The White Rose Murders (Tudor Mysteries, Book 1)

Anarchy and unrest make for a deadly investigation... In the first journal of Roger Shallot, the Tudor sleuth writes of the murders and villainy perpetrated during the reign of King Henry VIII in Paul Doherty's masterful novel, The White Rose Murders. Perfect for fans of Susannah Gregory and C. J. Sansom. 'The best of its kind since the death of Ellis Peters' - Time Out In 1517 the English armies have defeated and killed James IV of Scotland at Flodden and James's widow-queen, Margaret, sister to Henry VIII, has fled to England, leaving her crown under a Council of Regency. Roger Shallot is drawn into a web of mystery and murder by his close friendship with Benjamin Daunbey, the nephew of Cardinal Wolsey, first minister of Henry VIII. Benjamin and Roger are ordered into Margaret's household to resolve certain mysteries as well as to bring about her restoration to Scotland. They begin by questioning Selkirk, a half-mad physician imprisoned in the Tower. He is subsequently found poisoned in a locked chamber guarded by soldiers. The only clue is a poem of riddles. However, the poem contains the seeds for other gruesome murders. The faceless assassin always leaves a white rose, the mark of Les Blancs Sangliers, a secret society plotting the overthrow of the Tudor monarchy... What readers are saying about The White Rose Murders: 'Roger is a rogue and a villain, but so engaging that the reader soon becomes entangled in the complex mysteries' 'The plots are always original and interesting and populated by a wonderful cast of characters' 'Paul Doherty has a great talent for describing the gory and realistic details of Tudor life and bases his story on facts, which make it credible as well as a very entertaining whodunit'