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Originally Posted by ATDrake
Bargain @ $2 each from Amazon's exclusive AmazonCrossing imprint for translated works (price good in Canada & US, but not in UK or other country stores which I spot-checked):
Two medieval historical mysteries by Danish author Martin Jensen ( SYKM), in his The King's Hound series set in 11th-century Oxford under the Danelaw ( Wikipedia), starring a manuscript illuminator and his half-Danish/half-Saxon buddy, both working for King Canute ( Wikipedia).
I've had these on the wishlist for a while since I have this inordinate fondness for cultures that produce dragon boats and historicals with real history in them are my 2nd-favourite mystery subgenre. Also, sufue recommended these when they were last on sale in May. The current price-drop seems kind of random (it isn't obviously tied into any other promotion I can spot going on), so no idea how long it'll last, but I'm happy this morning (well, mostly happy, considering the "Sunshine Coast" version of snowmageddon I woke up to this morning, which I will be shovelling shortly  ).
The King's Hounds, 1st in series
The first in the bestselling Danish series of historical mysteries
The newly crowned King Cnut of Denmark has conquered England and rules his new empire from Oxford. The year is 1018 and the war is finally over, but the unified kingdom is far from peaceful.
Halfdan’s mixed lineage—half Danish, half Saxon—has made him a pauper in the new kingdom. His father, his brother, and the land he should have inherited were all taken by the new king’s men. He lost everything to the war but his sense of humor. Once a proud nobleman, Halfdan now wanders the country aimlessly, powered only by his considerable charm and some petty theft. When he finds an unlikely ally in Winston, a former monk, he sees no reason not to accept his strange invitation to travel together to Oxford. Winston has been commissioned to paint a portrait of the king at the invitation of his new wife, and the protection of a clever man like Halfdan is well worth its price in wine and bread.
But when the pair’s arrival in court coincides with news of a murder, the king has a brilliant idea: Why not enlist the newly arrived womanizing half-Dane and the Saxon intellectual to defuse a politically explosive situation? The pair represents both sides of the conflict and seem to have crime-solving skills to boot. In their search for the killer, Halfdan and Winston find seduction, adventure, and scandal in the wild early days of Cnut’s rule.
Oathbreaker, 2nd in series
Halfdan and his master, Winston the Illuminator, are guests in a monastery when they’re awakened in the middle of the night and asked to solve a crime. A monk praying in the church has been brutally murdered, and his severed hand offers the first clue of a motive. As they investigate who could have committed such a heinous atrocity—and why—Halfdan and Winston must negotiate bitter rivalries within the monastery’s hierarchy, a sensitive class structure, and the tension between the new laws King Cnut has sworn to uphold and the codes of honor that precede them. With peace in England on shaky ground and the king’s favor of paramount importance, Halfdan and Winston follow a precarious path toward answers that no one is sure they want.
This second novel in Martin Jensen’s acclaimed King’s Hounds series delves deeply into a chaotic world where alliances change, but oaths are forever. |
Thank you I picked both up.
Apache