Congratulations to David Field, whose gripping historical mystery, The Slaughtered Widow, is published today!
The Slaughtered Widow is the third instalment of the Bailiff Mountsorrel Tudor Mystery Series – private investigation crime novels set during the reign of Elizabeth I and beyond.
Nottingham, England, 1592
Town Bailiff Francis Barton has been arrested for the murder of his former lover, the widow Agnes Timberlake, and the case against him is a strong one.
Agnes was hacked to death where she lay in her bed and Francis was found standing next to her body, with both his clothing and his sword covered in her blood.
And there is a motive. Agnes had recently loaned Francis her entire life savings and was believed to be demanding an accounting for them.
Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Francis’s friend, County Bailiff Edward Mountsorrel, refuses to believe that Francis is guilty and sets out to investigate for himself.
Edward wants to speak to the serving girl from the widow’s house who may have been the last to see her mistress alive, but she has vanished.
Is the girl running from a guilty conscience? Or has she also fallen victim to the killer?
Time is running out for Francis. Can Edward clear his friend’s name … or is it time to accept that Francis really is capable of murder…?
