Royal Hunt: A Robin & Marian Mystery [Paperback]

Clayton Emery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2009

In a forest verging on Stonehenge... The Wild Huntsman and his Hellhounds ride the night, chasing down innocents and snatching their souls - and their heads. Forced to serve as Royal Forester, Robin Hood and Maid Marian hunt for the truth behind kidnappings, arson, forgery, rape, and betrayal. From a fear-choked forest to lonely wastes, from King Richard's court to a sacred cloister, from a freewheeling forest eyre to a bloodstained temple, the legendary outlaws fight ghosts and greed, phantoms and fire, witches and wickedness - and uncover a secret grievance planning the ultimate sacrifice!

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Without giving too much away, I can say this book was enormously satisfying and incredibly frustrating to write.  The research alone took months.  By having Robin Hood "voluntarily" appointed as Royal Forester of the New Forest (a colossal joke on him), I had to figure out exactly what went on in a royal forest.  Turns out, it's a lot.  People gather wood, pasture cows and swine, trim bark, make charcoal, gather food, build ponds, collect plants, waylad travelers, and poach and hunt - and steer deer by various illegal tricks.  Witches use the forest to gather in Black Sabbaths, too.  The forest was a busy place, and a haunted one, a mixed blessing.  And when people are killed in grisly fashions, Robin and Marian must search the ancient depths to find the murderers - without winding up as head decorating some heathen tomb.  The other chore is to weather the paperwork and minutia of a forest eyre (court), which was held every three years.  The court had its own arcane dialogue and wonderfully twisted laws, and four judges had to untangle individual cases that ran for days.  All told, this R&M story ended up filling an entire book because there was so much going on in the forest, including savage and cold-blooded clashes.  I only hope people find the social and legal passages as exciting and interesting as the chases, fights, and head-scratching mysteries.  CE --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Clayton Emery is an umpteen-generations Yankee, Navy brat, and aging hippie who grew up playing Robin Hood in the forests of New England. He's been a blacksmith, dishwasher, schoolteacher in Australia, carpenter, zookeeper, farmhand, land surveyor, volunteer firefighter, and award-winning technical writer. He's the author of the Robin & Marian Mysteries and Joseph Fisher Colonial Mysteries in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and elsewhere, twenty fantasy-adventures, kids' books, and other tales. Read more stories at www.claytonemery.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: Merry Man Publishing (May 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981531741
• ISBN-13: 978-0981531748
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,472,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clayton Emery is an umpteen-generations Yankee, Navy brat, and aging hippie who grew up playing Robin Hood in the forests of New England. He's been a blacksmith, dishwasher, schoolteacher in Australia, carpenter, zookeeper, farmhand, land surveyor, volunteer firefighter, and award-winning technical writer. He currently lives in Washington, DC, where he works for the Department of Homeland Security. Check out his books on Amazon, and watch for The Republic, an upcoming TV show he created.