In 1086 England's mighty king, William the Conqueror; sends out surveyors and census takers to record the resources of his land and its people. Some welcome these inquisitive royal agents and their "day of judgment." Others hate them. But wherever the king's men go they bring excitement, and sometimes murder.... In ancient Bedwyn town, the kings Domesday researchers are suddenly faced with the violent death of the very man whose claims have drawn them there—a wealthy miller, savaged by a wolf in Savernake Forest. Now two clever king's men, soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret, must investigate not only questionable land claims but the miller's death as well. Have well-fed monks of Bedwyn Abbey somehow contrived the man's demise? Has his soft-eyed wife betrayed him? Is the dreaded Savernake wolf the familiar of the town witch, or is it the hound of heaven? No one knows except a dead man ....

In this novel, Edward Marston continues his colorful, historically fascinating series of mysteries set in England, just after the Norman Conquest, during the reign of William the Conqueror. Each novel draws upon an actual entry in the Domesday Book, a massive record compiled by royal tribunals sent by William to assess taxes and survey landholdings. The small village of Maldon is controlled by the wealthy and rapacious Fitzcorbucion family, led by Hamo Fitzcorbucion, the lord of Blackwater Castle. A volatile bully, Hamo has amassed wealth and land by means both legal and shady, intimidating the villagers into silence. When his eldest son, Guy, is found murdered, an enraged Hamo demands justice and will stop at nothing to get it. Into this charged atmosphere arrives a tribunal, led by soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret. Surveying the lands of Maldon, the tribunal detects irregularities in various deeds, and plans to call the Fitzcorbucion family to account. With tension high between Saxon and Norman factions in the village, Ralph and Gervase find some relaxation in the gentler company of nuns. But Guy's murder, and Hamo's quest for revenge, force Ralph and Gervase to deal with dangerous matters far beyond their original duties.

Arriving in Archenfield in order to settle a land dispute, soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret are shocked when they learn that a principal witness has been murdered, and the subsequent investigation pits them against a sinister lord.

Soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret lead a group of the King's finest commissioners into the war-torn lands of Yorkshire to settle land claims and compile The Domesday Book, a record of England's holdings. The battle-scarred country reminds Delchard of his own guilty part in pillaging the shire years before to put down a revolt against the Conqueror. However, one island of wealth and luxury remains in Yorkshire: the castle of merchant Aubrey Maminot. There the commissioners learn of two great terrors: the rogue Olaf Evil Child, a hero of the poor and conquered Saxon people, and the ravenous lions Aubrey Maminot keeps as pets. The lions make a feast of an anonymous young man who tries to sneak into the castle, and Gervase Bret begins to wonder why someone would commit such an act of suicide. As he and Ralph seek a reason, both men find themselves agreeably distracted - Gervase by Inga, a young woman embroiled in a struggle for her family's land, and Ralph by Golde, a Saxon woman who prods him to do justice for the dispossessed. But Ralph and Gervase must address a more urgent secret, which threatens their lives, their loves, and perhaps the crown itself.

When seventeen-year-old Bertha is found in a holly patch, dead from a snakebite, her premature death shocks and distresses the entire town of Canterbury. On the day that Bertha's body is discovered, Norman soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret arrive in Canterbury to settle a land dispute between the archbishop and the head of the abbey. Newly married Ralph hopes to tour the famous cathedral and surrounding countryside with his bride, Golde, a beautiful Saxon. But their honeymoon is cut short, and Delchard's investigation into the property claim is upended when astonishing clues demonstrate that Bertha was in fact murdered. Ultimately, Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret must look for a force more vicious than a mere snake.

Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret travel to Oxford to settle a land dispute. But when they arrive in town, the death of one of the villagers eclipses their original assignment. In the middle of a high-stakes horse race, a rider is stabbed in the back and thrown from his mount. Several people stand to gain from the rider's death, and Ralph and Gervase must find the truth in a town determined to hide its secrets.

Edward Marston is perhaps best known for his Edgar-nominated series of theatrical whodunits set in Elizabethan England (The Roaring Boy and The Mad Courtesan). In his Domesday Books series, of which The Hawks of Delamere is the seventh, Marston has turned his attention to an earlier era: the 11th century, when England was still cautiously—and bloodily—attempting to negotiate the legacy of the Norman invasion. Ralph Delchard, a Norman aristocrat, and Gervase Bret, a quiet Saxon clerk, are in dangerous territory: they have arrived at the Welsh border to settle territorial and taxation disputes on behalf of King William. The Welsh appetite for rebellion festers uneasily beneath the placid countryside, and Hugh d'Avranches, the royal delegation's host, seems destined to be the main course at that bloody feast. A man of imposing girth and even more imposing temper, he has been the target of a Welsh assassin's arrow. Only Ralph and Gervase suspect that the arrow might have been of Norman origin, and their investigation leads them to the heart of Hugh's court. Marston has a tedious tendency to pontificate his characters' emotions to the reader rather than allowing dialogue or action to convey them more subtly: "Gervase's blood coursed, and he was momentarily confused, not sure whether he was doting on his betrothed or showing an improper interest in a vulnerable young woman. Gytha's embarrassment suggested that she, too, was grappling with warm feelings which caused her some concern." The author's slips into the jargon of 20th-century pop psychology are equally jarring: "She looked up with a pathetic need for approval. 'Did I do right?'" Even Marston's efforts to capture the physical essence of an 11th-century Norman fortress has the air of an imperfectly recalled perusal of a rather dull sightseeing guide. Readers seeking a deftly handled combination of mystery and the Middle Ages would do better to consult Ellis Peters, whose Brother Cadfael series takes pride of place in the genre. One hopes that Marston will soon return to the more forgiving glow of the Elizabethan stage, where he and his characters seem much more comfortable. —Kelly Flynn

In the gathering dusk of the Devonshire countryside, Nicholas Picard is riding home when a snarling wildcat attacks him. Neighbors find his lacerated body in the woods, but when they discover the slit in his throat, it soon becomes clear that human hands are responsible for his demise. Picard's death complicates an already difficult land dispute that Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret have been sent to settle in nearby Exeter. The murdered man had a stake in the outcome, and now his widow, Catherine, believes she should be the rightful owner of the land in question. However, Picard's mistress and the mother of a previous deed holder see things very differently. So determined is each woman to prove her claim that Ralph and Gervase begin to wonder whether one of them is capable of murder.

Henry Beaumont keeps a renowned pack of foxhounds, quick, brave, and ruthless at the kill. One December hunt, the dogs uncover more than a fox in the woodlands - brushing aside dead leaves, Beaumont finds the crushed body of Martin Reynard, a former member of his own household. Enraged, Henry, though he is not trained in investigation, swears to find the killer, but his impetuosity and rudimentary skills lead him to arrest a man of questionable guilt. Fortunately, the King’s Commissioners Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret, in the area to settle a land dispute, are available to lend their expertise. Upon close consideration of the circumstances leading up to the grisly murder, the two Domesday Commissioners begin a full-scale investigation designed to bring the true murderer to justice, whoever he may be.

The ordered calm of Gloucester Abbey is shattered by the disappearance of one of the resident monks. Two novices, Elaf and Kenelm, show little concern for the missing Brother Nicholas. Rebelling against monastic discipline, they indulge in secret midnight adventures. Fearing discovery during their latest exploit, they hide in the Bell Tower, certain that they won’t be found. Elaf, stumbling in the dark, trips over something and realizes, to his horror, that it is a dead body. Brother Nicholas has been found, his throat slit from ear to ear. The Abbey becomes paralyzed with fear. The Abbot is ill-equipped to deal with such a heinous crime and is still reeling from his conversation with the sheriff, who is convinced that one of the other brothers must be a killer. After all, who else would have access to the Abbey Church? Domesday commissioners Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret arrive, sent to resolve a land dispute. The vicious murder takes immediate priority, however, and they doubt the local sheriff’s ability to solve the baffling case. Before long, Ralph and Gervase realize that the killing is just a symptom of a sinister presence that threatens the whole community and must be stopped at any cost. Inspired by real entries in the historic Domesday Book, The Owls of Gloucester is the tenth mystery in Edward Marston’s spellbinding and richly drawn eleventh-century crime series.

It is the juiciest piece of gossip the citizens of Norwich have heard for a long time. The ruthless Richard de Fontenel is himself the victim of robbery. In addition to two priceless golden elephants that he was using to lure the beautiful Adelaide into marriage, his steward Hermer is also missing. Onto the scene arrive soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret who are meant to adjudicate on a land dispute, but they also become involved in the hunt for the thief. But is Hermer the steward really missing or has something altogether more sinister happened?