Possibly the only series from Paul Doherty – apart from some of The Canterbury Tales – where there is significant distance between the protagonist and the ruler of that time and place. Swinbrooke is an apothecary in Canterbury at the end of the Wars of the Roses. She is assisted by obvious love-interest Colum Murtagh and her maidservant Thomasina. There are seven books in the series, all written under the pseudonym C L Grace and, as far as I’m aware, not printed in the UK, or even produced in paperback, as the only versions that I can find are hardback copies published in the US. However, as with all of Paul’s books under all of his pseudonyms, they are now easily available as ebooks.

• A Shrine of Murders (1993)

Pilgrims to Canterbury are being poisoned when they visit Becket’s tomb.Apothecary Kathryn Swinbrooke is asked to investigate as the killer is known to be male and she is the probably the only person trusted by the council who is known to be innocent. But why would someone be targeting pilgrims at random?

• The Eye of God (1994)

Kathryn and Colum are tasked by the King to find the Eye of God, a royal relic that was lost during the Wars of the Roses. But when the thief dies in his jail cell and one of his guards dies alone on a locked roof, they realise that a cunning murderer is also looking for it.

• The Merchant of Death (1995)

A young man stands accused of murdering his wife and her lover, but Kathryn is tasked instead to find the murderer of Reginald Erphingham, a royal tax collector. Nobody particularly liked him, but when he is found poisoned in his locked room, there is no trace of how the poison was delivered. And then the killer strikes again…

• The Book of Shadows (1996)

Witchcraft and wizardry abound as Kathryn has to get to the truth in the case of a man who fell to his death after being cursed by an alleged witch and the murder of the dark “wizard” Tenebrae, shot by a crossbow bolt inside his locked room. And to make matters worse, the Book Of Shadows, Tenebrae’s grimoire, has been stolen…

• Saintly Murders (2001)

Friar Roger Attwood, an ex-soldier is found locked in his quarters, dead, with wounds resembling stigmata on his body. Meanwhile a spy, who was carrying the name of a traitor to the king is found with his head smashed in (locked inside his quarters, obviously). When all leads point towards the King’s mother, Kathryn has to tread very carefully indeed.

• A Maze of Murders (2002)
• A Feast of Poisons (2004)