A Trust Betrayed by part-time Seattle resident England-born author Candace Robb (
SYKM,
Wikipedia), who studied medieval history at the PhD level, is the 1st in her Margaret Kerr trilogy of intrigue-laden historical suspense mysteries set in 13th century wartime Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence (
Wikipedia), starring the eponymous Dame, this installment involving a search for her missing husband whose disappearance becomes even more perplexing the further she investigates into it, free courtesy of publisher Diversion Books, who are e-printing it from its 2000 William Heinemann edition.
We've previously received another of the author's well-researched medieval historical murder/intrigue mysteries in an unrelated (as far as I can tell) series free,
The Apothecary Rose, so if you enjoyed that one, you'll probably like this as well.
Currently free @
Amazon &
iTunes (available to Canadians and in North America, but apparently the rights for this in most other worldwide countries are held by Simon & Schuster UK's Cornerstone Digital imprint).
If it happens you like this one and would like to read more, all 3 books in the trilogy are now e-printed by Diversion Books for a reasonably low price, couponable @
Kobo, and there's a money-saving omnibus edition as well.
And this has been the (late!) selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.
Because not only do I
historical mysteries with a goodly dose of plotty intrigue where the murder seems kind of incidental to uncovering the underlying tangles and actual historical research in them, it's also nifty to get another 1st-in-series promotional freebie from an author whose previous promotional freebie Gentle Readers may have already been enjoying, and some well-priced self-discountable tie-in sale items to boot. I hope Diversion does well on follow-up purchases and continues to generously offer more of these from their catalogue.
Enjoy!
Description
In the spring of 1297 the English army controls lowland Scotland and Margaret Kerr’s husband Roger Sinclair is missing. He’d headed to Dundee in autumn, writing to Margaret with a promise to be home for Christmas, but it’s past Easter. Is he caught up in the swelling rebellion against the English? Is he even alive? When his cousin, Jack, is murdered on the streets of Edinburgh, Roger’s last known location, Margaret coerces her brother Andrew, a priest, to escort her to the city.
She finds Edinburgh scarred by war—houses burnt, walls stained with blood, shops shuttered—and the townsfolk simmering with resentment, harboring secrets. Even her uncle, innkeeper Murdoch Kerr, meets her questions with silence. Are his secrets the keys to Roger’s disappearance? What terrible sin torments her brother? Is it her husband she glimpses in the rain, scarred, haunted? Desperate, Margaret makes alliances that risk both her own life and that of her brother in her search for answers. She learns that war twists love and loyalties, and that, until tested, we cannot know our own hearts, much less those of our loved ones.