Stap terug in de turbulente late 14e eeuw in deze boeiende historische mysterieserie. Volg de gevaarlijke avonturen van een koninklijke spion die verwikkeld raakt in dodelijke complotten en moordonderzoeken. Geholpen door een kleurrijke cast van bondgenoten, waaronder zijn apothekersvrouw en een slimme taverneigenaresse, navigeert hij door een wereld van politieke intriges en duistere geheimen. Deze verhalen bieden een rijke tapijt van historische details en spannende plotlijnen.
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.
A snowy March, 1367, and King Edward is impatient. He wants his privy councillor, William of Wykeham, confirmed as Bishop of Winchester, but Pope Urban V is stalling, deterred by the man's wealth and political ambition. Thus Owen Archer finds himself heading a deputation from York to Fountains Abbey to try to win support for Wykeham from the powerful Cistercian abbots. Ignoring the advice of his apothecary wife, Lucie, he places his old comrade Ned Townley in charges of the fellow company to Rievaulx, hoping to dispel rumours of Ned's involvement in a mysterious death. But just days out of York trouble erupts: first a friar, then Ned vanish, following news of a murder at Windsor. Owen asks John Thoresby, at court in his role as Lord Chancellor, to investigate, little knowing it will involve him with the King's mistress, Alice Perrers, ever a dangerous enemy. . .
A compelling, meticulously researched historical detective story from an author whose reputation is growing swiftly. The year is 1367, and the people of York are suffering. Not only has the harvest failed, but the plague has returned. In the midst of this scandal threatens St Leonard's Hospital, which is strugging to stay solvent and has suffered thefts. The deaths of several of its aged residents seems timely, for their care has long exceeded the sums they bequeathed. Rumours start to fly that their deaths were no accident. . . Owen Archer, already fully occupied helping his wife Lucie, the city's apothecary, deal with the plague, is forced to investigate
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.
Sir Ranulf Pagnell, il cavaliere del re, muore in Francia in circostanze misteriose. Le accuse ricadono su William Wykeham, il vescovo di Winchester che ha fallito i negoziati per la sua liberazione e ora accompagna la sua salma a York, città natale del cavaliere. Subito dopo l'arrivo, la vita stessa di Wykeham viene messa in pericolo. Owen Archer viene così incaricato di vegliare sull'incolumità del vescovo. Il compito si rivela difficile quando tra le rovine della casa viene ritrovato il cadavere della levatrice che si era presa cura di Lucie, la moglie di Owen, dopo la caduta che le era costatala perdita del figlio che portava in grembo. Ma sarà proprio grazie all'aiuto di Lucie che Owen riuscirà a risolvere il caso...
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.