Series of historical mysteries by Candace Robb, comprising 10 novels and one short story.
In mid-14th-century York, England, Owen Archer is a detective (referred to as a "spy") for John Thoresby, the Archbishop of York and sometimes lord Chancellor of England. (He was previously a Captain of Archers (hence his last name), until he lost an eye.) His wife, Lucie Wilton, is an apothecary, and often helps him solve mysteries.
Novels in this series:
- The Apothecary Rose (1993)
- The Lady Chapel (1994)
- The Nun's Tale (1995)
- The King's Bishop (1996)
- The Riddle of St. Leonard's (1997)
- A Gift of Sanctuary (1998)
- A Spy for the Redeemer (2002)
- The Cross-Legged Knight (2002)
- The Guilt of Innocents (2007)
- A Vigil of Spies (2008)
- A Conspiracy of Wolves (2019)
- A Choir of Crows (2020)
- The Riverwoman's Dragon (2021)
- A Fox in the Fold (to be released)
Contains examples of:
- Barefoot Sage: Magda Digby. In A Choir of Crows, it's mentioned that she likes to take off her shoes (and while indoors, she goes barefoot even in winter).
- Benevolent Boss: the Archbishop Thoresby is a fairly good employer to Owen. (Owen dislikes him, but not because of anything Thoresby does to him.)
- The Captain: Owen is Captain of Thoresby's guard, and was a captain of archers.
- Christianity is Catholic: Of course, since Protestantism wouldn't develop for centuries.
- Corrupt Churchman: Owen sees Thoresby as this, partially—he thinks Thoresby is insufficiently concerned with religion and trying to be a good and holy man, and too concerned with secular power.
- Depraved Homosexual: a monk named Ambrose, in Candace Robb's medieval mystery The Apothecary Rose. Averted, though, in the next book, which contains sympathetic characters who are gay. (Secretly).
- The Dung Ages: Mostly averted. Robb doesn't portray her setting as any paradise—she shows plenty of poverty—but she doesn't portray a lot of dirt and slovenliness.
- Eccentric Mentor: Magda Digby is a quirky old hermit woman who refers to herself in the third person, gives people animal nicknames, and has many other quirks - but is nonetheless very wise (and probably also has some sort of psychic powers), and serves as a mentor to the protagonist and many others.
- The Exotic Detective: Owen Archer lives in England, but is from Wales. (This was a bigger deal then—it took a long time to travel that distance, and most Welsh people didn't speak English.)
- Eyepatch of Power: Owen Archer has an eyepatch, since he lost his eye. And though he no longer works as a soldier, he is still tough, and occasionally has action scenes. Also partly averted/subverted: The books often show the frustration, inconvenience, and sense of incompleteness Owen experiences from being blind in one eye.
- Good Is Not Dumb: Owen is very compassionate, and a devoted family man. He is also a tough, seasoned fighter and detective.
- Happily Married: Owen and Lucie.
- Historical Domain Character: Archbishop Thoresby, King Edward, his wife Queen Philippa, his mistress Alice Perrers ...
- The Late Middle Ages: Around the beginning, since it's the mid-14th century.
- Medieval Morons: Averted.
- The Nicknamer: Magda Digby tends to give people animal-themed nicknames: for instance, she calls the protagonist (who has only one good eye) "Bird-eye", the archbishop Thoresby "the Old Crow", and Dame Isobel "the Squirrel".
- Oop North: The series is set predominantly in York. The inhospitable northern English weather features a lot.
- Straight Gay: Martin Werther. (Not openly, of course.)
- That Old-Time Prescription: Since Lucie is an apothecary, and a central and sympathetic character. The benevolent sort-of-witch Magda Digby does some of this too.
- Third-Person Person: Magda Digby. In A Vigil of Spies, she reveals that it's The Penance for her youthful arrogance when she refused to heal someone, believing them to be "unworthy". Even since then, she's been speaking in the third person as a way to remind herself that she is only a vessel for her powers. Though Thoresby absolved her of guilt in the same book, she continued to speak like that because it had become an important part of her personality.
