The Bradecote & Catchpoll series: Books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: Servant of Death, Ordeal by Fire, Marked to Die, Hostage to Fortune, Vale of Tears

This five-book medieval mystery series follows Serjeant Catchpoll and Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote as they investigate crimes in 1140s Worcestershire, joined by their young apprentice Wakelin. In Servant of Death, a clerk to the Lord Bishop of Winchester is found bludgeoned to death in Pershore Abbey. Ordeal by Fire involves two fires at a Worcester silversmith's workshop, with a charred corpse discovered after the second blaze, pointing to an arsonist. Marked to Die sees the pair pursue a master archer responsible for attacks on the salt road from Wich. Hostage to Fortune escalates the stakes when the Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy, his monks, and Bradecote's betrothed Christina are captured by a renegade killer during a pilgrimage. Bradecote and Catchpoll must orchestrate a rescue in a winter landscape against time. In Vale of Tears, a stabbed horse dealer is found floating by Fladbury mill. The investigation leads to questions about his unfaithful wife, a potential lover, a defrocked monk hanged for theft, and a missing horse.