy, he’s hugely missed.
“A thoroughly enjoyable read”
Daily Mail
THE TAINTED RELIC
A cursed relic, a piece of the True Cross which was cursed when it was stolen from a church, has passed on through time with disastrous results: the Medieval Murderers collaborate on a series of novellas, telling how their sleuths each in turn encountered the relic. (May 2005)
“The various excellent crime writers each weave a clever and inventive tale around a central theme”
Good Book Guide
SWORD OF SHAME
From its first arrival in Britain, with the Norman forces of William the Conqueror, violence and revenge are the cursed sword’s constant companions. From an election-rigging scandal in 13th century Venice to the battlefield of Poitiers in 1356, as the Sword of Shame passes from owner to owner in this compelling collection of interlinked mysteries, it brings nothing but bad luck and disgrace to all who possess it.
“Cleverly written and exuding a an authentic atmosphere … an enchanting blend of medieval mystery and murder”
Renaissance Magazine
HOUSE OF SHADOWS
Rumours of ghosts and dark secrets abound at Bermondsey Priory; when the daughter of one of the hated Despenser’s servants is found dead in the surrounding marshlands, Bishop Walter asks Baldwin and Simon to
investigate.
THE LOST PROPHECIES
“When three popes all murdered lie,
And Christ’s own kingdom desecrated…”
A mysterious book of prophecies written by a sixth century Irish monk has puzzled scholars through the ages. Foretelling wars, plagues and rebellions, the Black Book of Bran is said to have predicted the Black Death and the Gunpowder Plot. It is even said to foresee the Day of Judgement. But is it the result of divine inspiration or the ravings of a madman?
A hidden hoard of Saxon gold. A poisoned priest. A monk skinned alive in Westminster Abbey. Only one thing is certain: whoever comes into possession of the cursed book meets a gruesome and untimely end.
“Monks, mists, madness, taverns: the evocation of a strange by familiar Other Britain shrouded in time … A must for Historical Crime buffs”
Tangled Web
KING ARTHUR’S BONES
During excavation work at Glastonbury Abbey, an ancient leaden cross is discovered buried several feet below ground. Inscribed on the cross are the words: Hic iacet sepultus inclitus rex arturius – here lies buried the renowned King Arthur. Beneath the cross are skeletal remains. Could these really be the remains of the legendary King Arthur and his queen, Guinevere? As the monks debate the implications of this extraordinary discovery, the bones disappear…
“The writers really know their stuff: medieval life with its superstition, smells and cruelty leaps off the page. A variety of backgrounds, from the Holy Land to Oxbridge and Saint Bartholomew’s Fair, add to the colour and make this a truly entertaining historical mystery”
Good Book Guide
THE DEADLIEST SIN
When a group of pilgrims are forced to seek shelter at an inn, their host suggests that the guests should tell their tales. He dares them to tell their stories of sin, so that it might emerge which one is the best.
That is, the worst…
Collaborations:
Howdunnit
Working with other members of the Detection Club, this book was written to give a fresh perspective on crime fiction from its leading exponents, past and present. With many fascinating insights into the ups and downs of a writer’s life, it also gives invaluable advice for aspiring authors and provides a better understanding of the genre.
All contributors are members of the legendary Detection Club, including essays and archival extracts by past members such as Dorothy L Sayers, GK Chesterton, Agatha Christie, Desmond Bailey, PD James and HRF Keating.
The Sinking Admiral
The Sinking Admiral, edited by the Detection Club’s outgoing President – author and broadcaster Simon Brett, OBE – continues a tradition established by the Detection Club’s founders in 1931 when Dorothy L Sayers, Agatha Christie, Freeman Willis Croft and eleven other esteemed authors wrote The Floating Admiral, a “collaborative novel” to challenge themselves, fox their readers and help to pay the Club’s running costs.
Now, 85 years later, 14 of today’s leading crime writers have repeated this unique game of literary consequences, producing an original, ebullient and archetypal whodunit that will keep readers guessing right up to what crime lovers insist on calling the denouement …
