A Trail of Ink Paperback - 2013

From the rear cover

"Hugh de Singleton has come to Oxford seeking a wife. He finds treachery and murder. A Trail of Ink is a beautifully written medieval mystery set in 14th century Oxford. Mel Starr writes with the flowing language, startling detail and understated humor of one who has mastered his period and his craft." - Donna Fletcher Crow, author of A Very Private Grave "I had never seen Master John Wyclif so afflicted. He told me later that it was as onerous to plunder a bachelor scholar's books as to steal another man's wife. I had, at the time, no way to assess the accuracy of that opinion, for I had no wife and few books ..." So begins another delightful and intriguing tale from the life of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon in the medieval village of Bampton, near Oxford, and bailiff of Bampton Castle. Hugh sets his cap at the delightful Kate, who proves equally resourceful in the search for the missing books. Some very determined adversaries are out to stop him, permanently if necessary - but are they motivated by greed, or more personal animosity? Then the corpse of a poor scholar, who had tried to sell one of the books, is found in the river: but he had not simply drowned ... Mel Starr has spent many years teaching history, and has studied medieval surgery and medieval English. He lives in Michigan. He is also author of The Unquiet Bones and A Corpse at St Andrew's Chapel.