The King's Bishop

by Candace Robb

Overview

Friend or foe? The character of Owen's old friend is called into question when he mysteriously vanishes from the king's mission after a page is murdered.

York, 1367. Owen Archer and his old comrade, Ned Townley, are each leading companies of the king's men north of York to Fountains and Rievaulx abbeys respectively, on a mission to win the support of the powerful abbots for William of Wykeham becoming the Bishop of Winchester.

A CRIME OF PASSION?

But trouble stalks Ned Townley - Sir William of Wyndesore's men at Windsor suspect he killed a page in a jealous rage over his betrothed. Is the rumour true?

SOME SECRETS MUST BE PROTECTED AT ANY COST.

When Ned and a friar in his party go missing, Owen is drawn into the intrigue surrounding his friend. As further disturbing events occur, Owen uncovers a dangerous, scandalous secret that stretches to the highest level of the court.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448313440
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	01/09/2024
Series:	Owen Archer Series , #4
Edition description:	Main
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Candace Robb has read and researched medieval history for many years, having studied for a Ph.D. in Medieval & Anglo-Saxon Literature. She divides her time between Seattle and the UK, frequently visiting York to research the series. She is the author of eleven previous Owen Archer mysteries and three Kate Clifford medieval mysteries.

Editorial Reviews

Meticulously researched, authentic and gripping

Yorkshire Evening Post on Vigil of Spies

Gripping and believable . . . you can almost smell the streets of 14th-century York as you delve deeper into an engrossing plot

Prima on The Riddle of St. Leonard's

Robb's fourth chronicle of 14th-century church and crown power-plays, highlighting Owen Archer, her Welsh, one-eyed soldier hero (The Nun's Tale, 1996, etc.). King Edward is determined to make William of Wykeham the next Bishop of Winchester, despite the Pope's objections, and he needs the support of the influential Cistercian monks of the abbeys at Fountains and Rievaulx. Archer is to lead the group traveling north on that mission. Sharing the task is his friend Ned Townley, a spy for the Duke of Lancaster, the King's son, who is now in France. Ned is in trouble with the household soldiers of Sir William Wyndosore. Sir William's page Daniel has drowned after a threatening encounter with Ned—who was known to be wildly jealous of Daniel's innocent friendship with Ned's dearly beloved Mary, maid to the King's mistress Alice Perrers. The traveling mission has not reached its goal when Ned gets the news that Mary, too, has drowned. In short order, the group's friar Don Ambrose disappears, as do two of his soldiers. Ned is on the run, tagged a murderer, and only Archer can save him—with help from a surprising source and the revelation of a dark secret. Meantime, amid the proliferation of characters, long-winded conversations, chases through desolate landscapes, and detailed accounts of Archer's idyllic domestic interludes with his adored apothecary wife, only the incisive portraits of Alice Perrers and Lord Chancellor John Thoresby stand out. The rest is a jumbled scenario.

Likely to be appreciated mainly by history buffs and medievalists.

Kirkus Reviews