Product Description

In 1298, Edward I of England invaded Scotland and brutally sacked the town of Berwick, razing to the ground the Red House of the Flemings who had permission to trade there.  He little knew his action would have far-reaching repercussions.

A year later, Edward convokes a great assembly of the realm in St Paul's Cathedral.  They are to hear Mass after which the main celebrant, Walter de Montfort, has been delegated to lecture the King on not taxing the Church.  During the Mass, de Montfort dies a sudden and violent death.

Hugh Corbett, the King's clerk, is given the task of solving the mystery and tracking down the murderer.  Against the background of Edward's struggle to maintain himself, both at home and aborad, Corbett's investigations become tortuous and laced with danger...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21261 in Books
• Published on: 1991-12-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

About the Author
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough. He studied History at Liverpool and Oxford Universities and obtained a doctorate for his thesis on Edward II and Queen Isabella. He is now headmaster of a school in north-east London and lives with his family in Essex.

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Medieval Mystery
This is the best murder mystery i've read. Not only is it very well written but it also recreates the medieval world very well indeed. A must for lovers of Historical fiction of Murder Mysterys.

Another Case for Sir Hugh
This is the fourth book in the series of medieval mysteries featuring Sir Hugh Corbett. Obviously this is one of Paul Doherty's earlier offerings and he has since written many more books and is now an established author of medieval novels and has also added a number of novels on Egypt to his ever growing list of titles. Having said that it is one of his earlier offerings does not mean that it is inferior to his current books, quite the opposite. The Hugh Corbett mysteries were and are extremely popular and Paul Doherty is still adding to them.

Sir Hugh Corbett has risen rapidly in status and is now chief clerk to the King, Edward I. Hugh has the ear of the King and Edward has come to rely on Corbett when there is anything of a delicate nature that needs solving. Such a case has just occurred. It is January, 1299 and at High mass with the King and other English nobles, Walter de Montfort, the dean of St. Paul's has dropped dead, poisoned.

Sir Hugh is commissioned to solve the crime and with the aid of his servant Ranulf, Corbett discovers that the victim was not the man his religious trappings would suggest. Far from it, the Dean owned a brothel and was also a fence for a gang of outlaws. However the clerk comes to suspect that despite the Dean's criminal background, he was not the intended victim. Can Corbett find the key to unlock the mystery before he himself becomes a victim.

Excellent and very readable
This book maintained the high standards which the other Hugh Corbett books have set. May I be allowed to have one small critism, am I correct when PCD makes reference to the Dome of Old St Pauls I thought it only had a tower and a wooden roof