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. The Yorkists are gathering behind the symbol of the White Rose, left behind when a rival is poisoned in their own chamber.

• The Poisoned Chalice (1992)

Shallot and Daunbey are off to France to unmask a spy and solve a locked-roof mystery – the chief secretary of the embassy is killed while alone on his roof – 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 – one man burnt to death and one shot with a crossbow – 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)

A member of the Abrizzi family, envoys from Florence, is shot by a new-fangled hand cannon in a crowded London marketplace, but no-one sees a thing. Roger and Benjamin are dispatched to Italy, into the lion’s den, to find a murderer who is only just getting started

• The Gallows Murders (1995)

A locked Tower of London mystery! Henry VIII is receiving threats from the long-dead Edward V, one of the Princes in the Tower, and the hangmen based there are being murdered in gruesome ways. Could the Princes have survived – and how did the murderer strike both inside and outside the Tower when the gates were locked and guarded?

• The Relic Murders (1996)

The final outing for Roger Shallot sees him, after a failed career selling relics – including Goliath’s Scrotum! – charged with stealing the Orb of Charlemagne from a guarded mansion and a sealed box. Only someone has got there first – someone capable of slaughtering a whole contingent of guards without any resistance…