P.C. Doherty - Page 1
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First British Edition Constable & Robinson (2002) |
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The Godless Man
It is 334 BC. Alexander has smashed the armies of the great king, Darius III, at the battle of the Granicus and is roaming the Western Persian Empire picking off the cities one by one like a hungry predator, living up to his nickname of ‘the Wolf of Macedon’.
Arriving at one of his prizes, the great city of Ephesus, the success of his campaign is threatened by a series of violent murders brought about by a high-ranking Persian spy known only as ‘the Centaur’. Worse, one of Alexander’s old tutors, Leonidas, is found floating face down in a stagnant pool at the House of Medusa - and this doesn’t look like an accident, since the House of Medusa is linked with a guild of assassins which formerly flourished in Ephesus. Alexander, meanwhile, is preoccupied with finding a deepwater port for his ships on the one hand; on the other, he is equally concerned to have the famous artist, Appelles, design a breathtaking portrait of himself to be placed in the Temple of Artemis, patron deity of Ephesus.
So once again Alexander’s friend and physician, the level-headed Telamon, must take it upon himself to unravel this swirling mass of bloodstrewn mysteries, this time working hand in hand with the king’s eerie Master of Secrets, Aristander. As always one of the biggest obstacles is the volatile and unpredictable nature of Alexander himself, a consummate actor whose lust for power and glory matches the carnage and intrigue that dog his footsteps like the Furies themselves.
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First British Edition Headline (2001) |
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The Slayers of Seth
Paul Doherty’s fourth novel set in Ancient Egypt
The time of Seth, of great killing, is upon us!
Lord Amerotke, Pharaoh’s chief judge, is already in the middle of a murder case. A Young, ambitious scribe, Ipumer, allegedly in love with the daughter of a powerful general, had hoped to become betrothed. Instead he is dead from poisoning and the prosecution has accused Lady Neshratta - apparently tired of the dalliance - of the crime. Lady Neshratta, if found guilty, will be buried alive in the desert sands of the Red Lands.
When Amerotke is summoned to the Temple of Seth by Lord Senenmut, it seems that there is another grave murder to investigate. One of Egypt’s great heroes has been brutally killed and Pharaoh Hatusu herself has decided to intervene. She believes that General Balet’s murder is only the beginning and she calls on Judge Amerotke for help. There is more to link the deaths than originally meets the eye – but can Amerotke track down the killer before he strikes again?
'Doherty excels at historical detail, bringing ancient Egypt to life in his descriptions of daily life and characters drawn from every caste' Publishers Weekly
'Doherty dazzles with his knowledge and intimate feel for ancient Egypt' Time Out
| Paperback - Robinson (2002) |
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First British Edition Constable (2001) |
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The House of Death
First in a new series of historical mysteries featuring Alexander the Great
It is the spring of 334BC and the young Alexander has led his troops to the banks of the Hellespont, poised to make his invasion into the empire of the great Persian king, Darius III. He knows he must win the approval of the gods for his enterprise and makes sacrifice after sacrifice, yet the smoke does not rise, the sacrifices are tainted. Worse, the guides he has hired to lead him through Persian territory are being brutally murdered. Persian spies are active in the camp, the men are becoming demoralized and Alexander’s own generals have their secret ambitions.
Into this whirlpool of mistrust comes Telamon, an old friend of Alexander’s boyhood, who has been sought out and cajoled into joining the Macedonian king by Olympias, Alexander’s mother. She charges him with protecting her son from the dangers that surround him. From then on events move swiftly. More murders take place and a party of assassins enters the camp. Alexander himself is threatened with mysterious messages, quotations from his favourite works, including The Iliad, which depict him as a patricide, the true murderer of his own father, Philip.
As the climax builds, Alexander displays his true heroic stature, throwing off the fears and nervous panics he is prey to, and as he achieves a brilliant and bloody triumph over the Persian king, Telamon at last succeeds in revealing the secret enemies within the camp.
Against a shifting and vibrant background of the harshness of military might, the sprawling camp and the opulence of Persia, the sharply delineated characters of Alexander and Telamon, Darius and others come fully to life, making this a story rich in historical detail, as well as tension and excitement.
‘Paul Doherty has created a vivid, credible picture of life in the Persian and Macedonian courts on the eve of Alexander’s conquests… He has peopled this world with entertaining characters, well developed… his Alexander is a loyal friend and likeable rogue intent on gambling everything to achieve his dreams of world conquest’ Times Literary Supplement
‘Fans of ancient historical mysteries will find themselves in superbly practised hands.’ Publishers Weekly
‘As usual Paul Doherty has produced an exhilarating crime story, with plenty of blood, gore and red herrings . . . but mostly Doherty’s Alexander is a talented actor prepared to appear a complete idiot to put his enemies off their guard. It is a wholly convincing portrait of a complex historical figure.’ Sara Wilson, The Historical Novels Review
‘The combination of legendary historical figures and an old fashioned murder mystery proves irresistible in Paul Doherty’s vivid new interpretation of the exploits of Alexander the Great.’ Robert Colbeck, Yorkshire Evening Post
‘Doherty, a true master of the historical mystery, provides another superbly crafted whodunit that will keep readers guessing until the stunning climax.’ Booklist
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First British Edition Headline (2001) |
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Corpse Candle
The new novel in the hugely popular Hugh Corbett medieval mystery series
Abbot Stephen closed his eyes but he couldn’t pray. He sighed and got to his feet; as he did, his attention was caught by the reflection of candlelight. Were those corpse candles? Was the legend true? Those strange lights, which appeared over the marshes and the fens, had they drawn so close as to flicker outside his chamber, beckoning, threatening…
The brothers of the abbey of St Martin’s-in-the-Marsh usually pay little heed to the tales of robber baron Sir Geoffrey Mandeville’s ghost galloping through the Lincolnshire fens with a retinue of ghastly horsemen. They may hear the shrill blast of a phantom hunting horn, or see the corpse candles glowing in the dark, but none really accepts the peasants’ belief that these flickering lights can forewarn men of their own deaths.
The monks are protected by the monastery’s high wall and by their powerful abbot - a friend of King Edward I - and, although their leaders sometimes argue over the abbey’s future, their lives are peaceful and comfortable. But then Abbot Stephen is found murdered in his chamber, with the door and windows locked from the inside, and Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the King’s Seal, arrives to investigate...
Praise for Paul Doherty
I really like these medieval whodunnits' Bookseller
`The best of its kind since Ellis Peters... A romping good read'
Time Out
'Vitality in the landscape... angst in the mystery, it's Peters
minus the herbs but plus a few crates of sack' Oxford Times
‘A masterpiece of murder and mystery’ Northern Echo
‘Historically informative, excellently plotted and, as ever, superbly entertaining’ CADS
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First British Edition Headline (2001) |
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The Hangman's Hymn
The Carpenter's tale of mystery and murder as he goes on pilgrimage from London to Canterbury
Stumbling upon a roadside execution, Chaucer’s pilgrims witness a hanging that leaves the carpenter in a dead faint. That evening, as the travellers rest in a priory, he narrates a Gloucester hangman’s terrifying tale of supernatural murder...
When Simon Cotterill, a carpenter, follows his sweetheart to Gloucester, he is beaten by her father’s thugs. Homeless and with no family to help him, he accepts the only job he can find and joins the local hangman’s crew, replacing a man who was himself sent to the gibbet. But Simon feels rejected even by the desperate men he now works with, until he learns the secret of how a hanged man can walk away from his grave.
Meanwhile, from the forest paths around Gloucester, young women are disappearing. When a disfigured corpse is found, the mayor suspects a coven of witches is preying on vulnerable souls, and arrests three hideous hags. Afraid the town’s prosperity could suffer from a reputation for witchcraft, he calls the hangmen and Gloucester’s chief aldermen to a midnight trial that condemns the women. They are taken to the scene of their crimes, the Forest of Dean, to be hanged for three days. But the unearthly sounds of the forest at night frighten even the hangmen, and a violent storm drives them to seek shelter, leaving the witches swinging from the gibbet tree. And the next morning, their bodies are gone.
Back in Gloucester, the witches’ dominus - the leader of their coven - wants revenge on every man involved in the secretive punishment of three witches. One by one, they are found dead, and Simon is forced into hiding as he attempts to destroy the coven, and save his own life...
Acclaim for Paul Doherty
‘Supremely evocative, scrupulously researched portrait… vivid, intricately crafted whodunnit’ Publishers Weekly
‘Paul Doherty has a lively sense of history’ New Statesman
‘The maestro of medieval mystery’ Books Magazine
‘Wholly excellent’ Prima
‘Doherty writes well, and his fascination for history comes off the page’ Express
About The Author
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough. He studied history at Liverpool and Oxford, where he obtained a doctorate for his thesis on Edward II and Isabella. He has an extraordinary amount of energy: his day job is being the head of the Catholic school, Trinity, in Essex, one of the largest comprehensives in the country, which recently won an Ofsted Oscar for excellence, despite being in quite a disadvantaged area, and he is an extremely prolific writer besides. His bestselling historical crime novels include: the Hugh Corbett books, set in the early fourteenth century; the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan; a series under the name of Michael Clyne; a series based on characters from the Canterbury Tales, and, most recently a series based in ancient Egypt. P.C.Doherty also writes as Paul Harding. He lives near Epping Forest with his wife and seven children.
Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.
The Godless Man
(Constable & Robinson,
2002)
The Slayers of Seth
(Headline,
2001)
Ancient Egyptian Mysteries
The House of Death
(Constable,
2001)
Robinson Pbk Jun 02
Corpse Candle
(Headline,
2001)
Headline Pbk Dec 01
(Hugh Corbett)
The Hangman's Hymn
(Headline,
2001)
The Anubis Slayings
(Headline,
2000)
Ancient Egyptian Mysteries
Headline Pbk Apr 01
The Treason of the Ghosts
(Headline,
2000)
Headline Pbk Aug 01
(Hugh Corbett)
The Horus Killings
(Headline,
1999)
Ancient Egyptian Mysteries
Headline Pbk Apr 00
The Field of Blood
(Headline,
1999)
The Demon Archer
(Headline,
1999)
(Hugh Corbett)
The Mask of Ra
(Headline,
1998)
Ancient Egyptian Mysteries
Headline Pbk Apr 99
The Devil's Domain
(Headline,
1998)
Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan (Brother Athelstan)
The Haunting
(Headline,
1997)
Headline Pbk 1998
The Soul Slayer
(Headline,
1997)
Headline Jan 98
Ghostly Murders, being the Priest's Tale
(Headline,
1997)
Canterbury Tales of murder and mystery
Headline Apr 97
The Rose Demon
(Headline,
1997)
Headline Pbk 1998
(Matthias Fitzobert)
The Devil's Hunt
(Headline,
1996)
(Hugh Corbett)
A Tournament of Murders, being the Franklin's Tale
(Headline,
1996)
Canterbury Tales of murder and mystery
Satan's Fire
(Headline,
1996)
(Hugh Corbett)
The Assassin's Riddle
Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan as Paul Harding (Brother Athelstan)
The House of Crows
Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan as Paul Harding (Brother Athelstan)
By Murder's Bright Light
Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan as Paul Harding (Brother Athelstan)
The Anger of God
Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan as Paul Harding (Brother Athelstan)
Murder Most Holy
Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan as Paul Harding (Brother Athelstan)
The House of the Red Slayer
Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan as Paul Harding (Brother Athelstan)
The Nightingale Gallery
Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan as Paul Harding (Brother Athelstan)
Satan in St Mary's
(Hugh Corbett)
The Song of a Dark Angel
(Hugh Corbett)
A Tapestry of Murders, being the Man of Law's Tale
Canterbury Tales of murder and mystery
The Angel of Death
(Hugh Corbett)
Crown in Darkness
(Hugh Corbett)
Spy in Chancery
(Hugh Corbett)
Murder Wears a Cowl
(Hugh Corbett)
The Assassin in the Greenwood
(Hugh Corbett)
The Prince of Darkness
(Hugh Corbett)
An Ancient Evil, being the Knight's Tale
Canterbury Tales of murder and mystery
The Godless Man
by P.C. Doherty
