The Saint John's Fern: A Roger the Chapman Medieval Mystery

About this book

It is October 1477 and Roger the Chapman newly married and still enjoying wedded bliss is surprised to find his old familiar feeling of restlessness returning. Within a month he is setting off once again on the ancient ridge road that dissects Dartmoor and heads for Plymouth driven by some instinct that he is needed there. Roger accepts a lift from a carter who is going to visit his daughter Joanna in the oldest part of the city. Rogers instinct is soon proven correct when Joanna tells the story of her neighbor Master Capstick who was brutally beaten to death. The chief suspect is Capsticks great-nephew Beric. Master Capsticks housekeeper saw Beric leaving the house that morning his tunic stained with blood and many more people saw the young mans wild ride for home on his great black horse. When the Kings men arrived at Berics manor house though the horse was already in the stables-and Beric had somehow managed to vanish completely. The local people quick to fall back on the witchcraft of their ancestors blame the Saint Johns fern which if eaten can make a man invisible. Roger already responsible for solving many difficult mysteries suspects that there is a more obvious answer and begins his own inquiries. Roger notices that he is not the first to approach witnesses and when an attempt is made on his life Roger knows he must be close to a truth that is even more extraordinary than the superstition - if only he can live to tell it.