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E.M. Powell

Goodreads Author

Born

in Cork, Ireland

Website

http://www.empowell.com/index.html

Twitter

empowellauthor

Genre

Mystery, Thriller, Historical Fiction

Influences

Tess Gerritsen, Robert Harris, C.J. Sansom ...more

Member Since

April 2012

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E.M. Powell’s historical thriller and medieval mystery Fifth Knight and Stanton & Barling novels have been #1 Amazon and Bild bestsellers.
The latest Stanton & Barling mystery, THE FOREST MURDERS, will be released in 2025.
Born and raised in the Republic of Ireland into the family of Michael Collins (the legendary revolutionary and founder of the Irish Free State), she lives in northwest England with her husband and a social media-friendly dog.
Find out more by visiting her website www.empowell.com or follow her on Twitter @empowellauthor
She’s represented by Josh Getzler at HG Literary.

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you figure out what type of personalities historical figures would have?

E.M. Powell Great question, Jasher- thanks! As with so much in historical fiction, research can help a lot. Even as far back as the 12th century, you had chronicl…moreGreat question, Jasher- thanks! As with so much in historical fiction, research can help a lot. Even as far back as the 12th century, you had chroniclers at court who wrote about people they witnessed. By reading their accounts, I found out that Henry II, for instance, had a terrible temper and spurned luxury. Hugh de Lacy, Henry's first Lord of Meath in Ireland is accused by Gerald of Wales as being "greedy for gold and more ambitious for his own advancement and pre-eminence than was proper."

Now, while all this factual background information helps, it's then the job of the novelist to make these people come to life. We interpret as many of the facts we have to create our fictional characters. So I create their own life stories up to the point of when the novel starts. That helps me to shape their motivation and their own internal challenges, as well as those that life is throwing at them. And they will often take on a life of their own- even I get surprised at what they get up to! (less)

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Hi, will there be another Stanton and Barling Mystery?

E.M. Powell Hi Colin Thanks for your question. I’m very pleased to be able to tell you that there is indeed a fourth Stanton and Barling novel in the works. It’s …moreHi Colin Thanks for your question. I’m very pleased to be able to tell you that there is indeed a fourth Stanton and Barling novel in the works. It’s called THE FOREST MURDERS. That would be Forest in the medieval sense, i.e., royal hunting grounds with their own special laws and officers. There’s no sign of Robin Hood but outlaws do feature! I’m hoping for a late 2023 release but don’t have a definite date yet. As soon as I do, the book will appear here on GR. (less)

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Combine Editions
E.M. Powell’s books

Average rating: 4.07 · 18,010 ratings · 1,096 reviews · 6 distinct works • Similar authors

	The King's Justice (Stanton & Barling, #1) 3.99 avg rating — 4,754 ratings — published 2018 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fifth Knight (The Fifth Knight #1) 3.92 avg rating — 3,635 ratings — published 2012 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Monastery Murders (Stanton & Barling, #2) 4.18 avg rating — 3,383 ratings — published 2018 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Blood of The Fifth Knight (The Fifth Knight #2) 4.07 avg rating — 2,585 ratings — published 2015 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lord of Ireland (The Fifth Knight, #3) 4.19 avg rating — 1,866 ratings — published 2016 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Canterbury Murders (Stanton & Barling, #3) 4.30 avg rating — 1,787 ratings — published 2020 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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E.M. Powell's Blog

Masters of Stone: the Medieval Stonemasons

In our twenty-first century urbanised world, buildings of enormous height and size are all around us and are so familiar a sight that we rarely pay them much attention. We are accustomed to living, working and shopping in them. When a new one is built, we see huge cranes and other heavy machinery employed, with elevators and lifts taking contractors up to where they need to be.

Canterbury Cath Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 27, 2021 13:32

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Series by E.M. Powell

Stanton & Barling (3 books)
by

E.M. Powell (Goodreads Author)

4.11 avg rating — 9,924 ratings

The Fifth Knight (3 books)
by

E.M. Powell (Goodreads Author)

4.03 avg rating — 8,086 ratings

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E.M.’s Recent Updates

E.M. Powell wrote a new blog post With a Little Help from the Saints: Medieval Lovers You probably can't have failed to notice that wherever you turn at present, your senses are assailed by objects of the red, heart-shaped variety. Alth Read more of this blog post »
Nov 14, 2025 01:41AM · like

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Quotes by E.M. Powell (?)

“To her horror, Henry threw his head back and roared with laughter. “Sire, please, we’re in a chapel.” He snorted. “God doesn’t mind if we laugh aloud. He created us in His own image, remember.” “Exactly. Chaste, pure, contained, selfless. All the things I was before I met him.” “Oh, my dear girl. God is so much more than that.” Henry put his powerful hand over hers. “Palmer hasn’t changed you. He’s allowed you to be yourself, allowed you to be like your father, as well as your mother. Yes, you’ve had to do some hard, hard things. But so have I. And sometimes we have to ask God for forgiveness for what we’ve done. The glorious thing is, He grants it. It’s what He died for.”
― E.M. Powell, The Fifth Knight

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“You can cut and cut at a serpent’s tail. Unless you sever the head, it can still devour you.”
― E.M. Powell, The Fifth Knight

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“The Luchthighearn is a monstrous cat. That cave is its lair.’ ‘A big cat?’ Palmer’s stomach tightened. ‘Like a leopard?”
― E.M. Powell, The Lord of Ireland

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E.M.’s Quotes

“I know there’s evil in the world, and there always has been. But you don’t need to believe in Satan or demons to explain it. Human beings are perfectly capable of evil all by themselves.”
― Tess Gerritsen, The Mephisto Club

tags: evil, humanity

313 likes

“Only the forgotten are truly dead.”
― Tess Gerritsen, The Sinner

tags: dead, forgotten, tess-gerritsen, the-sinner

250 likes

“I'm for open-mindedness and tolerance. I'm against any form of fanaticism, fundamentalism or zealotry, and this certainty of 'We have the truth.' The truth is far too large and complex. Nobody has the truth.”
― Philip Pullman

170 likes

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

tags: paraphrased, strength

34013 likes

“It’s too bad that stupidity isn’t painful.”
― Anton LaVey

202 likes

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