Templars and the return of Hugh Corbett!

In December, Headline will be publishing “The Templar Magician” a sequel to “The Templar”.

This is a vividly dramatic plot played out against the bloody background of Palestine and twelfth century England where the dark and deep desires of the power-hungry twist and turn to achieve their ends. A novel based firmly on fact, “The Templar Magician” also speculates on the truth behind the macabre finds in the crypt of the Temple church at Temple Bruer in Lincolnshire and the chilling ghost stories surrounding the manor of Borley in Essex….

In June 2010 – the next Hugh Corbett will appear: “The Mysterium”

February 1304, a mysterious, savage assassin has returned to prowl the cold narrow alleyways of both London and Westminster. The Mysterium, a cunning killer, was apparently unmasked many years earlier so, why has he returned? Or is someone else imitating his brutal methods? The Mysterium re-emerges during a time of scandal and crisis. Walter Evesham, Chief Justice in the Court of King’s Bench, has fallen from power accused of bribery and corruption. Evesham has fled for sanctuary to the Abbey of Syon on Thames to live as a recluse and make reparation for his past sins. The Mysterium however, has not forgotten the former Chief Justice. Eudo Longstreet, the Chief Justice’s Clerk is murdered. On his victim’s brow the Mysterium carved his notorious insignia before lashing Longstreet to a corpse cut down from a gibbet and rolling both of them into the Thames. The following morning Evesham is found gruesomely murdered in his cell at Syon Abbey.

Despite all his precautions and protection, Evesham proves to be another victim of the malevolent Mysterium. Sir Hugh Corbett, Keeper of the King’s Secret Seal, together with his clerk Ranulf-atte-Newgate, are ordered to investigate these hideous murders, hunt down the Mysterium and bring him justice. Corbett reluctantly agrees, aware that he is not only to resolve the murderous mayhem of the day but to search out the roots of more ancient sins which have secretly festered over the years before yielding their own heinous fruit. Corbett moves from the grandeur of Westminster and the hallowed serenity of London’s great churches and abbeys to the fetid runnels and sinister sanctuary places of those who constantly hide from the light and cloak their murderous deeds in the deepest darkness.

The Mysterium proves to be a shrewd, cunning adversary. Corbett has to pit all his wit and strength in his deadly confrontation against this most murderous soul.

I hope readers will love each of these novels!

Looking Ahead

I was in France last July at Bayeux in Normandy for their mediaeval fair and book event. I do recommend it as a lovely place to visit. The mediaeval fair was true to its name, tournaments, pageants and even insight into how stonemasons worked. I did a lot of book signing there and picked up a few new ideas.

Recent publications "Nightshade" and the recent Corbett have been received very well, as has the "Templar" but I am looking forward to new projects.

The next Egyptian is out in December, "The Spies of Sobeck". I hope my readers like it. What is so interesting about the ancient Egyptians is that they loved life and celebrations but the unpleasant side; the murders, the conspiracies, the attempted coups are simply obliterated.

I confront this great mystery in "The Spies of Sobeck". Egypt lived on the Nile but its drew its wealth from Nubia. Pharaohs were always highly sensitive, against dark conspiracy or even the sinister hint of rebellion. Their nightmare was Nubia, with all its riches, cutting itself off from Egypt or worse still, a rebel Nubian army moving up the Nile

"The Spies of Sobeck" is a dramatic and very atmospheric recreation of a hideous conspiracy which manifests itself in eerie disappearances, secret societies and the most gruesome murder. I hope it will be the vehicle to take us all back to that brilliant civilization with its gorgeous court, teaming slums and the lonely, devil-haunted sands of the Redlands.