Coroner Sir John investigates a series of attacks on wealthy women in this tense, pacey instalment in the Crowner John medieval mystery series, set in twelfth-century England. 1194. The well-born ladies of Exeter are under attack. First, Christina Rifford, the daughter of a rich merchant, is raped. Then, just months before her marriage, Lady Adele de Courcy is found dead in one of the poorest areas of the city. The common factor is Godfrey Fitzosbern, the local silversmith. Despite his own suspicions, county coroner Sir John de Wolfe is determined to protect Godfrey from the women’s vengeful families. Until, that is, he can find proof of the man’s guilt. Aided by his mistress Nesta, and hindered by his social-climbing wife Matilda and her power-hungry brother, Sheriff Richard de Revelle, John slowly begins to put the pieces together. But a final, brutal act of violence makes John question everything he’s discovered so far . . .

“A top-notch mystery full of keen characterization, humor, old English atmosphere, a charmingly decadent family, and a few sudden deaths.” —The New York Times A beggarwoman on a bench arouses Albert Campion’s curiosity—and helps Scotland Yard lure him into a case of family dysfunction. The seemingly destitute woman is none other than a member of the eccentric Palinode family, which has recently lost two of its members. The police suspect a poisoner is on the loose, which is why Campion is willing to go undercover as a lodger in the boardinghouse where they live. As the recently deceased are exhumed, Campion becomes acquainted with the old-fashioned, out-of-the-ordinary family members, who talk in crossword puzzle clues, sneak out at night, and cook vats of stinky food in the basement to save money. And if that’s not enough to keep Campion on his toes, the local undertaker seems to be digging himself into a hole . . . Praise for Margery Allingham “Margery Allingham stands out like a shining light.” —Agatha Christie “The best of mystery writers.” —The New Yorker “Don’t start reading these books unless you are confident that you can handle addiction.” —The Independent “One of the finest Golden-Age crime novelists.” —The Sunday Telegraph “Spending an evening with Campion is one of life’s pure pleasures.” —The Sunday Times

"If there is anyone who has emerged from the crowded field of medieval mysteries to take the place of the late Ellis Peters, it is Peter Tremayne." --Denver Post on Master of Souls Ireland AD 670: When an eminent scholar is found murdered in his cell in the Abbey of Lios Mor, fear spreads among his brethren. His door was secured from the inside, with no other means of exit. How did the murderer escape? And what was the content of the manuscripts apparently stolen from the scholar's room? Abbot Iarnla insists on sending for Sister Fidelma and her companion Brother Eadulf to investigate the killing. But even before they reach the abbey walls, there is an attempt on their lives. As the mystery deepens, Fidelma and Eadulf must also wrestle with problems of their own, problems which threaten to separate them forever...

One of Henry VIII's lords, from the relatively safe perspective of old age, recounts the corruption, deceit, and scandal of Tudor England in The Poisoned Chalice: Being the Second Journal of Sir Roger Shallot Concerning Certain Wicked Conspiracies and Horrible Murders Perpetrated in the Reign of King Henry VIII.

Glastonbury Tor is the legendary resting place of the Holy Grail, but something else also rests beneath the hill Glastonbury, legendary resting place of the Holy Grail, is a mysterious and haunting town. But when plump, dizzy Diane Ffitch returns home, it's with a sense of deep unease—and not only about her aristocratic family's reaction to her broken engagement and her New Age companions. Plans for a new motorway have intensified the old bitterness between the local people and the "pilgrims," so already the sacred air is soured. And, as the town becomes increasingly split by violence and death, Diane, local bookseller Juanita Carey, and the writer Joe Powys must now face up to the worst of all possibilities: the existence of an anti-Grail—the dark chalice.

For the twentieth anniversary of the start of the Matthew Bartholomew series, Sphere is delighted to reissue all of the medieval monk's cases with beautiful new series-style covers. ------------------------------------ The winter of 1353 has been appallingly wet, there is a fever outbreak amongst the poorer townspeople and the country is not yet fully recovered from the aftermath of the plague. The increasing reputation and wealth of the Cambridge colleges are causing dangerous tensions between the town, Church and University. Matthew Bartholomew is called to look into the deaths of three members of the University of who died from drinking poisoned wine, and soon he stumbles upon criminal activities that implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues - so he must solve the case before matters in the town get out of hand... On a bitter winter evening in 1356, Matthew Bartholomew, Brother Michael and their book-bearer Cynric arrive in Lincoln. Michael is to accept an honour from the cathedral, and Bartholomew is looking for the woman he wants to marry. It is not long before they learn that the friary in which they are staying is not the safe haven they imagine - one guest has already been murdered. It soon emerges that the dead man was holding the Hugh Chalice, a Lincoln relic with a curiously bloody history. Bartholomew and Michael are soon drawn into a web of murder, lies and suspicion in a city where neither knows who can be trusted.

Reveals the discovery of an artifact that many experts believe may be the Holy Grail • Traces the journey of the Grail from the Holy Land to Rome and eventually to a ruined chapel in Shropshire, England • Uncovers new evidence identifying the historical King Arthur and his connection to the Holy Grail The popular Arthurian stories of the Middle Ages depict the Holy Grail as Christ’s cup from the Last Supper, which was believed to have been endowed with miraculous healing powers and the ability to give eternal life to whoever drank from it. A much earlier tradition, however, claimed the Grail was the vessel used by Mary Magdalene to collect Christ’s blood when he appeared to her after rising from the tomb. While many vessels were claimed to have been the true Grail, there was only one thought to have been the chalice used by Mary. From Jesus’ empty tomb, where it remained for almost 400 years, this holy relic known as the Marian Chalice was taken to Rome by the mother of the first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great. It was then smuggled from Rome in 410 A.D., according to the fifth-century historian Olympiodorus, to save it from the barbarians who sacked the city. Well into the Middle Ages legend persisted that it had been taken to safety in Britain, the last outpost of Roman civilization in Western Europe. This journey to England, and what happened to the Chalice there, is the focus of this book. Graham Phillips’s research uncovers the secret legacy of an ancient noble family over generations and a trail of clues hidden in the English countryside that lead to a mysterious grotto, a forgotten attic, and the lost chalice. In tracing the relic, Phillips offers the inside story behind an astonishing adventure that results in the identification of the historical King Arthur and the location of one of the most powerful symbols in Western tradition.