April, 1145. Thorgar the Ploughman is found by the bloodied body of Father Edmund, a village priest in Ripple, and is summarily hanged for being caught in the act, despite his pleas of innocence. When his sister goes to Worcester to seek justice for Thorgar, the lord Sheriff sends Hugh Bradecote, with Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin, to discover the truth. They soon expose strong motives for placing the blame on the ploughman's shoulders, some unpleasant secrets festering among the villagers, as well as the whisper of a treasure long lost and now rediscovered. The shadow the noose casts is a long one, but the Sherrif's men will need to plumb the darkness to uncover the true killer.

A master archer is Bradecote and Catchpoll's target October 1143. His task dispatched, a mysterious archer melts back into the forest, leaving the gang to steal the salt and hide the arrow-pierced corpses. The lord Sheriff of Worcestershire cannot ignore such a brazen attack on the salt road from Wich, nor the death of a nobleman in the wrong place at the wrong time. And so Hugh Bradecote and Serjeant Catchpoll are sent to hunt an elusive killer and the salt thieves, and put a stop to the mounting attacks. But it is not easy to get the culprits in their sights with a reeve keen to keep his position at all costs, a lord with his own ends to serve and a distrusting and vengeful widow to whom Bradecote is increasingly attracted.

Worcester, January 1145. Poison strikes down bow maker Godfrey Bowyer and his wife Blanche after their evening meal. While she survives, he dies an agonising death. Few could have administered the poison, which should mean a very short investigation for the Sheriff's men, Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin. But perhaps someone was pulling the strings, and that widens the net considerably. With an unpopular victim, the suspects are many and varied.

The vicious death of a man at the teeth of a wild animal does not add up for Bradecote and Catchpoll. All Hallows' Eve, 1144. The savaged body of Durand Wuduweard, the solitary and unpopular keeper of the King's Forest of Feckenham, is discovered beside his hearth, his corpse rendered barely identifiable by sharp teeth. Whispers of a wolf on the prowl grow louder and Sheriff William de Beauchamp's men, Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and young Walkelin, are tasked with cutting through the clamour. They must uncover who killed Durand and why, while beset by superstitious villagers, raids upon manors and further grim deaths. Out of the shadows of the forest, where will the wolf 's fangs strike next?

April, 1145. Thorgar the Ploughman is found by the bloodied body of Father Edmund, a village priest in Ripple, and is summarily hanged for being caught in the act, despite his pleas of innocence. When his sister goes to Worcester to seek justice for Thorgar, the lord Sheriff sends Hugh Bradecote, with Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin, to discover the truth. They soon expose strong motives for placing the blame on the ploughman's shoulders, some unpleasant secrets festering among the villagers, as well as the whisper of a treasure long lost and now rediscovered. The shadow the noose casts is a long one, but the Sherrif's men will need to plumb the darkness to uncover the true killer.

June 1144. When the naked corpse of an unknown man is discovered and the Prince of Powys's messenger fails to reach Earl Robert of Gloucester, Bradecote, Catchpoll and Walkelin head to Wales to confirm his identity, and piece together evidence that the dead man deserved a noose rather than a dagger. Retracing his steps leads them to a manor with a sarcastic lord, a neglected wife, a bitter mother and a fevered brother, all amidst folk who do not want the truth uncovered. The lord sheriff's men have to unravel a knot where the law and justice seem to be in opposition.

Worcester, January 1145. Poison strikes down bow maker Godfrey Bowyer and his wife Blanche after their evening meal. While she survives, he dies an agonising death. Few could have administered the poison, which should mean a very short investigation for the Sheriff's men, Hugh Bradecote, Serjeant Catchpoll and Underserjeant Walkelin. But perhaps someone was pulling the strings, and that widens the net considerably. With an unpopular victim, the suspects are many and varied.

September 1143. Sergeant Catchpoll hopes a fire at a Worcester silversmith's is just an accident, but when there is a second fire, and a charred corpse is discovered, he has no choice but to call in the undersheriff, Hugh Bradecote, to help find the culprit. With further fires, a hooded figure stalking the streets, and a possible murder that has gone undiscovered for some months, the duo have to work together to avoid getting more than their fingers burnt in this puzzling investigation. The second instalment in the Bradecote and Catchpoll series.

When an irascible lord is found murdered, undersheriff Bradecote and serjeant Catchpoll are summoned to investigate. August 1144. Osbern de Lench is known far and wide as a hard master, whose temper is perpetually frayed. After his daily ride to survey his land, his horse returns to the hall riderless, and the lifeless body of the lord is found soon after. Was it the work of thieves, or something closer to home? With an heir who is cast in the same hot-tempered mould, sworn enemies for neighbours and something amiss in the relationship between Osbern and his wife, undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, the wily Serjeant Catchpoll and his apprentice Walkelin have suspects aplenty.