Catherine LeVendeur Books
Entering the Convent of the Paraclete in order to conquer her natural willfulness, twelfth-century novice Catherine LeVendeur travels to the Great Abby of St. Denis, where she uncovers a plot involving stolen gems, mad monks, and murder. Reprint.
1140 Anno Domini: A wealthy countess lies dying at the Convent of the Paraclete, brutally beaten by unknown assailants. Despite entreaties, she is unwilling to name her killer. Beautiful Catherine LeVendeur, the Paraclete's most learned young novice-scholar, vows to find out the identity of the woman's attacker. When her beloved Edgar comes to lead her from the convent to a life of the flesh, Catherine is torn between her quest for justice and the pledge she made him. Catherine doesn't want to break any of the vows she's made-and if she abandons her crusade for the truth, others will die, and the convent she loves may be destroyed...
In medieval Paris, religious persecution and murder force Catherine LeVendeur to come to terms with her family's Jewish heritage
A former novitiate in the Order of the Paraclete, Catherine LeVendeur has had more than her share of adventures. In fact, intrigue--and murder--seem to dog her path. When Catherine chose love over churchly devotion by falling in love with her Saxon nobleman, Edgar, her family gas the earnest hope that married life would settle this most headstrong and unusual woman. But fate has a way of playing with mortals, and after suffering several miscarages and the birth of a stillborn child, Catherine is driven by a prophetic dream. She and Edgar will embark on a pilgrimage to the fabled monastery of Compostela, to petition St. James for a child, to take the holy waters, and to pray. On the journey Catherine and Edgar will encounter mad monks, some less-than-penitent crusaders, and a motley collection of pilgrims whose past deeds bind them all in a bizarre game of chance. When several pilgrims are gruesomely murdered, the trail of evidence points to an old sin left unshriven and a hidden villain whose quest for revenge may end in Catherine's death. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The fifth in Sharan Newman's highly authentic and richly praised series, Cursed in the Blood finds Catherine LeVendeur venturing to the cold and tumultuous homeland of her husband--only to realize that vast differences between Edgar's family and her own. After making the pilgrimage to Compostela and giving birth to a son, Catherine LeVendeur is looking forward to an idyllic life at home in Paris. Yet her contentment is shattered when she and Edgar receive news from his family: Edgar's two oldest brothers have been ambushed and murdered, and he must return to Scotland to help avenge their deaths. At first, Edgar refuses to go, knowing what may await them in his war torn homeland. But Catherine believes in family loyalty and insists upon accompanying him with their baby. Once in Scotland, Catherine is surprised to learn that Edger's family is not what she imagined: His father, Waldeve, is a cold tyrant, and his remaining siblings are distant and secretive. Separated from Edgar during their efforts to uncover the truth, Catherine is expelled from his family's care. She becomes a stranger in a strange land, searching for refuge in a country ravaged by civil war at the same time she searches for her husband. Yet she knows that any haven she finds will only be temporary until she answers this question: Who among Waldeve's enemies hates him passionately enough to destroy his whole family--including, she fears, his infant grandson? Winner of the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Catherine's estranged younger sister, Agnes, has been promised in marriage to a German lord. Bitter about their religious differences, Agnes wants no part of Catherine or their father--except for the sizable dowry that he can provide. When Catherine and her father send Agnes off with her dowry and two knights in escort, they assume that they have seen the last of her. But soon one of the escorts returns with terrible news: Agnes' new husband appears to have been murdered, and Agnes, the prime suspect, is being held, accused of murder by poisoning, or even worse, witchcraft. In spite of their differences, Catherine believes in Agnes' innocence, and knows that she must do everything she can to save her sister's life. But when Catherine and her brood travel to Germany to begin sleuthing in a dangerously anti-Semitic climate, it becomes clear that Catherine and her husband's long-dreamt-of life of peace remains in the distant future--if they live to see it.
Catherine LeVendeur is an independent spirit, fiercely loyal to both her faith and her family. The two sometimes conflict, but even though she has experienced joy and loss, her life remains committed to preserving what--and who--she loves. Catherine's loyalty is sorely tested, however, when she and her family return to France after a long absence, and discover a Knight Templar has been brutally murdered in their home--and someone is threatening to reveal Catherine's closely held secret about her family's Jewish roots. But Catherine never wavers--neither in her own Christian faith, nor her father's Jewish faith--and ultimately it falls upon her to discover who would kill a soldier of God and why her family would be targeted in such a horrendous fashion. A story filled with fascinating details of medieval life and the intricate interplay between the Christian and Jewish cultures of the time.
A Catherine LeVendeur mystery Catherine LeVendeur is a creature of twelfth-century France. Her life is a mirror of that time but she is a unique spirit, determined to make her way in the world and armed with a keen mind and a curiosity that often puts her in peril. Her life is both a reflection of the bonds placed upon a woman in her society and the ways in which a strong personality can triumph and succeed in spite of those strictures. Catherine is fiercely loyal to both her faith and her family . . . and this loyalty is sometimes sorely tested because of a dreaded family secret. Raised a devout Catholic, she knows that if her family's Jewish roots are exposed, all she loves will be destroyed. But how far will she go to protect that secret? When her dearest friend in the world, Astrolabe, the son of the fabled theologian Peter Abelard and Heloise, flees wrongful prosecution for the vicious murder of a young woman, Catherine's family takes him in to hide. But there are darker forces than murder at work here. Someone wishes to use Astrolabe to complete the destruction of his father's fame in the name of faith . . . and there are those who would see the destruction of the very order of Christian life. And Catherine's family is caught right in the middle of the conflict. While she has experienced love and loss, her life is committed to preserving what peace she can for those she loves. How far will Catherine go to save her friend, and what will this sacrifice do to her family's future? Heresy is the eighth title in Sharan Newman's critically acclaimed Catherine LeVendeur medieval mystery series. Sharan Newman has used extensive research to give us a fascinating panorama of twelfth-century France that is rich in historical detail, and she puts flesh to bone by creating portraits of people who are not so different from ourselves. Filled with fascinating details of medieval life and the intricate interplay between the Christian and Jewish cultures of the time, Heresy is a compelling mystery and a riveting historical rolled into one.
Catherine Le Vendeur's curiosity and passion for justice have sometimes led her to solve grisly murders and brave horrors... but this time the threat is to those she loves. Catherine's family business relies on her cousin Solomon to negotiate the treacherous path to riches. The fact that Solomon is her cousin is secret, however, because he's Jewish--and if their family connections were discovered, it could mean ruin or death. When Solomon's father, who rejected Judaism for the more socially acceptable Christianity, asks for his help, Solomon must come to a decision about who he is, and where he really belongs.
Winner of the Bruce Alexander Award for Best Historical Mystery Catherine LeVendeur is a creature of 12th century France whose life is a mirror of her times--but she is armed with a keen mind and lively curiosity. When Catherine's grandfather sends for his family to tell them their well is going dry, Catherine is alarmed. The family's wealth depends on its status, and if the well goes dry, their castle will fall. Her grandfather seems wracked with a fear deeper than that, though--and there's a mysterious woman appearing at odd moments who may or may not be the family's ancestral ghost. Catherine doesn't believe the magical legends her family has handed down, that they are the descendents of a knight of Charlemagne's and a faerie. She puts her faith and distrust in the human condition. When bodies being appearing--not ghostly specters, but freshly-dead humans--Catherine knows she's right, and must uncover the secrets of the witch in the well...