The Service of the Dead
- Автор: Робб Кэндис
- Серия: A Kate Clifford Mystery #1
- Год: 2016
- Язык: английский
- Год: Pegasus Books
- ISBN: 978-1-68177-175-5
- Жанр: Исторические детективы
Электронная книга - «The Service of the Dead». Краткое содержание книги:
Expertly recreating the social and political upheavals of late medieval Europe and the increasing power of the wealthy merchant class, acclaimed author Candace Robb introduces a new series starring Kate Clifford, a woman forged on the warring northern marches of fourteenth century England.
Political unrest permeates York at the cusp of the fifteenth century, as warring factions take sides on who should be the rightful king – Richard II or his estranged, powerful cousin in exile, Henry Bolingbroke. Independent minded twenty-year-old Kate Clifford is struggling to dig out from beneath the debt left by her late husband. Determined to find a way to be secure in her own wealth and establish her independence in a male dominated society, Kate turns one of her properties near the minster into a guest house and sets up a business. In a dance of power, she also quietly rents the discreet bedchambers to the wealthy, powerful merchants of York for nights with their mistresses.
But the brutal murder of a mysterious guest and the disappearance of his companion for the evening threatens all that Kate has built. Before others in town hear word of a looming scandal, she must call upon all of her hard-won survival skills to save herself from ruin.
In this series I’ve cast Kate Clifford as a cousin of the historical William Frost, who, as mayor of York during both of King Richard II’s visits to the city in the 1390s, played a major part in the negotiations leading to the grant of the royal charter described above. Frost was married to Isabella Gisburne, daughter of the late John Gisburne, a powerful but controversial York merchant. The couple acquired Gisburne’s great house on Micklegate, complete with four adjoining shops. Frost seemed to stand in high favor with King Richard, so one might expect him to be fiercely loyal to him; but he proved to be a complex character.
Kate’s late husband, Simon, and brother-in-law, Lionel, are fictional members of the very real, powerful Neville family. The patriarch of the Neville clan, Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland, was a historical figure of great significance in the coming conflict. Archbishop Scrope; Thomas Holme and his wife, Catherine Frost; Hugh Grantham; and Joan del Bek are all actual historical figures from the York records.
Richard Clifford, dean of York, is also borrowed from the archives. As dean of York and Lord Privy Seal, as well as recent Keeper of the Great Wardrobe, Richard Clifford was close to the king. I placed Kate in the Clifford family because of that royal connection and the Cliffords’ influence in the North, particularly in Northumberland, as well as their occasional service as Wardens of the Northern March (the English/Scottish border). The border country was volatile, dangerous, and difficult to govern. I wanted Kate to have grown up in that atmosphere; it forged her character. And although her family was not as powerful as the Percy and Neville clans, they had significant roles to play in the coming conflict.
Suggestions for further reading are on my blog, which you can reach through my website: www.candacerobb.com.