The Demon Archer

Both plot and historic background are well-crafted. I wish he had written more Hugh Corbett books.

Paul Doherty knows how to write and more specifically, he knows how to write a great medieval mystery! I've been working my way through his great Hugh Corbett series, and this book is the second last one so far. I do hope that he is going to write more. In this book, Hugh is sent to the area around Ashdown Forest on a mission for his King. Ostensibly, the King has asked him to find out whether two murders that were committed in this area were connected, but Hugh feels that he's being used as a cat's paw in some unknown deisre of his King. He and Ranulf set out and find there is a truly evil murderer about, but at the same time they discover some very damaging gossip about King Philip of France. All of this puts them in danger of course. It's a great book and as always, Doherty weaves fact and fiction together seamlessly.

This was a great mystery book. It crime seemed so small at first, but Doherty makes it blow up into a huge network of lies and treachery. He thinks of everything and you can never figure out the end without reading it for yourself it is truly a great story.It all starts when the outlaw called the Owlman decides to harass and embarrass Lord Henry on his hunting trip on his way there he trips on something that turns out to be a body of a young woman already starting to decompose, but it looked like she was killed by an arrow to the heart. The Owlman takes her to the gate of St. Hawisia's, (a convent) where the woman could be properly buried. Meanwhile at the hunting sight Lord Henry a man hated by many is waiting in Savernake Dell for the verdures to scare some deer into the clearing. He has heard that his chief verdure, Robert Verlian is missing. Lord Henry has been interested in Verlian's daughter, Alicia. Henry was trying to shoot the deer that had just run through when someone shot him in the heart. The king of England, King Edward heard about this and sent his clerk of the Secret Seal Hugh Corbett to investigate this death. There where many people that wanted Henry dead, Robert Verlian was the main suspect and was chased to a church in the forest where he claimed sanctuary. The others were Henries brother Sir. William, his half sister Lady Madeleine the prioress of St. Hawisia's, Verlian's daughter, the Owlman, St. Cosmas the Franciscan monk who was the head of St. Oswald's-in-the-Trees, and possibly a hermit named Odo. Corbett and his manservant Ranulf as they discovered more and more found a large network of treachery around Lord Henry. The mysterious killer took the life of an Italian physician who knew too much, Verlian, and tried to get Corbett as well. In the end Corbett found out that it was Lady Madeleine. Corbett told King Edward who used to get the French to do whatever he wanted.This is the first time I have ready a book by Doherty, but it won't be the last. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to every one else.

Hugh Corbett, the Keeper of the King's Secret Seal (Edward 1) has miraculously survived the attempt on his life in the "The Devil's Hunt" and is back to unravel another mystery that features murder and political intrigue in 14th century England. And in this latest Corbett adventure, "The Demon Archer", he gets to cross swords again with his french counterpart and arch enemy, Amaury Craon, as he delves into which one of the many people that hated Lord Henry Fitzalan killed him.Lord Henry is a man much hated and feared. He is hard and unscrupulous, a lecher, and it is firmly believed that he practises the black arts. His younger brother chafes at having to be at Lord Henry's beck and call; his half sister, the Lady Madeline, who is the prioress of St. Hawisia, considers him to be a thorn at her side, and his chief verderer, Robert Verlain, resents Lord Henry's relentless pursuit of Verlain's daughter. Lord Henry also seems to be the target of a mysterious outlaw's spleen: the Owlman has been sending Lord Henry several threatening and cryptic messages. The novel opens with the Owlman happily contemplating all the mischief and embarrassment he is about to cause Lord Henry by disrupting the hunting party Lord Henry is hosting. But as he makes his way through Ashdown Forest, the Owlman stumbles across the partially buried and already decomposing body of a young woman who had been killed by an arrow to the neck. The Owlman decides to retrieve the body and deposit it at the gates of the St. Hawisia's. In the meantime the hunting party has assembled at the forest. The party consists mainly of Sir William Fitzalan, Lord Henry's angry and resentful younger brother, and members of the French delegation that have assembled in England in order to negotiate a marriage settlement between Prince Edward of England and Princess Isabella of France. Amaury Craon just happens to be a member of said delegation, and it soon becomes obvious that Lord Henry has some kind of hold over Craon. Ashdown Forest seems to be full of people that hate Lord Henry, and it isn't too long before he is shot dead by an arrow to the chest.The king send Corbett to investigate Lord Henry's murder. Edward 1 couldn't really care less who killed Lord Henry but he is anxious to know why the French specifically requested that Lord Henry be part of the marriage negotiations. Could Lord Henry be in France's pocket? And could the French have killed him because he was a liability? If Corbett can find proof of France's guilt, then the marriage treaty and the uneasy peace between France and England will be rescinded, and Edward 1 really and truly wants for the marriage treaty to come to nothing!Which one of the many people that hated Lord Henry killed him? Who is the mysterious Owlman and why does he hate Lord Henry? Is the murder of the young woman that the Owlman found somehow tied to that of Lord Henry's, and if so how? And where and how does Craon figure into everything? Corbett has much to delve

In Ashdown Forest, England in 1303, Lord Henry Fitzalan leads a hunting party that includes his brother and several other aristocrats. Everyone shoots arrows at a deer, but someone sends a longbow arrow into the chest of Lord Henry, killing the despised and arrogant Earl of Surrey.King Edward summons his friend Hugh Corbett to the court. He tells him that an assassin murdered Henry without the slightest pretense of disguising the homicide with a hunting accident. Edward wants the culprit caught and knows that Hugh has had success with homicides.Hugh begins his investigation only to learn how loathed Henry was. This complicates a case that initially appeared to have political connections, as Henry was leading an English contingent to France on a peace treaty mission associated with the marriage between the two monarchies. However, aside from the anti-treaty crowd, other suspects are plentiful, from Henry's brother to the father of a young lady Henry coveted to almost anyone who knew the odious ill-tempered noble.No one does medieval fiction any better than Paul Doherty, who always blends a clever story line with factual tidbits that propel the tale forward and provide depth. The eleventh Corbett historical investigator novel is a taut thriller that centers on an entertaining who-done-it with the typical Doherty touch of historical persona and facts that enhancing a brilliant plot. Hugh remains a huge success as he retains his freshness that few historical detectives can maintain over the life of a series. Fans of the sub-genre will relish this novel and seek the remainder of the Corbett collection as well as Dr. Doherty's sensational Swinbrooke stories.Harriet Klausner