Download or read book The Butcher Bird A Somershill Manor Mystery written by S. D. Sykes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the sequel to the critically acclaimed Plague Land, we return to Somershill Manor, where an ominous legend takes hold of hearts and minds as children begin to disappear. Oswald de Lacy is growing up fast in his new position as Lord of Somershill Manor. However, there is still the same amount of work to be done in the farms and fields, and the few people left to do it think they should be paid more—something the King himself has forbidden. Just as anger begins to spread, the story of the Butcher Bird takes flight. People claim to have witnessed a huge creature in the skies. A new-born baby is found impaled on a thorn bush. And then more children disappear. Convinced the bird is just a superstitious rumor, Oswald must discover what is really happening. He can expect no help from his snobbish mother and his scheming sister Clemence, who is determined to protect her own child, but happy to neglect her step-daughters. From the plague-ruined villages of Kent to the thief-infested streets of London and the luxurious bedchamber of a bewitching lady, Oswald's journey is full of danger, dark intrigue, and shocking revelations.
Download or read book The Butcher Bird written by S. D. Sykes and published by Pegasus Books. This book was released on 2016 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oswald de Lacy, the new Lord of Somershill Manor, must reassure the villagers that the huge creature reported in the sky is just a superstitious rumor, despite the number of children who suddenly disappear.
Download or read book Plague Land written by S. D. Sykes and published by Hodder Paperbacks. This book was released on 2015-05-21 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oswald de Lacy was never meant to be the Lord of Somerhill Manor. Despatched to a monastery at the age of seven, sent back at seventeen when his father and two older brothers are killed by thePlague, Oswald has no experience of running an estate. He finds the years of pestilence and neglect have changed the old place dramatically, not to mention the attitude of the surviving peasants. Yet some things never change. Oswald's mother remains the powerful matriarch of the family, and his sister Clemence simmers in the background, dangerous and unmarried. Before he can do anything, Oswald is confronted by the shocking death of a young woman, Alison Starvecrow. The ambitious village priest claims that Alison was killed by a band of demonic dog-headed men. Oswald is certain this is nonsense, but proving it - by finding the real murderer - is quite a different matter. Every step he takes seems to lead Oswald deeper into a dark maze of political intrigue, family secrets and violent strife. And then the body of another girl is found. SD Sykes brilliantly evokes the landscape and people of medieval Kent in this thrillingly suspenseful debut.
Download or read book The Butcher Bird written by S Sykes and published by Hodder & Stoughton. This book was released on 2015-10-22 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book 2 in the gripping Oswald de Lacy series, , which can be read as a standalone, from 'the medieval CJ Sansom' (Jeffery Deaver) The Black Death killed his father and brothers , making Oswald de Lacy Lord of Somershill Manor. It also killed many of his villagers, leaving fewer people to do more work. So Oswald tries to use logic and patience to manage a struggling estate, a socially ambitious mother, an overbearing sister and a mutinous workforce. Then a baby is found impaled on a thorn bush and people say they have seen a huge creature in the skies. The Butcher Bird. And now there is no room for common sense, no time for patience. If Oswald is to survive, he must find the truth behind a series of ever more brutal events. From the plague-ruined villages of Kent to the luxurious bedchambers of London, it is a journey full of danger, darkness and shocking revelations. 'The whodunnit aspect is neatly done, the family secrets and waspish relationships are intriguing, and humour and originality are abundant' Daily Mail
Download or read book The Good Death written by S. D. Sykes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the new Somershill Manor mystery, Lord Oswald de Lacy makes a devastating confession to his dying mother. But will he gain the forgiveness he seeks, or destroy his family? England, November 1370. Oswald de Lacy, Lord of Somershill Manor, makes a devastating confession to his dying mother. But will he gain the forgiveness he seeks—or destroy his family? In 1349, Oswald, the third son of the de Lacy family, was an eighteen-year-old novice monk at Kintham Abbey. Sent to collect herbs from the forest, Oswald comes across a terrified village girl. Frenzied with fear, she runs headlong into a swollen river. Oswald pulls her broken and bruised body from the water and returns her to the local village, only to discover that several other women have disappeared. A heinous killer is at work, but because all of the missing women come from impoverished families without influence, nobody seems to care. Oswald vows to find this killer himself—but as plague approaches, his beloved tutor Brother Peter insists they must stay inside the monastery. He turns instead to the women of the village for help, and particularly the enigmatic and beautiful Maud Woodstock—a woman who provokes strong emotions in Oswald. As he closes in on the killer, Oswald makes a discovery that is so utterly shocking that it threatens to destroy him and his family. Even as plague rages across England and death is at every door, Oswald must kill or be killed. And the discovery will be a secret that haunts him for the rest of his life.
Download or read book City of Masks written by S D Sykes and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2017-07-13 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brilliantly dark and compelling novel set in Venice from 'the medieval CJ Sansom' (Jeffery Deaver) 1358. Oswald de Lacy, Lord Somershill, is in Venice, awaiting a pilgrim galley to the Holy Land. While the city is under siege from the Hungarians, Oswald lodges with an English merchant, and soon comes under the dangerous spell of the decadent and dazzling island state that sits on the hinge of Europe, where East meets West. Oswald is trying to flee the chilling shadow of something in his past, but when he finds a dead man on the night of the carnival, he is dragged into a murder investigation that takes him deep into the intrigues of this mysterious, paranoid city. Coming up against the feared Signori di Notte, the secret police, Oswald learns that he is not the only one with something to hide. Everybody is watching somebody else, and nobody in Venice is what he or she seems. The masks are not just for the carnival.
Download or read book The Bone Fire written by S. D. Sykes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the new Somershill Manor Mystery, Oswald de Lacy brings his family to a secluded island castle to escape the Black Death, but soon a murder within the household proves that even the strongest fortresses aren't free from terror in fourteenth-century England. When the Black Death reappears in England in 1361, Oswald de Lacy knows that the safest place for his wife and young son is the island-fortress of Eden, where his eccentrically pious friend Godfrey has invited the family to stay to wait out the plague during the long, dark winter. But Oswald has barely had time to settle in when a brutal murder shocks the household and it soon becomes clear that the castle is not the stronghold of security that he was so desperately looking for. Oswald knows the castle isn’t safe, but escaping to the plague-infested countryside outside its walls is not an option. His only hope is to solve the mystery of the murder before the killer strikes again. With a cast of characters like something out of Chaucer—a lord and lady, a knight, a religious radical, a court jester, a drunk, and a couple of traveling craftsmen are just some of the suspects Oswald must reckon with—and the all-consuming threat of the plague hovering just outside the castle walls, the newest novel in the Somershill Manor Mysteries is the most brilliant and frightening yet.
Download or read book City of Masks written by S. D. Sykes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-07-04 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Young Lord Somershill flees England for the wonders of Venice, where he becomes involved in a bizarre murder investigation that plunges him into the depths of this secretive medieval city. It’s 1358, and young Oswald de Lacy, Lord Somershill, is delayed in Venice as he awaits a pilgrim ship to the Holy Land. While the city is besieged by the King of Hungary, Oswald stays at the house of an English merchant, and soon comes under the spell of this decadent and dazzling island state that sits on the edge of Europe—where East meets West. But Oswald has secrets. He is running away from something in England—a shadow that still haunts him, no matter how much he consoles himself with the delights of Venice. When he finds a dead man at the carnival, he is dragged into a murder investigation that draws him deep into the intrigues of this paranoid, mysterious city. From the dungeons of the Doge’s Palace to the convent-brothel of Santa Lucia, Oswald must search for a murderer in this bewildering maze of alleys and canals. When he comes up against the feared Signori di Notte, the secret police, Oswald learns that he is not the only one with something to hide. Everyone is watching (or trailing) someone else; and nobody in Venice is who they appear to be. Masks, it seems, are not only for the carnival.
Download or read book The History of the Brotherhood Or Guild of the Holy Ghost written by Samuel Loggon and published by . This book was released on 1742 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Lady Agnes Mystery written by Andrea Japp and published by Gallic Books. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Andrea Japp uses her remarkable knowledge of French history to tell an intricate and spellbinding story of a battle between church and state. 'An excellent read' Historical Novels Review 1304. The Church and the French Crown are locked in a power struggle. In the Normandy countryside, monks on a secret mission are brutally murdered and a poisoner is at large at Clairets Abbey. Young noblewoman Agnès de Souarcy fights to retain her independence but must face the Inquisition, unaware that she is the focus of an ancient quest.
Download or read book The Tapestry written by Nancy Bilyeau and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-03-24 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The next page-turner in the award-winning Joanna Stafford series takes place in the heart of the Tudor court, as she risks everything to defy the most powerful men of her era. Henry VIII's Palace of Whitehall is the last place on earth Joanna Stafford wants to be. But a summons from the king cannot be refused. After her priory was destroyed, Joanna, a young Dominican novice, vowed to live a quiet life, weaving tapestries and shunning dangerous conspiracies. That all changes when the king takes an interest in her tapestry talent. With a ruthless monarch tiring of his fourth wife and amoral noblemen driven by hidden agendas, Joanna becomes entangled in Tudor court politics. Her close friend, Catherine Howard. is rumored to be the king's mistress, and Joanna is determined to protect her from becoming the king's next wife—and victim. All the while, Joanna tries to understand her feelings for the two men in her life: the constable who tried to save her and the friar she can't forget. In a world of royal banquets, jousts, sea voyages and Tower Hill executions, Joanna must finally choose her future: nun or wife, spy or subject, rebel or courtier. The Tapestry is the final book in a Tudor trilogy that began in 2012 with The Crown, an Oprah magazine pick. Don't miss the adventures of one of the most unforgettable heroines in historical fiction.
Download or read book Plague Land written by S. D. Sykes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-02-15 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this chilling historical mystery, young girls go missing from a medieval English village and Lord Oswald de Lacy must find the killer before tragedy strikes again. Oswald de Lacy was never meant to be the Lord of Somerhill Manor. Despatched to a monastery at the age of seven, sent back at seventeen when his father and two older brothers are killed by the Plague, Oswald has no experience of running an estate. He finds the years of pestilence and neglect have changed the old place dramatically, not to mention the attitude of the surviving peasants. Yet some things never change. Oswald's mother remains the powerful matriarch of the family, and his sister Clemence simmers in the background, dangerous and unmarried. Before he can do anything, Oswald is confronted by the shocking death of a young woman, Alison Starvecrow. The ambitious village priest claims that Alison was killed by a band of demonic dog-headed men. Oswald is certain this is nonsense, but proving it—by finding the real murderer—is quite a different matter. Every step he takes seems to lead Oswald deeper into a dark maze of political intrigue, family secrets and violent strife. And then the body of another girl is found. Sarah Sykes brilliantly evokes the landscape and people of medieval Kent in this thrillingly suspenseful debut.
Download or read book Those Who Go By Night written by Andrew Gaddes and published by Crooked Lane Books. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A gruesome murder in a sleepy 14th-century English village sets the stage for a taut drama laced with witchcraft, depravity, and long-buried secrets. England, 1324—a land rife with superstition and gripped by fear of the Church’s holy wrath. When a beggar is murdered in the quiet village of Bottesford, his body draped across the altar of St. Mary’s church in a perverse pose of pagan sacrifice, the Pope’s Inquisitor General places the small hamlet in his sights. Anxious to stave off the Inquisition, the Bishop of Lincoln dispatches Thomas Lester, son of a disgraced Templar Knight, to investigate—but the Archbishop’s fanatical emissary has already arrived to conduct his own inquiry. Thomas’s investigation uncovers a viper’s nest of perfidious players: the secretive wife of the local lord, a notorious Irishwoman accused of witchcraft, and a depraved assassin who has left a trail of murder and blackmail in his wake. As this sordid drama unfolds, Thomas finds himself falling in love with a woman whose beauty is matched only by her defiance of the Church’s fearsome power. Is the killer poised to strike again? Will the Inquisition bring its hammer down on the hapless hamlet? And could there be a real witch hiding in plain sight? The race is on to conjure the truth.
Download or read book Master Wycliffe s Summons written by Mel Starr and published by Lion Fiction. This book was released on 2021-10-22 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Mel Starr has done it again with another brilliant Sir Hugh de Singleton medieval mystery to keep readers guessing until the very end. [.] I was there at the Queen's College, dining on pottage, getting soaked in the rain in fourteenth-century Oxford - Mel always draws you into the experience.' Toni Mount, author of the Sebastian Foxley murder mystery series One of Master John Wycliffe’s scholars is found dead after a thunderstorm. Was he struck by lightning, or was there something more sinister to his death? Scholar Richard Sabyn, a particularly obnoxious fellow, was believed to have been struck by lightning. However, Master Wycliffe believes otherwise and calls upon Sir Hugh de Singleton for help. Sir Hugh shares Wycliffe’s suspicions and launches a private investigation, learning that it might indeed be possible to make it look as though a man has died from a lightning strike. But who would go to all that effort, and why? When fellow scholar Simon Duby dies, it raises even more questions and suspicions. What is the connection between the two men? Sir Hugh believes a bronze pot, a bucket of urine, and a small quantity of charcoal and brimstone may hold the answer. During a bleak 1375, can he survive the insidious plague and several attempts on his life as he continues his quest for truth?
Download or read book The Devil in the Marshalsea written by Antonia Hodgson and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2014 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first thrilling historical crime novel starring Thomas Hawkins, a rakish scoundel with a heart of gold, set in the darkest debtors' prison in Georgian London, where people fall dead as quickly as they fall in love and no one is as they seem.
Download or read book Rise the Dark written by Michael Koryta and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rise the dark. These were the last words written in Lauren Novak's notebook before she was murdered in a strange Florida village. They've never meant anything to the police or to her husband, investigator Markus Novak. Now the man he believes killed her is out of prison, and draws Markus to the place he's avoided for so long: the lonely road where his wife was shot to death beneath the cypress trees and Spanish moss in a town called Cassadaga. In Red Lodge, Montana, a senseless act of vandalism shuts the lights off in the town where Sabrina Baldwin is still trying to adjust to a new home and mourning the loss of her brother, who was a high voltage linesman just like her husband, Jay. As the spring's final snowstorm calls Jay deeper into the mountains, chasing the destruction on the electrical grid, Sabrina is abducted by Garland Webb, the man Markus Novak believes killed his wife. Drawing them all together is a messianic villain who understands that you can never outpace your past. You can only rise against the future.
Download or read book A Murder in Time written by Julie McElwain and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-04-15 with total page 581 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When brilliant FBI agent Kendra Donovan stumbles back in time and finds herself in a 19th century English castle under threat from a vicious serial killer, she scrambles to solve the case before it takes her life—200 years before she was even born. Beautiful and brilliant, Kendra Donovan is a rising star at the FBI. Yet her path to professional success hits a speed bump during a disastrous raid where half her team is murdered, a mole in the FBI is uncovered and she herself is severely wounded. As soon as she recovers, she goes rogue and travels to England to assassinate the man responsible for the deaths of her teammates. While fleeing from an unexpected assassin herself, Kendra escapes into a stairwell that promises sanctuary but when she stumbles out again, she is in the same place - Aldrich Castle - but in a different time: 1815, to be exact. Mistaken for a lady's maid hired to help with weekend guests, Kendra is forced to quickly adapt to the time period until she can figure out how she got there; and, more importantly, how to get back home. However, after the body of a young girl is found on the extensive grounds of the county estate, she starts to feel there's some purpose to her bizarre circumstances. Stripped of her twenty-first century tools, Kendra must use her wits alone in order to unmask a cunning madman.
