Domesday Books
In Norman England, in 1086, a royal tribunal discovers a terrible murder in the village of Bedwyn, and soldier Ralph Delchard and clerk Gervase Bret chase a potentially nonhuman killer
In the second installment in a historical whodunit series set in eleventh-century Norman England, William the Conqueror sends out his royal surveyors, who must save the town of Blackwater Hall from a rapacious landlord. Reprint.
DOMESDAY IS COMING In 1086, England's mighty king, William the Conqueror, sends out surveyors and census takers to record the resources of his land and its people. Some welcome these inquisitive royal agents and their day of judgment. Others hate them. But wherever the king's men go they bring excitement *and sometimes murder. . . . Calamity smolders on the Welsh-English frontier, where three powerful men squabble over the same rich tract of land. When King William's clever agents *soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret *arrive to settle the dispute, one of the claimants has been brutally burned alive, and the king's men are saddled with a formidable murder investigation. Before the frightful truth shines clear, everyone will be scorched by the flames of violence. . . . "Marston is a marvel at re-creating the atmosphere of the times while constructing a fascinating murder case." *Anniston Star "[An] outstanding medieval mystery brimming with intrigue, suspense, and authentic historical detail." *Booklist
Soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret lead a group of the King's finest commissioners into the war-torn lands of Yorkshire to settle land claims and compile The Domesday Book, a record of England's holdings. The battle-scarred country reminds Delchard of his own guilty part in pillaging the shire years before to put down a revolt against the Conqueror. However, one island of wealth and luxury remains in Yorkshire: the castle of merchant Aubrey Maminot. There the commissioners learn of two great terrors: the rogue Olaf Evil Child, a hero of the poor and conquered Saxon people, and the ravenous lions Aubrey Maminot keeps as pets. The lions make a feast of an anonymous young man who tries to sneak into the castle, and Gervase Bret begins to wonder why someone would commit such an act of suicide. As he and Ralph seek a reason, both men find themselves agreeably distracted - Gervase by Inga, a young woman embroiled in a struggle for her family's land, and Ralph by Golde, a Saxon woman who prods him to do justice for the dispossessed. But Ralph and Gervase must address a more urgent secret, which threatens their lives, their loves, and perhaps the crown itself.
Perplexing clues lead commissioners Ralph Delchard and Gervase Gret to the hospital, where a young murder victim named Bertha, found dead with snakebites on her neck, volunteetered, and they begin searching for an evil force incarnate.
The seventh volume of the popular Domesday books, set in the time of England's William the Conqueror, follows Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret to Oxford, where they become involved in the investigation surrounding a rider's murder during a horse race.
First edition with full number line bound in red cloth with gold spine lettering. 8vo (8.75 X 5.50") size,246pp. A near fine copy in a fine dust jacket. The book has the usual tanning to the edges of the pages else a fine copy in a fine dust jacket.
In the gathering dusk of the Devonshire countryside, Nicholas Picard is riding home when a snarling wildcat attacks him. Neighbors find his lacerated body in the woods, but when they discover the slit in his throat, it soon becomes clear that human hands are responsible for his demise.Picard's death complicates an already difficult land dispute that Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret have been sent to settle in nearby Exeter. The murdered man had a stake in the outcome, and now his widow, Catherine, believes she should be the rightful owner of the land in question. However, Picard's mistress and the mother of a previous deed holder see things very differently. So determined is each woman to prove her claim that Ralph and Gervase begin to wonder whether one of them is capable of murder.
Henry Beaumont keeps a renowned pack of foxhounds: quick, brave and ruthless at the kill. Yet one December hunt, the dogs uncover more than a fox in the woodlands-brushing aside dead leaves, Beaumont finds the crushed body of Martin Reynard, a former member of his own household. Enraged, Henry swears to find the killer, though he is not trained in investigation. Before long his hot head and rudimentary skills lead him to arrest a man of questionable guilt. Luckily, Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret are in the area to settle a land dispute and are available to lend their expertise. Upon close consideration of the circumstances leading up to the grisly murder, the two Domesday Commissioners begin a full-scale investigation designed to bring the true murderer to justice, whoever he may be. Full of the impeccable historical detail for which Edward Marston is known, The Foxes of Warwick is a gripping mystery sure to fascinate both longtime fans and readers new to the Domesday series.
The ordered calm of Gloucester Abbey is shattered by the disappearance of one of the resident monks. Two novices, Elaf and Kenelm, show little concern for the missing Brother Nicholas. Rebelling against monastic discipline, they indulge in secret midnight adventures. Fearing discovery during their latest exploit, they hide in the Bell Tower, certain that they won’t be found. Elaf, stumbling in the dark, trips over something and realizes, to his horror, that it is a dead body. Brother Nicholas has been found, his throat slit from ear to ear. The Abbey becomes paralyzed with fear. The Abbot is ill-equipped to deal with such a heinous crime and is still reeling from his conversation with the sheriff, who is convinced that one of the other brothers must be a killer. After all, who else would have access to the Abbey Church? Domesday commissioners Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret arrive, sent to resolve a land dispute. The vicious murder takes immediate priority, however, and they doubt the local sheriff’s ability to solve the baffling case. Before long, Ralph and Gervase realize that the killing is just a symptom of a sinister presence that threatens the whole community and must be stopped at any cost. Inspired by real entries in the historic Domesday Book, The Owls of Gloucester is the tenth mystery in Edward Marston’s spellbinding and richly drawn eleventh-century crime series.
It is the juiciest piece of gossip the citizens of Norwich have heard for a long time. The two golden elephants that robber baron Richard de Fontenel was using to lure the beautiful Adelaide into marriage have been stolen. Also missing is de Fontenel's steward Hermer. Desperate to try and ignore this growing crisis are Domesday Commissioners Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret, who are keen to resolve a land dispute involving de Fontenel and Mauger - a man also, trying to woo Adelaide. De Fontenel, however, refuses to co-operate until the thief is found. But is Hermer the steward really missing or has something more sinister happened? In Ralph and Gervase's most baffling case yet, nothing is what it seems and no one is free from suspicion...