The Hanging Tree

April 1, 2019
In 1381, a serial killer stalks the prostitutes of London, slashing their throats, stripping them naked, and, most bizarrely, placing blood-red wigs upon their heads. As panic mounts, Sir John Cranston, lord high coroner of London, once again calls upon wily parish priest Brother Athelstan to investigate the heinous crimes. Oddly enough, the murders seem to be linked to a string of vicious attacks perpetrated on innocent Frenchwomen by a gang of Englishmen led by the Orriflame, a mysterious masked henchman wearing women's clothing and a bright red wig, nearly 20 years prior. The Orriflame seems to have resurfaced on the grimy streets of London, and it's up to Athelstan, before even more bodies pile up, to expose the killer and uncover his connection to the deadly explosion of a royal ship bound for France. As always, Doherty displays exceptional narrative flair as he brings the often-squalid sights, sounds, and smells of medieval London to life in another artfully crafted and plotted historical mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

April 1, 2022
In 1382 London, multiple murders surrounding a theft from the king's treasury provide a dangerous puzzle for a coroner and a monk to solve. Brother Athelstan, parish priest of St. Erconwald, and Sir John Cranston, Lord High Coroner of London, have partnered to solve many a murky mystery, but few have been as troublesome as the theft of the money meant to pay a royal debt to Italian bankers and the murders surrounding it. Exchequer of Coin Henry Beaumont, who's tasked with removing funds from the impregnable Flambard's Tower, arrives there to find all his underlings dead and the treasure gone. When Master Thibault, Keeper of the King's Secrets, calls upon the sleuthing pair to discover how the murders were committed and the coin stolen, they proceed to examine the tower and the bodies. They also look into the murders of the hangmen of London in search of possible connections. Athelstan finds more and more people dead, even one in his own parish church. The Italian bankers, who are naturally suspect, blame the Carbonari, a society of thieves, but after examining every avenue, Athelstan is sure this must have been an inside job. The little monk travels the squalid, dangerous streets looking for clues and finds the answer even more horrifying than he could imagine. Hair-raising descriptions of life in the Middle Ages enhance a challenging puzzle.

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April 11, 2022
Set in 1382, Doherty’s memorable 21st mystery featuring Brother Athelstan (after 2020’s The Stone of Destiny) poses multiple baffling puzzles that are all resolved logically. Athelstan and his superior and friend, Sir John Cranston, Lord High Coroner of London, are summoned to the House of the Exchequer in Westminster following a spectacular robbery and mass murder. Five armed clerks were garroted, with no signs of resistance, behind a double-locked door at the top of a tower accessible only via a booby-trapped narrow staircase. Whoever murdered the men also made off with tens of thousands of pounds worth of gold and silver coins that they’d been guarding, leaving behind bags of burnt charcoal. The money was intended to be used to repay the Crown’s debt to Italian bankers who’d loaned considerable sums to prop up the rule of Richard II. Meanwhile, Athelstan must also solve the case of a killer who’s stabbed six hangmen through the heart before leaving their corpses on dung heaps. As always, Doherty makes a past century come alive in the service of a carefully crafted plot. Impossible crime fans will be pleased.