MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Free (Kindle) 3 novels by Mel Starr [Xtian Medieval Medical Science Murder Mysteries]

ATDrake · 10-24-2014, 02:31 AM

So, Mel Starr (SYKM) is a Michigan-resident author who once upon a time, taught history and studied medieval surgery and medieval English.

And Lion Hudson (Wikipedia) is a UK Christian-interest specialty publisher which apparently got formed together by a merger of some other UK Christian-interest specialty publishers.

(NB: UK Christianity seems rather more relaxed and less evangelical than US Christianity, and this may or may not extend to their publishing imprints, which are probably following the tenets of the Church of England anyway.

In any case, I spotted books in their catalogue by British fantasy author Fay Sampson (ISFDB), who's written a rather good and rather pagan-oriented feminist deconstructive take on Arthuriana, so they're probably not really all that stringent on any particular lifestyle-adherence requirements for their authors and/or published works.

And I read through the first 30% of the 1st book after picking these up this morning to see how they were, and it was rather low on the religious mentions, allowing for a medieval background where people really did regulate their lives according to the feast/famine days allowed by the Church calendar, and very high on the how-medievals-treated-wounds-and-behaved-in-general, so I'd class it as pretty comparable to a similar secular series in tone.)

And together, they fight write crime! Specifically, the Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon, starring, you guessed it, a 14th century English surgeon who also happens to solve murders in between treating his less fatal cases.

And offer you three freebie novels in said crime series, courtesy of their Monarch Books imprint, along with a tie-in sale on the 4th in series.

Jaded by deep-discount coupons, you may perhaps laugh at the notion of getting the 4th in this series at $2.39 Canadian at Amazon/$2.99 US in the Kobo store (couponable! but only priced that low for US-claiming account-holders). But the publisher has actually priced these regularly at what I'll call an overly-optimistic price point at $16.99 each for the e-books in Canada (may cost less elsewhere), so it turns out to be a really good bargain, comparatively speaking, and you're getting the first 3 novels free, to boot, which amortizes the overall cost down to like what, 75 cents per?

Ironically for books set in 14th century England out from a UK specialty imprint, these are not free for actual UK persons who do not lie about having UK-resident accounts.

And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

Because getting not just one, but three rather nice historical murder mysteries starring a man of what passed for science back then, in a science-y type of profession for those times, giving details of what passed for scientific-ish thought and practice back then, written by someone who's done the research and includes historical notes and while adhering to a particular faith, didn't feel the need to push said faith in his writing of these, and also getting a tie-in sale on a further book in the series, is A Good Thing™ and Relevant To My Interests®.

I just wish this were available in more stores and regions and a few further books dropped in price (and were on sale for Canadians in the couponable Kobo store).

Aside from that, this was a really good offer, IMHO, and I've gone and splurged on the sale book to encourage the publisher to do it more in the future.

Enjoy!

(NB: apparently whoever did the coding for these books decided to place the auto-Start at the first chapter, after the maps and the very helpful Glossary of medieval terms which might be useful to have skimmed before actually starting to read the book, so you might want to page back a bit/go straight to the front cover and start over from there once you open these up to start reading.)

#1: The Unquiet Bones @ Amazon (available to Canadians)

Hugh of Singleton, fourth son of a minor knight, has been educated as a clerk, usually a prelude to taking holy orders. However, he feels no real calling-despite his lively faith-and he turns to the profession of surgeon, training in Paris and then hanging his sign in Oxford. Soon after, a local lord asks Hugh de Singleton to track the killer of a young woman whose bones have been found in the castle cesspool. Through his medical knowledge, Singleton identifies her as the impetuous missing daughter of a local blacksmith. The young man she loved-whom she had provoked very publicly-is quickly arrested and sentenced at Oxford. But this is just the beginning of the tale. The story of Singleton's adventure unfolds with realistic medical procedures, droll medieval wit, romantic distractions, and a consistent underlying sense of Christian compassion.

#2: A Corpse at St. Andrew's Chapel @ Amazon (available to Canadians)

Alan, the beadle of the manor of Bampton, had gone out at dusk to seek those who might violate curfew. When, the following morning, he had not returned home, his young wife Matilda seeks out Master Hugh de Singleton, surgeon and bailiff of the manor.

Two days later Alan’s corpse is discovered in the hedge, at the side of the track to St. Andrew’s Chapel. His throat has been torn out, his head half-severed from his body and his face, hands, and forearms lacerated with deep scratches. Master Hugh, meeting Hubert the coroner at the scene, listens carefully to the coroner’s surmise that a wolf had caused the great wound. And yet. . . if so, why is there so little blood?

#3: A Trail of Ink @ Amazon (available to Canadians)

Some valuable books have been stolen from Master John Wyclif, the well known scholar and Bible translator. He calls upon his friend and former pupil, Hugh de Singleton, to investigate. Hugh's investigation leads him to Oxford where he again encounters Kate, the only woman who has tempted him to leave bachelor life behind, but Kate has another serious
suitor. As Hugh's pursuit of Kate becomes more successful, mysterious accidents begin to occur. Are these accidents tied to the missing books, or to his pursuit of Kate?

One of the stolen books turns up alongside the drowned body of a poor Oxford scholar. Another accident? Hugh certainly doesn’t think so, but it will take all of his surgeon’s skills to prove.

So begins another delightful and intriguing tale from the life of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon in the medieval village of Bampton. Masterfully researched by medieval scholar Mel Starr, the setting of the novel can be visited and recognized in modern-day England. Enjoy more of Hugh’s dry wit, romantic interests, evolving faith, and dogged determination as he pursues his third case as bailiff of Bampton.

The 4th in series on sale if you'd like to pick it up: Unhallowed Ground @ Amazon ($2.39 for Canadians in the main store, probably comparably priced for the US) & Kobo (2 versions listed, be sure to get this one from the US, where it should be $2.99 and couponable)

10-24-2014, 02:31 AM	#1
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Free (Kindle) 3 novels by Mel Starr [Xtian Medieval Medical Science Murder Mysteries] So, Mel Starr (SYKM) is a Michigan-resident author who once upon a time, taught history and studied medieval surgery and medieval English. And Lion Hudson (Wikipedia) is a UK Christian-interest specialty publisher which apparently got formed together by a merger of some other UK Christian-interest specialty publishers. (NB: UK Christianity seems rather more relaxed and less evangelical than US Christianity, and this may or may not extend to their publishing imprints, which are probably following the tenets of the Church of England anyway. In any case, I spotted books in their catalogue by British fantasy author Fay Sampson (ISFDB), who's written a rather good and rather pagan-oriented feminist deconstructive take on Arthuriana, so they're probably not really all that stringent on any particular lifestyle-adherence requirements for their authors and/or published works. And I read through the first 30% of the 1st book after picking these up this morning to see how they were, and it was rather low on the religious mentions, allowing for a medieval background where people really did regulate their lives according to the feast/famine days allowed by the Church calendar, and very high on the how-medievals-treated-wounds-and-behaved-in-general, so I'd class it as pretty comparable to a similar secular series in tone.) And together, they fight write crime! Specifically, the Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon, starring, you guessed it, a 14th century English surgeon who also happens to solve murders in between treating his less fatal cases. And offer you three freebie novels in said crime series, courtesy of their Monarch Books imprint, along with a tie-in sale on the 4th in series. Jaded by deep-discount coupons, you may perhaps laugh at the notion of getting the 4th in this series at $2.39 Canadian at Amazon/$2.99 US in the Kobo store (couponable! but only priced that low for US-claiming account-holders). But the publisher has actually priced these regularly at what I'll call an overly-optimistic price point at $16.99 each for the e-books in Canada (may cost less elsewhere), so it turns out to be a really good bargain, comparatively speaking, and you're getting the first 3 novels free, to boot, which amortizes the overall cost down to like what, 75 cents per? Ironically for books set in 14th century England out from a UK specialty imprint, these are not free for actual UK persons who do not lie about having UK-resident accounts. And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day. Because getting not just one, but three rather nice historical murder mysteries starring a man of what passed for science back then, in a science-y type of profession for those times, giving details of what passed for scientific-ish thought and practice back then, written by someone who's done the research and includes historical notes and while adhering to a particular faith, didn't feel the need to push said faith in his writing of these, and also getting a tie-in sale on a further book in the series, is A Good Thing™ and Relevant To My Interests®. I just wish this were available in more stores and regions and a few further books dropped in price (and were on sale for Canadians in the couponable Kobo store). Aside from that, this was a really good offer, IMHO, and I've gone and splurged on the sale book to encourage the publisher to do it more in the future. Enjoy! (NB: apparently whoever did the coding for these books decided to place the auto-Start at the first chapter, after the maps and the very helpful Glossary of medieval terms which might be useful to have skimmed before actually starting to read the book, so you might want to page back a bit/go straight to the front cover and start over from there once you open these up to start reading.) #1: The Unquiet Bones @ Amazon (available to Canadians) Hugh of Singleton, fourth son of a minor knight, has been educated as a clerk, usually a prelude to taking holy orders. However, he feels no real calling-despite his lively faith-and he turns to the profession of surgeon, training in Paris and then hanging his sign in Oxford. Soon after, a local lord asks Hugh de Singleton to track the killer of a young woman whose bones have been found in the castle cesspool. Through his medical knowledge, Singleton identifies her as the impetuous missing daughter of a local blacksmith. The young man she loved-whom she had provoked very publicly-is quickly arrested and sentenced at Oxford. But this is just the beginning of the tale. The story of Singleton's adventure unfolds with realistic medical procedures, droll medieval wit, romantic distractions, and a consistent underlying sense of Christian compassion. #2: A Corpse at St. Andrew's Chapel @ Amazon (available to Canadians) Alan, the beadle of the manor of Bampton, had gone out at dusk to seek those who might violate curfew. When, the following morning, he had not returned home, his young wife Matilda seeks out Master Hugh de Singleton, surgeon and bailiff of the manor. Two days later Alan’s corpse is discovered in the hedge, at the side of the track to St. Andrew’s Chapel. His throat has been torn out, his head half-severed from his body and his face, hands, and forearms lacerated with deep scratches. Master Hugh, meeting Hubert the coroner at the scene, listens carefully to the coroner’s surmise that a wolf had caused the great wound. And yet. . . if so, why is there so little blood? #3: A Trail of Ink @ Amazon (available to Canadians) Some valuable books have been stolen from Master John Wyclif, the well known scholar and Bible translator. He calls upon his friend and former pupil, Hugh de Singleton, to investigate. Hugh's investigation leads him to Oxford where he again encounters Kate, the only woman who has tempted him to leave bachelor life behind, but Kate has another serious suitor. As Hugh's pursuit of Kate becomes more successful, mysterious accidents begin to occur. Are these accidents tied to the missing books, or to his pursuit of Kate? One of the stolen books turns up alongside the drowned body of a poor Oxford scholar. Another accident? Hugh certainly doesn’t think so, but it will take all of his surgeon’s skills to prove. So begins another delightful and intriguing tale from the life of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon in the medieval village of Bampton. Masterfully researched by medieval scholar Mel Starr, the setting of the novel can be visited and recognized in modern-day England. Enjoy more of Hugh’s dry wit, romantic interests, evolving faith, and dogged determination as he pursues his third case as bailiff of Bampton. The 4th in series on sale if you'd like to pick it up: Unhallowed Ground @ Amazon ($2.39 for Canadians in the main store, probably comparably priced for the US) & Kobo (2 versions listed, be sure to get this one from the US, where it should be $2.99 and couponable)