Kirjahaku

Sherborne in 1436 was a quarrelsome town, the townspeople and the Abbot at loggerheads over the narrowing of the entrance to Allhallows, the chapel-of-ease attached to the Abbey, and the positioning of a font in the same chapel. Against this background, a young man is found murdered in the Lady Chapel of the Abbey, and subsequent strange deaths occur. Matthias Barton feels compelled to investigate and being unused to murder, stumbles along until suddenly things become clearer to him.

When an injured man appears at the home of Sir Tobias, Coroner of Dorset, claiming to have devastating news of his son-in-law, he is compelled to investigate for the sake of his daughter and grandson. Matthias Barton is drawn into the investigation and travels to Calais to seek answers. Here he and William, squire to Sir Tobias,discovers a sinister organisation designed to weaken the English soldiers in their failing battle against the French. Meanwhile in Sherborne, the unrest grows stronger and the fire in the Abbey reveals a most gruesome discovery. Matthias must gather his wits about him to help unravel this strange affair. This is the second in the series of medieval mysteries featuring the young schoolmaster Matthias Barton, set against the history of Sherborne and the surrounding area. `...her main characters and the lesser ones are very believable. I hope very much that there is a sequel in the pipeline. I am beginning to like Matthias Barton and I wish him well.' (Amazon) `This is really rather a good read. Sherborne has its own Medieval following.' (Reader from Gloucester)

The building of the Alms house in Sherborne has taken the good people of Sherborne into much thought and energetic fund raising, despite still owing the Abbot money for rebuilding after the fire. Against this backdrop, Shaftesbury Abbey becomes embroiled in a gruesome happening which involves A Sherborne family close to the young schoolmaster, Matthias Barton. With eighteen miles of hard riding between the two towns, how can this be resolved?

The year is 1450. Matthias Barton’s school is well established, Luke his step son is at the great schools of learning in Oxford, but there is serious unrest in the country and the Sherborne area is affected by this. Finn, a one-time pupil of Matthias has disappeared, anxious to find the Kentish rebels and join with them in their fight against the injustices as he sees them. Meanwhile in Sherborne, the civil disobedience against the Abbot and the Bishop of Salisbury continues. Matthias is involved in the smaller disobediences whilst Finn is heavily involved in the larger and far more serious affairs around the rebel and so-called captain of Kent, Jack Cade. Will Luke become infected with Finn’s daring escapades, or will he remain safely in Oxford? Can Matthias see the coming wars between the two houses, Lancaster and York? How much will this trouble the peaceful airs of Dorset? With men from Sherborne becoming involved in these matters, will the Bishop of Salisbury survive the recent murders of The Duke of Suffolk and the Bishop of Chichester? This is a time of turbulence for all.

A stranger in Sherborne fleeing justice from murder in another town causes a young apprentice working on the Abbey misericords serious injury. When young Luke, stepson to Matthias Barton, becomes involved with the felon an unhappy rift is revealed in the Barton household. The disappearance of Luke causes Matthias to leave the school in the hands of his wife and Martin Cooper, as he and Ezekiel Jacobson attempt to find Luke before he meets an unpleasant fate. Their trail takes them along the South coast of England following a gang of ruthless wool smugglers, who are not afraid to kill to gain their prize.

In the 1440s, Sherborne has become a place verging on civil disobedience echoing the unrest felt in other parts of the land under the young King Henry VI. Against this backdrop the Abbot of Sherborne has a serious problem which could undermine the very fabric of the Abbey. He turns reluctantly to the Coroner, Sir Tobias and the schoolmaster Matthias Barton of Milborne Port to solve this. Dislike of the Abbot grows, but who is the stranger seeking a child adopted by a local seamstress some years ago, and will Matthias be able to protect him from harm? Some of his scholars are anxious to become involved in the coming storm at court as the Yorkists and the Lancastrians begin to square up to one another. The Bishop of Salisbury does himself no favours with the local populace either, being more interested in his duties as confessor to King Henry. This, the penultimate book in the series, leads on to the troublesome years of the coming Wars of the Roses. Which side will they opt for in the gathering storm?