The Midsummer Crown: A Roger the Chapman Mystery

The brief reign of 12-year-old Edward V forms the dramatic background to Sedley's excellent 20th Roger the Chapman mystery (after 2010's Wheel of Fate). In 1483, Richard, duke of Gloucester, "the most important personage in the kingdom after the king," sends for Roger, a pedlar known for his sleuthing skills, who's just returned home to Bristol. Richard wants Roger to investigate the abduction of 13-year-old Gideon Fitzalan and the murder of Gideon's tutor, whose body was found in a locked room. Roger arrives in London just as Edward and his younger brother are taken to the Tower to await the coronation. Sedley does a masterful job conveying the simmering tension felt throughout England at the prospect of the boy king ascending the throne, while hinting at the machinations of various factions to secure the succession. This is an absolute must for fans of Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time. (July)