Chesterfield

1361: Orphaned by the Black Death, all young John has left are the tools his father, a carpenter, leaves behind. Before long, however, John realises that he too has a way with wood; it speaks to him and he can make it do what he wants. Leaving the poverty and plague in Leeds behind, John travels to Chesterfield, where he finds work erecting the spire of the new church. But no sooner does he begin than the master carpenter is murdered and John himself becomes a suspect. To prove his innocence John must help the coroner in his search for the killer, a quest that brings him up against some powerful enemies in a town where he is still a stranger and friends are few. Chris Nickson brilliantly evokes the feeling of time and place in this story of corruption and murder.

'Chris Nickson works his usual magic, populating late medieval Chesterfield with characters that are clearly of their time and yet jump off the page, vibrant and familiar. The icing on the cake (or the jeweled cover on the exquisite psalter) – a fiendishly clever puzzle. Highly recommended!' - Candace Robb, author of the bestselling Owen Archer mysteries 1361: John the Carpenter, married and soon to become a father, has plenty of work to keep him busy in Chesterfield. But when an elderly man in the town is found murdered with no clue as to why, the coroner calls upon John's mystery-solving expertise once again. However, this is a crime where nothing is as it appears. When the suspected murderer is found dead and a valuable Book of Psalms vanishes, John is suddenly embroiled in a string of crimes that threaten his own life and the safety of his new family.

1364: The plague has returned and fear fills the air as the pestilence claims its first victims in Chesterfield. When the local priest vanishes, John the Carpenter believes the man is simply scared – until he discovers a body left in an empty house. Charged with finding the murderer by the coroner, John must dig deep into the past to discover who in the present has enough hatred to kill. But as the roll of the dead grows longer, can he keep his family safe from malign forces outside of his control? The third title in a gripping series following the best-selling titles The Crooked Spire and The Saltergate Psalter.