The Guilt of Innocents
Read The Guilt of Innocents Online
Authors: Candace Robb
Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Historical, #Mystery & Detective, #Crime
Winter 1372, York.
A man has drowned in the River Ouse after a skirmish with boys from St Peter’s School. It soon becomes clear that his death was not an accident – but why would a humble pilot on the river be killed for possessing a young boy’s purse? Suspicion falls on Father Nicholas Ferriby – Vicar of Weston and master of a small grammar school – who has already offended many with his unpopular beliefs. But is he really a murderer?
One-eyed spy, Owen Archer, Captain of Archbishop Thoresby’s guard and noted for solving many crimes, is quickly brought to the scene by his adoptive son, Jasper. Clear that the pilot has been killed for more than a purse, an increasingly cantankerous Thoresby reluctantly agrees to let Owen investigate the man’s murder. Torn between solving the crime and looking after his wife, Lucie, who is expecting their long-awaited third child, Owen is soon taken away from home. When another body is found in the river and Owen and Jasper get nearer to the truth, they find their own lives in jeopardy …
Acclaim for Candace Robb
‘It’s … the Machiavellian intrigue that makes this such an enjoyable read. When the iron curtain came down people said the spy-thriller genre was dead. They were wrong. This is as full of intrigue as a Deighton or a Le Carré’
Guardian
‘A superb medieval mystery, thoroughly grounded in historical fact’
Booklist
Fiction
9780434015467
INNOCENTS
CANDACE ROBB
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781446439173
Published by Arrow Books 2008
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Copyright © Candace Robb 2007
Candace Robb has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
Apart from references to actual historical figures and places, all other names and characters are a product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
First published in Great Britain in 2007 by
William Heinemann
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road
London SW1V 2SA
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780099497899
DEDICATION
As I was completing this book, I learned of the sudden death of a dear friend’s grandson, from diabetic ketoacidosis, and I knew that I wanted to dedicate this book to his memory.
Andrew Kyle Henderson,
15 April 1985–9 December 2005
‘Full of zest and the joy of life, he laughed often and had a wonderful sense of humour. From his earliest years he quickly caught on to jokes and enjoyed making them. He was loving, and had the gift of attracting very good friends. Young men are so much more vulnerable than they know – or would be willing to admit.’
Candace Robb studied for a Ph.D in Medieval and Anglo-Saxon Literature and has continued to read and research medieval history and literature ever since. Her Owen Archer series grew out of a fascination with the city of York and the tumultuous 14th century; the first in the series,
The Apothecary Rose
, was published in
1994
, at which point she began to write full time.
The Guilt of Innocents
is the ninth in the series. Published worldwide, she is also available in the UK on audiobook and in large print. In addition to the Owen Archer novels, she is the author of three Margaret Kerr Mysteries, set in Scotland at the time of Robert the Bruce.
To find out more about Candace Robb’s novels, read the Candace Robb Newsletter. For your free copy, email
[email protected]
with ‘Candace Robb Newsletter’ as the subject.
‘It’s … the Machiavellian intrigue that makes this such an enjoyable read. When the iron curtain came down people said the spy-thriller genre was dead. They were wrong. This is as full of intrigue as a Deighton or a Le Carré’
Guardian
‘A vivid portrait of fourteenth-century England which gives us a hero who is cunning and capable, whether navigating the Court or the open moors’
Time Out
‘A superb medieval mystery, thoroughly grounded in historical fact’
Booklist
‘Enthralling and evocative … Candace Robb recreates medieval York with ease’
Yorkshire Evening Press
Also by Candace Robb
THE OWEN ARCHER MYSTERIES
The Apothecary Rose
The Lady Chapel
The Nun’s Tale
The King’s Bishop
The Riddle of St Leonard’s
A Gift of Sanctuary
A Spy for the Redeemer
The Cross-Legged Knight
THE MARGARET KERR MYSTERIES
A Trust Betrayed
The Fire in the Flint
A Cruel Courtship
I want to thank historians RaGena D’Aragon, Jo Ann Hoeppner Moran Cruz, and Compton Reeves for their generous help, and the wonderful gang on Chaucernet for all sorts of incidental information and inspiration; Joyce Gibb for a careful first reading of the manuscript; the members of Medfem for feedback on birthing crosses; Kate Elton and Georgina Hawtrey-Woore for asking all the right questions, and all the talented people at Heinemann and Arrow who work behind the scenes.
Special thanks to Charlie for the 24/7 support and tlc he provides. I’m a lucky woman.
Owen Archer (Captain Archer) | captain of guard and spy for Archbishop of York; steward of Bishopthorpe |
Lucie Wilton | master apothecary; Owen’s spouse |
Nicholas Wilton | deceased, Lucie’s first husband, master apothecary |
Hugh and Gwenllian | Owen and Lucie’s natural children |
Jasper de Melton | Owen and Lucie’s adopted son and Lucie’s apprentice in the apothecary |
Dame Phillippa | Lucie’s aged aunt |
Alisoun Ffulford | nursemaid to Owen and Lucie’s children |
Kate | Lucie’s housemaid |
Bess and Tom Merchet | owners of the York Tavern |
Edric | apprentice in the apothecary |
Magda Digby (aka the Riverwoman) | midwife and healer |
1 | Archbishop of York personal secretary to Thoresby |
Drogo | pilot; abbey bargeman |
Cissy (Cecilia) Hal, Bart, sly Pete | Drogo’s wife fellow abbey bargemen |
George Hempe | city bailiff grammar master for St Peter’s School |
Dame Agnes | housemother at the Clee, lodgings for the grammar school |
Geoffrey, Ned | scholars of St Peter’s |
Hubert de Weston | Jasper’s schoolmate |
Aubrey and Ysenda de Weston | Hubert’s parents |
Brother Henry | infirmarian, St Mary’s Abbey |
1 | vicar of Weston and master of private |
Peter Ferriby | grammar school mercer; brother of Nicholas |
Emma Ferriby | Peter’s wife, Lucie’s friend |
Osmund Gamyll | son of Sir Baldwin Gamyll |
Sir Baldwin Gamyll | Aubrey de Weston’s lord; father of Osmund, husband of Janet |
Abbot Campian | abbot of St Mary’s Abbey |
Alfred | member of archbishop’s guard, Owen’s second |
Rafe, Gilbert | members of archbishop’s guard |
1 | dean of York Minster |
1 | chancellor of York Minster; in charge of the schools |
Canon William Ferriby | member of minster chapter, brother of Nicholas and Peter; actual name John (see Author’s Note) |
Nigel | journeyman goldsmith |
Edward Munkton | goldsmith, Nigel’s master |
Alice Tanner | tanner’s wife |
Dame Lotta | Nigel’s landlady |
Robert Dale | goldsmith |