1588: A Calendar of Crime

A candlemaker's life is extinguished in this short story of murder and intrigue featuring the sixteenth-century Scottish lawyer Hew Cullan. On Candlemas eve, an apprentice candle maker finds his master, John Blair, dead in his workshop, and the evidence points to the surgeon Sam Sturrock. Lawyer Hew Cullan finds himself, together with his friend, the physician Giles Locke, drawn into the investigation when they are enlisted by Sturrock's desperate apprentice. At first it seems like Blair's death is the result of reckless surgical practice, but as Hew delves deeper into the life of the candle maker he discovers a web of extortion. It seems John Blair was a man with many enemies…

A short story in the historical mystery series featuring a sleuthing lawyer in sixteenth-century St. Andrews, Scotland. When a regent of St. Salvator's appears to lose his wits, it falls to physician Giles Locke and lawyer Hew Cullan to discern the cause-and to defend the college from the King's commissioners-in this darkly comic mystery tale in the acclaimed series set in sixteenth-century Scotland.

A serving girl vanishes in this mystery story set in sixteenth-century Scotland ... Elspet, a serving girl at the harbor inn, has been told for years by the inn's owner, Walter Bone, that she is ugly and that no man will ever want her. Then, after years of being shut away from the world, she unexpectedly catches the attention of a young laborer and realizes she has been lied to all these years. She meets her lover in secret at the Lammas day fair, but her dalliances do not go unnoticed ... Now Hew Cullan finds himself retained by a man with a mind for murder. Walter Bone makes clear his intent to kill Elspet's lover, and seeks Hew's help to ensure his will is upheld when he is inevitably hanged for the act. But his jealousy has unexpected consequences. When Elspet disappears without a trace, several innocent fair-goers and patrons are dragged into a web of suspicion, rumor, and accusation. It falls to Hew to unravel the twisted threads and figure out the truth of the matter.