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In this chilling historical mystery, young girls go missing from a medieval English village, and Lord Oswald de Lacy must find the killer before tragedy strikes again.
Oswald de Lacy was never meant to be the Lord of Somershill Manor. Dispatched to a monastery at the age of seven, sent back at seventeen when his father and two older brothers are killed by the plague, Oswald has no experience of running an estate. He finds the years of pestilence and neglect have changed the old place dramatically, not to mention the attitude of the surviving peasants.
Yet some things never change. Oswald's mother remains the powerful matriarch of the family, and his sister Clemence simmers in the background, dangerous and unmarried.
Before he can do anything, Oswald is confronted by the shocking death of a young woman, Alison Starvecrow. The ambitious village priest claims that Alison was killed by a band of demonic dog-headed men. Oswald is certain this is nonsense, but proving it-by finding the real murderer-is quite a different matter. Every step he takes seems to lead Oswald deeper into a dark maze of political intrigue, family secrets, and violent strife.
And then the body of another girl is found.
Sarah Sykes brilliantly evokes the landscape and people of medieval Kent in this thrillingly suspenseful debut.
Oswald de Lacy was never meant to be the Lord of Somershill Manor. Dispatched to a monastery at the age of seven, sent back at seventeen when his father and two older brothers are killed by the plague, Oswald has no experience of running an estate. He finds the years of pestilence and neglect have changed the old place dramatically, not to mention the attitude of the surviving peasants.
Yet some things never change. Oswald's mother remains the powerful matriarch of the family, and his sister Clemence simmers in the background, dangerous and unmarried.
Before he can do anything, Oswald is confronted by the shocking death of a young woman, Alison Starvecrow. The ambitious village priest claims that Alison was killed by a band of demonic dog-headed men. Oswald is certain this is nonsense, but proving it-by finding the real murderer-is quite a different matter. Every step he takes seems to lead Oswald deeper into a dark maze of political intrigue, family secrets, and violent strife.
And then the body of another girl is found.
Sarah Sykes brilliantly evokes the landscape and people of medieval Kent in this thrillingly suspenseful debut.
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Reviews
"There's a nice, cliche-free sharpness to Sykes' writing…that suggests a medieval Raymond Chandler at work, and there are no phony celebrations of the peasantry or earth-mothers thrusting herbal concoctions down grateful throats. Plenty of action and interesting characters, without intervention of the libertarian modern conscience that so often wrecks the medieval historical novel."
Independent (London)
"Plague Land is a fascinating historical crime novel about a world turned upside down, inhabited by a rich cast of characters. A terrific debut and a wonderful start to a brand-new series."
Antonia Hodgson, author of The Devil in the Marshalsea
"There are plot twists aplenty…Plague Land is a quest to rebuild identity in an apocalyptic world, a theme that makes this new medieval series one I will be sure to follow."
Martine Bailey, author of An Appetite for Violets
Extended Details
- SeriesSomershill Manor Mystery #1