The bleak midwinter - L. C. Tyler

The fifth John Grey historical mystery

1668.

John Grey is now a Justice of the Peace and lives in the manor house he has inherited on his mother's death with his new wife, Aminta.

As the village is cut off from the rest of the world by a heavy snowfall, George Barwell is discovered dead in the woods. Grey is called to examine the horribly disfigured body amidst the rumours that the attack has been the work of the Devil as the victim had been cursed by reputed witch Alice Mardike just days before his violent death.

As Barwell's father-in-law leads the villagers into kidnapping Alice and throwing her into the millpond to see if she floats as a witch or drowns as an innocent woman, Grey agrees to investigate the murder: his main suspect is the very man leading the witch hunt.

But if Grey can't solve the mystery of George Barwell's death within a week, Mardike will be tried for witchcraft - and the sentence has already been decided . . .

Praise for L.C. Tyler

'Tyler juggles his characters, story wit and clever one liners with perfect balance' The Times

'A cracking pace, lively dialogue, wickedly witty one-liners salted with sophistication . . . Why would we not want more of John Grey?' The Bookbag

'A dizzying whirl of plot and counterplot' Guardian

'I was seduced from John Grey's first scene' Ann Cleeves

'Unusually accomplished'
Helen Dunmore

L. C. Tyler was born in Essex and educated at Jesus College Oxford and City University. His comic crime series featuring
author-and-agent duo Ethelred Tressider and Elsie Thirkettle has twice been nominated for Edgar Allan Poe Awards and he won the Goldsboro Last Laugh Award with Herring in the Library. His latest crime series is set in the seventeenth century and features lawyer John Grey.

He has
lived and worked all over the world, but has more recently been based in London and Sussex.

To find out more about L. C. Tyler visit www.lctyler.com or follow him on twitter @lenctyler.