Search results for ""Author Sarah Hawkswood""

April, 1145. Thorgar the Ploughman is found by the bloodied body of Father Edmund, a village priest in Ripple, and is summarily hanged for being caught at the scene of the crime, despite his pleas of innocence. When his sister goes to Worcester to seek justice for Thorgar, the lord Sheriff sends Hugh Bradecote, with Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin, to discover the truth. They soon expose strong motives for placing the blame on the ploughman's shoulders, some unpleasant secrets festering among the villagers, and the whisper of a treasure long lost and now rediscovered. The noose casts a long shadow, but the Sheriff's men will need to plumb the darkness to uncover the true killer.

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An arsonist proves to be a tough adversary for Worcester's sleuths September 1143. Serjeant Catchpoll hopes a fire at a Worcester silversmith's is just an accident, but when a charred corpse is discovered following a second fire, he has no choice but to call in the undersheriff. Hugh Bradecote may be new to the job compared to his wily colleague, but his analytical eye is soon hard at work. With further fires and a hooded figure stalking the streets, the duo must piece together the arsonist's vengeful motive.

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Midsummer, 1145. The steward of Evesham Abbey is found dead at the bottom of a well pit. The Abbot, whose relationship with the lord Sheriff of Worcestershire is strained at best, dislikes needing external help with the unfortunate incident. However, he grudgingly receives the trio of Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin.As the sheriff''s men probe who had more reason to want Walter the Steward dead, they discover that truth is in short supply. With the tensions between the Abbey and the local castle guard reaching boiling point, another killing will force the investigation down a dangerous path.

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Worcester, January 1145. Poison strikes down bow maker Godfrey Bowyer and his wife Blanche after their evening meal. While she survives, he dies an agonising death. Few could have administered the poison, which should mean a very short investigation for the Sheriff's men, Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin. But perhaps someone was pulling the strings, and that widens the net considerably. With an unpopular victim, the suspects are many and varied.

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A master archer is Bradecote and Catchpoll's target October 1143. His task dispatched, a mysterious archer melts back into the forest, leaving the gang to steal the salt and hide the arrow-pierced corpses. The lord Sheriff of Worcestershire cannot ignore such a brazen attack on the salt road from Wich, nor the death of a nobleman in the wrong place at the wrong time. And so Hugh Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll are sent to hunt an elusive killer and the salt thieves, and put a stop to the mounting attacks. But it is not easy to get the culprits in their sights with a reeve keen to keep his position at all costs, a lord with his own ends to serve and a distrusting and vengeful widow to whom Bradecote is increasingly attracted.

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April, 1145. Thorgar the Ploughman is found by the bloodied body of Father Edmund, a village priest in Ripple, and is summarily hanged for being caught at the scene of the crime, despite his pleas of innocence. When his sister goes to Worcester to seek justice for Thorgar, the lord Sheriff sends Hugh Bradecote, with Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin, to discover the truth. They soon expose strong motives for placing the blame on the ploughman's shoulders, some unpleasant secrets festering among the villagers, and the whisper of a treasure long lost and now rediscovered. The noose casts a long shadow, but the Sheriff's men will need to plumb the darkness to uncover the true killer.

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Worcester, January 1145. Poison strikes down bow maker Godfrey Bowyer and his wife Blanche after their evening meal. While she survives, he dies an agonising death. Few could have administered the poison, which should mean a very short investigation for the Sheriff's men, Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin. But perhaps someone was pulling the strings, and that widens the net considerably. With an unpopular victim, the suspects are many and varied.

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When an irascible lord is found murdered, undersheriff Bradecote and serjeant Catchpoll are summoned to investigate. August 1144. Osbern de Lench is known far and wide as a hard master, whose temper is perpetually frayed. After his daily ride to survey his land, his horse returns to the hall riderless, and the lifeless body of the lord is found soon after. Was it the work of thieves, or something closer to home? With an heir who is cast in the same hot-tempered mould, sworn enemies for neighbours and something amiss in the relationship between Osbern and his wife, undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, the wily Serjeant Catchpoll and his apprentice Walkelin have suspects aplenty.

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The vicious death of a man at the teeth of a wild animal does not add up for Bradecote and Catchpoll. All Hallows' Eve, 1144. The savaged body of Durand Wuduweard, the solitary and unpopular keeper of the King's Forest of Feckenham, is discovered beside his hearth, his corpse rendered barely identifiable by sharp teeth. Whispers of a wolf on the prowl grow louder and Sheriff William de Beauchamp's men, Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and young Walkelin, are tasked with cutting through the clamour. They must uncover who killed Durand and why, while beset by superstitious villagers, raids upon manors and further grim deaths. Out of the shadows of the forest, where will the wolf 's fangs strike next?

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Bradecote and Catchpoll discover that sometimes the difference between the law and justice is a great one. June, 1144. The naked corpse of an unknown man is discovered near Worcester, while the Prince of Powys's messenger has gone missing. Making the connection, Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and young apprentice Walkelin head to Wales to discover his identity. But did the dead man deserve a noose rather than a dagger? Retracing the dead man's steps leads the trio to a manor with a difficult lord, a neglected wife, a bitter mother and a fevered brother, none of whom want the truth exposed.

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