The Three Kings of Cologne

In Sedley's well-crafted 15th medieval historical to feature Roger the Chapman (after 2006's The Prodigal Son ), Alderman John Foster, the mayor of Bristol, suspects foul play when the corpse of a young woman, identified as Isabella Linkinhorne, is unearthed while land is being cleared for a new chapel to be dedicated to the three kings of the novel's title. The mayor asks the perceptive peddler to determine which of her three suitors killed her. The rub is, she disappeared 20 years earlier, in 1460, and the identities of her suitors, whom Roger nicknames after the three wise men, were unknown even at the time. Sedley effortlessly incorporates the details of daily life for a range of socioeconomic groups as Roger goes in search of answers. Roger's droll sense of humor enlivens a narrative full of unexpected plot twists. (May)