CITY OF PEARL by ALYS CLARE

 CITY OF PEARL  by ALYS CLARE  pgs 248

October, 1093. At her mentor's urgent request, Lassair is accompanying Gurdyman across the sea to Spain. But why is he so insistent on embarking on this difficult and dangerous journey just as winter approaches? And why does he seem so afraid? Could there be any connection to the vagrant found lying dead outside his home, a single pearl clutched in his outstretched hand?

As the pair reach the remote mountainous regions of northern Spain, Lassair will be tested as never before. Hot on her trail is Jack Chevestrier, the young lawman who loves her. But who is it who's trying to kill him ... and why?

THE ABBOT'S AGREEMENT by MEL STARR

 THE ABBOT'S AGREEMENT  by  MEL STARR  pgs 239

"My life would have been more tranquil in the days after Martinmas had I not seen the crows. Whatever it was that the crows had found lay in the dappled shadow of the bare limbs of the oak, so I was nearly upon the thing before I recognized what the crows were feasting upon. The corpse wore black." Master Hugh is making his way towards Oxford when he discovers the young Benedictine - a fresh body, barefoot - not half a mile from the nearby abbey. The abbey's novice master confirms the boy's identity: John, one of three novices. But he had gone missing four days previously, and his corpse is fresh. There has been plague in the area, but this was not the cause of death: the lad has been stabbed in the back. To Hugh's sinking heart, the abbot has a commission for him ...

REST NOT IN PEACE by MEL STARR

 REST NOT IN PEACE  by  MEL STARR  pgs 240

Master Hugh is asked to provide a sleeping potion for Sir Henry Burley, a friend and guest of Lord Gilbert at Bampton Castle. Sir Henry, (with his wife, a daughter by a first wife, two knights, two squires, and assorted servants), has outstayed his welcome at Bampton Castle. The next morning after Master Hugh provides the potion, Sir Henry is found dead, eyes open, in his bed. Master Hugh, the target of the wife's wrath, is asked by Lord Gilbert to determine the cause of death ...

THE UNQUIET BONES by MEL STARR

 THE UNQUIET BONES  by MEL STARR  pgs 256

Hugh of Singleton, fourth son of a minor knight, has been educated as a clerk, usually a prelude to taking holy orders.  However, feeling no certain calling despite a lively faith, he turns to the profession of surgeon, training in Paris and then hanging out his sign in Oxford.

 A local lord asks him to track the killer of a young woman whose bones have been found in the castle cess pit.  She is identified as the impetuous missing daughter of a local blacksmith, and her young man, whom she had provoked very publicly, is in due course arrested and sentenced at the Oxford assizes.

 From there the tale unfolds, with graphic medical procedures, droll medieval wit, misdirection, ambition, romantic distractions and a consistent underlying Christian compassion.

UNHALLOWED GROUND by MEL STARR

 UNHALLOWED GROUND by MEL STARR  pgs 239

A man nobody likes is found hung from a tree, and all but Master Hugh assume he has taken his own life. When he discovers that the corrupt priest John Kellet had been covertly in Bampton at the time of the death, he thinks he's found his man. But when he catches up with Kellet at Exeter, he finds that the priest is a shadow of his former self, and is mourning the folly of his past life.

A TRAIL OF INK by MEL STARR

 A TRAIL OF INK by MEL STARR  PGS 240

Some valuable books have been stolen from Master John Wyclif, the well known scholar and Bible translator. He calls upon his friend and former pupil, Hugh de Singleton, to investigate. Hugh's investigation leads him to Oxford where he again encounters Kate, the only woman who has tempted him to leave bachelor life behind, but Kate has another serious suitor. As Hugh's pursuit of Kate becomes more successful, mysterious accidents begin to occur. Are these accidents tied to the missing books, or to his pursuit of Kate?

One of the stolen books turns up alongside the drowned body of a poor Oxford scholar. Another accident? Hugh certainly doesn’t think so, but it will take all of his surgeon’s skills to prove.