The Prodigal Son

March 27, 2006
At the start of Sedley's solid medieval historical, the latest in her series to feature Roger the Chapman, the genial peddler discovers that he has a half-brother who has just been accused of a murder committed six years before. Roger's sense of justice and the nascent sibling bond drive him to leave his young family for Croxcombe Manor, the scene of the crime. There, he questions the widowed Dame Audrea Bellknapp, his brother's accuser. The sudden return of Audrea's long-banished son, Anthony, sets the already contentious household at odds. Anthony's shady dealings, womanizing and rudeness give nearly everyone at the manor cause to want him dead. The initially slow plot comes vividly into focus when someone finally does Anthony in. Sticklers may notice anachronisms in the book's treatment of 15th-century Britain, but the affection and color with which Sedley (The Burgundian's Tale
) depicts Merrie Olde England, plus Roger's entertaining narration, will be enough to satisfy most readers.

June 13, 2005
In the spring of 1480, Roger the Chapman, the hero of Sedley's beguiling historical series (The Lammas Feast
, etc.), is planning a peddling excursion away from his troubled family in Bristol when the duke of Gloucester's spymaster summons him to London to help look into the murder of Fulk Quantrell—the ambitious son of a lady-in-waiting to the duke's sister—found battered to death in Fleet Street. Once in the capital, Roger joins forces with one of the duke's officers, Bertram Serifaber, and they soon have a number of suspects. Another death narrows the field, but the suspects are united by a tangle of family and business interests. Family preoccupies everyone—the duke wants to resolve Fulk's death for the sake of his much-loved sister, and Roger and Bertram each have difficulties with their own families. The tale starts slowly, but Sedley provides a wonderful window to England during the Wars of the Roses, from members of the aristocracy and the artisan and mercantile classes to the agrarian poor. This is not only splendid social history but a rich and satisfactory mystery to boot. Agent, David Grossman (U.K.).