A suspenseful novel of sixteenth-century Scotland from a Dagger Award finalist: “A richly imagined tale, very well researched.” —Historical Novel Society 1587: Three years after his enforced departure to London, lawyer Hew Cullen is reconciled with King James VI and recalled to Scotland. He elopes to St Andrews with a young Englishwoman. But the death of Mary, Queen of Scots has unleashed a wave of anti-English sentiment among the Scottish people, and fear and confusion in the king himself. James will grant his blessing to their controversial marriage on the condition that Hew discovers what lies behind a painting cunningly contrived to prick the young king’s conscience—an anamorphic death’s-head with his mother’s face. Meanwhile in St Andrews, the death of a painter is troubling to Giles Locke, and the English Frances, struggling to adapt to a foreign town and culture, helps Hew find the link among the artists and intriguers of opposing courts, a quest for love—and life—requiring all his skills…
St Andrews, 1583, and tensions are running high. Dissension rages between King and councillors, and between separate factions of the Kirk. Hew Cullan is called to investigate a mysterious incident, and finds suspicion falling upon him as he is ensnared in a world of superstition, subterfuge and death. Hew Cullan finds himself once again in the company of his sister Meg and her husband, Giles Locke, in their most challenging case yet. Alliances are formed; there are old scores to be settled; old ghosts reappear and spies are abroad. The king's escape from captivity throws all into confusion, and as Hew's loves and loyalties are put to the test, his own life and future are no longer secure. Friend & Foe is the fourth Hew Cullan mystery by Shirley McKay.
1579, St Andrews. Hew Cullan, a young lawyer, returns home from studying in Paris. But it proves to be a cold homecoming as Hew's friend, university regent Nicholas Colp, is accused of murdering a thirteen-year-old boy. The boy was a private pupil of Nicholas, and salacious gossip backed up by incriminating letters have him judged, convicted, and heading for the hangman's noose. Investigating the crime, Hew uncovers a dark tale of duplicity and passion amidst a world of religious piety and the chilling austerity of university life. From a case that seems to be open and shut, a Pandora's Box of lies and corruption emerges. Hue & Cry is the first in the must-read series of Hew Cullan Mysteries, for fans of thrilling historical fiction.
1581, Edinburgh. Running from his new responsibilities as head of the family in St Andrews, young lawyer Hew Cullan arrives in the vibrant capital of medieval Scotland. There he plans to publish his late father's book and quietly endure the completion of his legal training under an old family friend. Life in the whirl of Edinburgh is full of dangers and distractions for Hew. Beautiful women, fashionable living and the treacherous world of the law threaten to turn his head. But a brutal murder and hints of a long-hidden mystery draw him into a deadly game against an unrepentant foe. When the game is murder, can Hew Cullan play to win? Fate & Fortune is the second Hew Cullan mystery by Shirley McKay.
Yule is the fifth instalment of 1588: A Calendar of Crime, a collection of short stories published in step with the sixteenth century calendar. Despite prohibitions on celebrating Yule, the old traditions still persist among the tenant farmers on Hew's estate at Kenly Green. Hew defends a tenant against both Kirk and Crown when a violent accident befalls an unwelcome guest who has turned up uninvited to the feast.
Stories starring a sleuthing Scottish lawyer: “McKay’s command of plot, place and character makes these 16th century St Andrews-set mysteries a delight.” —The Scotsman A grisly murder. A vanishing corpse. A secret romance. A ghostly tale. An innocent accused. Set in the year of the Armada, 1588: A Calendar of Crime brings together five short stories featuring Hew Cullan. From the gruesome murder of a candlemaker to Spanish ghosts on Hallowmas, Shirley McKay delivers five gripping tales of mystery that will keep you reading long into the night. “A fascinating evocation of the everyday life of ordinary Scots in the 1500s as well as series of first-rate stories. Her use of language is a delight, the sinewy and expressive Scots words aiding the creation of Cullen's very realistic world. McKay is to be congratulated for the continued quality and inventiveness of her tales.” —The National
Martinmas is the fourth instalment of 1588: A Calendar of Crime, a collection of short stories published in step with the sixteenth century calendar. In St Salvator's college at the start of the academic year a young student claims that he has seen the ghost of a Spanish soldier. Giles and Hew dismiss this as the fevered product of a wild imagination; the students are unsettled by a spate of violent storms, and fears of the apocalypse readily resurge. In the close confines of college, they can be contained. But when a merchant dies, on the feast of St Martin known as 'killing time', with the words 'dead Spaniard' the last upon his lips, the terror of the students spills out to the streets, and Hew is called upon to rid the town of ghosts.
1582, St Andrews. A violent storm wrecks a ship nearby, and the only man about dies without revealing how he came to be there alone, or where the ship was headed. But neither he nor the wreck is really of interest to the townsfolk of St Andrews. Lashed to the deck of the ship is a windmill, a much-needed innovation for the town, but one which soon brings devestation as squabbling over its ownership breaks out. Tasked with tracing the ship to its source, reluctant lawyer Hew Cullan embarks on a journey that will take him far from the security of home and family to Ghent, in the war-torn Low Countries. But are the truth and tragedy surrounding the windmill's real owner – and the death's connected to it – closer to home than Hew could ever imagine? Time & Tide is the third Hew Cullan mystery by Shirley McKay.
Lammas is the third instalment of 1588: A Calendar of Crime, a collection of short stories published in step with the sixteenth century calendar. Lammas day, a day of celebration for some. Elspet, a serving girl at the harbour inn has been told for years by the inn's owner, Walter Bone, that she is ugly and that no man will ever want her. Then, after years of being shut away from the world she unexpectedly catches the attention of a young labourer and realises she has been lied to all these years. She meets her lover in secret at the Lammas day fair, but her dalliances do not go unnoticed . . . Hew Cullan finds himself retained by a man with a mind for murder. Walter Bone makes clear his intent to kill Elspet's lover, and seeks Hew's help to ensure his will is upheld when he is inevitably hanged for the act. But his jealousy has unexpected consequences. When Elspet disappears without a trace several innocent fair-goers and patrons are dragged into a web of suspicion, rumour and accusation. It falls to Hew to unravel the twisted threads and figure out the truth of the matter.
1579, St Andrews. When Hew Cullan, a young lawyer, returns home after studying in Paris, he arrives to find a close friend accused of murdering a thirteen-year-old boy. For the first time, Hew finds himself plunged headlong into a Pandora's box of lies and deception, starting his journey as a reluctant mystery solver. From the chilling austerity of university life to the shores of Flanders and the court of King James, Hew must unravel the subterfuge and murder that pervades sixteenth-century Scotland. This bestselling series is a must-read for fans of thrilling historical fiction, expertly researched and utterly enthralling. Titles included in this bundle are: Hue & Cry Fate & Fortune Time & Tide Friend & Foe
A short story in the historical mystery series featuring a sleuthing lawyer in sixteenth-century St. Andrews, Scotland. When a regent of St. Salvator’s appears to lose his wits, it falls to physician Giles Locke and lawyer Hew Cullan to discern the cause—and to defend the college from the King’s commissioners—in this darkly comic mystery tale in the acclaimed series set in sixteenth-century Scotland. “McKay is to be congratulated for the continued quality and inventiveness of her tales.” —The National
Candlemas is the first instalment of 1588: A Calendar of Crime, a collection of short stories published in step with the sixteenth century calendar. On Candlemas eve an apprentice candle maker finds his master, John Blair, dead in his workshop, and the evidence points to the surgeon Sam Sturrock. Enlisted by Sturrock's desperate apprentice, Hew Cullan, together with his friend and physician Giles Locke, finds himself drawn into the investigation to uncover the truth of the matter. At first it seems like Blair's death is the result of reckless surgical practice, but as Hew delves deeper into the life of the candle maker he discovers a web of extortion. It seems John Blair was a man with many enemies ...
1582, St Andrews. In the swell of a storm, a ship is wrecked in the harbour. The only survivor is a young Flemish sailor. The cargo brings devastation to the town as squabbling turns to tragedy. Hew traces the ship to its source in Ghent, where he uncovers a strange secret and finds his principles tested to the core --
This collection is a generous selection of Shirley Jackson's work, consisting of three complete books: The Bird's Nest, Life Among the Savages, Raising Demons, and eleven short stories--including the world-famous "The Lottery.
On Candlemas eve an apprentice candle maker finds his master, John Blair dead in his workshop, and the evidence points to the surgeon Sam Sturrock. Enlisted by Sturrock's desperate apprentice, Hew Cullen, together with his friend and physician Giles Locke, finds himself drawn into the investigation to uncover the truth of the matter. At first it seems like Blair's death is the result of reckless surgical practice, but as Hew delves deeper into the life of the candle maker he discovers a web of extortion and deceit. John Blair was a man with many enemies ...
St. Andrews, 1583: the young king James VI is confined at Falkland Palace, plotting his escape. Dissension rages between Kirk and Crown, the king and his "lord enterprisers," and between the separate factions of the church. In St. Andrews Castle, a bishop in decline plays out his darkest fantasies, while Hew and his friend Giles investigate the true source of his sickness, uncovering corruption at its heart. The death of a young soldier, implicating Hew's sister and Giles's wife Meg, leads Hew to an astonishing discovery, and toward his blackest hour--his fortunes inextricable from those of James himself.
1587. Three years after his enforced departure to London, Hew is reconciled with King James VI and recalled to Scotland. He elopes to St Andrews with a young Englishwoman. The death of Mary, Queen of Scots has unleashed a wave of anti-English sentiment among the Scottish people, and fear and confusion in the king himself. James will grant his blessing to their controversial marriage on the condition that Hew discovers what lies behind a painting cunningly contrived to prick the young king's conscience - an anamorphic death's-head with his mother's face. Meanwhile in St Andrews, the death of a painter is troubling to Giles Locke, and the English Frances, struggling to adapt to a foreign town and culture, helps Hew find the link among the artists and intriguers of opposing courts, a quest for love - and life - requiring all his skills.
The short stories captured on these pages are snippets of a well-lived life. I gathered information like a thief through the years and then one lovely and sunny day, I put pen to paper, filled my mouth with ink and spat it all on paper. What fun I had with these, my precious little stories. I have a Blue Million more to write.
If the Kingdom of Fife only offered the photographer picturesque old fishing villages like Elie, St Monance, Pitenweem, Anstruther and Crail, it would be sheer paradise - but there's so much more to it than that. There's the historic town of Dunfermline with its magnificent Abbey - the site of Robert the Bruce's burial. Formerly Scotland's capital and the place where the king in Sir Patrick Spens's poem famously drank the 'bluid-red wine', Dunfermline is the birthplace of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and has one of Britain's most beautiful public parks - Pittencrief Park. Situated a few miles south-west of Dunfermline is Culross. Here, amongst the narrow cobbled streets and the houses with their crow-stepped roofs and distinctive pan-tiles, you'll find yourself transported back to the sixteenth century. To the east is Fife's most industrial town, Kirkcaldy, and further round the coast is St Andrews, the home of golf. Scotland's oldest university, currently the place of study for a certain William Windsor, was founded here in 1413. And the beaches at St Andrews and Burntisland are justly recognised as two of Scotland's top beaches.So, whether you live here or are just passing through, The Wee Book of Fife is the perfect memento of a unique area.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.