The Journals of Roger Shallot

Set during the reign of Henry VIII and narrated in the first person by Roger Shallot, a Falstaffian rogue, these tell of murders and plots against the backdrop of the reign of Bluff King Hal, embellished by Shallot’s somewhat unreliable boasting of his various exploits.

Written under the pseudonym of Michael Clynes, these have since been reissued under Paul Doherty’s own name. As the last was written in 1996, it can be assumed that this series has finished.

• The White Rose Murders (1991)

Shallot and Benjamin Daunbey investigate the mysteries surrounding the return of Henry’s sister, Margaret, to Scotland following the death of her husband at Flodden. Contains two locked room poisonings.

• The Poisoned Chalice (1992)

Shallot and Daunbey are off to France to unmask a spy and solve a locked-roof mystery, while the old rogue also has the placate King Henry VIII himself by stealing a ring off of the King of France’s finger!

• The Grail Murders (1993)

Just a small task this time – unmask a secret Templar conspirator while simultaneous solving two locked room murders and discovering the last resting place of the Holy Grail. Oh, and Excalibur as well. All in a day’s work…

• A Brood of Vipers (1994)
• The Gallows Murders (1995)
• The Relic Murders (1996)