Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Sir Roger Shallot #6

The Relic Murders (Tudor Mysteries, Book 6): Murder and blackmail abound in this gripping Tudor mystery

Rate this book
A blunder draws Roger into the shadowy underworld of Tudor London...In his sixth journal, The Relic Murders, Roger Shallot must race against time to find the Orb of Charlemagne... and to save his own neck. Paul Doherty's Tudor mysteries are perfect for fans of Ellis Peters and C.J. Sansom.In the autumn of 1523, Roger Shallot, self-proclaimed physician, rogue, charlatan and secret emissary of King Henry VIII, has nothing to do. His master, Benjamin Daunbey, has been sent to Italy on a diplomatic mission, leaving him in charge of their manor outside Ipswich. Shallot, forbidden both to practise the art of medicine and to approach the beautiful Miranda, takes to reading. Discovering the potential wealth which can be accrued by the finding and selling of true relics, he goes in search of his own. Almost immediately he is in trouble - and in prison. Rescued by the return of his master and the influence of Cardinal Wolsey, Shallot finds himself at court, where he is ordered by the King and Cardinal to break the law - to steal back for the crown the Orb of Charlemagne, now under close guard at the priory at Clerkenwell. Benjamin and Roger have no choice but to agree to the task... Before long they are drawn, not only into the shadowy underworld of Tudor London and the illegal trade of relics, but also into murder and blackmail.What readers are saying about The Relic '[The] most exciting - and best written - of the six Shallot journals and well worth reading''This series has been consistently absorbing, fascinating, funny and thrilling, and [The Relic Murders] is no different''Pacey mysteries, with cunning plot twists and lots of action'

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

Loading...
Loading...

About the author

Paul Doherty

262 books623 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

He has been published under several pseudonyms: P.C. Doherty, Celia L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas, Vanessa Alexander, Michael Clynes and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name.

Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough (North-Eastern England) in 1946. He had the usual education before studying at Durham for three years for the Catholic priesthood but decided not to proceed. He went to Liverpool University where he gained a First Class Honours Degree in History and won a state scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford, whilst there he met his wife Carla Lynn Corbitt. He continued his studies but decided that the academic world was not for him and became a secondary school teacher.

Paul worked in Ascot, Nottingham and Crawley West Sussex before being appointed as Headmaster to Trinity Catholic School in September 1981. Trinity is a large comprehensive [1700 on roll] which teaches the full ability range, ages 11-18. The school has been described as one of the leading comprehensives in the U.K. In April, 2000 H. M. Inspectorate describe it as an 'Outstanding School', and it was given Beacon status as a Centre of Excellence whilst, in the Chief Inspector’s Report to the Secretary of State for January 2001, Trinity Catholic High School was singled out for praise and received a public accolade.

Paul’s other incarnation is as a novelist. He finished his doctorate on the reign of Edward II of England and, in 1987, began to publish a series of outstanding historical mysteries set in the Middle Age, Classical, Greek, Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. These have been published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press of New York, Edhasa in Spain, and Eichborn, Heyne, Knaur and others in Germany. They have also been published in Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Romania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Bulgaria, Portugal and China, as well as Argentina and Mexico.

He has been published under several pseudonyms (see the bibliography): C. L. Grace, Paul Harding, Ann Dukthas and Anna Apostolou but now writes only under his own name. He recently launched a very successful series based around the life of Alexander the Great, published by Constable & Robinson in the U.K., and Carroll and Graf in the U.S.A., whilst his novels set in Ancient Egypt have won critical acclaim. Paul has also written several non-fiction titles; A Life of Isabella the She-wolf of France, Wife of Edward II of England, as well as study of the possible murder of Tutankhamun, the boy Pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, and a study on the true fate of Alexander the Great.

Paul and Carla live on the borders of London and Essex, not far from Epping Forest and six of their children have been through his own school. His wife Carla currently owns two horses and is training, for showing and dressage, a beautiful Arab filly named Polly.

Paul lectures for a number of organisations, particularly on historical mysteries, many of which later feature in his writings. A born speaker and trained lecturer Paul Doherty can hold and entertain audiences.

His one great ambition is to petition the Privy Council of England to open the Purbeck marble tomb of Edward II in Gloucester Cathedral. Paul believes the tomb does not house the body

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
195 (50%)
4 stars
127 (32%)
3 stars
54 (13%)
2 stars
7 (1%)
1 star
3 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Clemens Schoonderwoert.
1,429 reviews140 followers
October 31, 2021
Read this book in 2010, and its the 6th, and so far the last, volume of the wonderful "Roger Shallot" series.

Once again we follow Roger Shallot and his recollections as spy and servant of Cardinal Wolsey, during the reign of King Henry VIII.

This tale is set in the Autumn of the year AD 1523, and we follow Roger Shallot and his friend and boss, Benjamin Daunbey in their next assignment.

With Benjamin Daunbey on a secret diplomatic mission to Italy, Roger Shallot is in a manor outside Ipswich, which is in possession of benjamin, and he starts reading about sacred relics.

After searching for these sacred relics, he in turn will be in trouble and sent to prison immediately.

Rescued by his overall boss, Cardinal Wolsey, he finds himself at court, and subsequently being ordered, along with the returned Benjamin, to break the law and steal the Orb of Charlemagne, which is in the priory at Clerkenwell.

What is follow is an intriguing and thrilling mystery, where Roger and Benjamin will enter a maze where relics are illegally traded and where murder and blackmail is commonplace, and in this environment of mayhem and murder they must solve this mystery using their wits and cunning, and in a superbly executed plot they will be able to do so for the cruel King Henry VIII and his until now friend and confidant, Cardinal Wolsey.

Highly recommended, for this is a tremendous addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "An Excellent Relic Murders Mystery"!
Profile Image for Barefoot Gypsy Jimerson.
726 reviews58 followers
May 1, 2022
Funny!!!!😂.

These stories were funny an full of tangled weds of lies an mystery. I really enjoyed all the these reads.
Profile Image for Zornitsa Rasim.
383 reviews14 followers
March 21, 2023
Свърши още една чудесна поредица! Хубавото е,че има още няколко 😁
Profile Image for Yona Racheva.
1,281 reviews250 followers
August 16, 2013
I love Paul Doherty's writing style and I've read another one of his series - "Amerotke". It's about Egypt and i really enjoy it. So I couldn't wait to start The Relic Murders, it took me a little time to get into the story, but when I did I couldn't stop reading.

And after reading a couple of the author's books I stared liking the historical fiction genre very much. The history is presented in one amazing way.


One great book, part of one great series.
480 reviews5 followers
June 2, 2023
What is next???

Roger Shallot is truly a genuine rogue with generous and kind tendencies! I am now totally addicted to his memoirs ...no matter he embellishes his narration with extreme lies like stories! One never knows what the truth may be...the reader simply goes with the flow!
I do feel so for the scribe who constantly giggles at the embellishments to the narrative and gets his knuckles wrapped by Sir Roger...after all this time I am surprised he can still write...especially on parchment with a quill!
I hope the next book will come into being soon...I am so anxious to know what is coming next for Benjamin and Roger...this time in history was so dynamic and violent and challenging and dangerous and these men are obviously and constantly in the thick of it all...we have our notions of what comes next for Benjamin's Uncle but do not know what's going to happen to our protagonists ...what allows Roger to live into his nineties and Benjamin and all the other protagonists to be long dead and gone...what happened to the characters we did not know existed??! We know about Cardinal Woolsey, about Kung Henry VIII...and what about everyone else?
Soooo...next, next, next...Mr Doherty!!! Please get going...inquiring readers want to know!

1,160 reviews8 followers
April 6, 2022
Great reading!

It's a shame there hasn't been more of Tiger's memoirs, they are great fun. And Paul Doherty's knowledge of history and how he weaves in the fiction is just masterly.
217 reviews
November 13, 2017
Great book

Once you start reading this book it is difficult to put down. Want to get to the end to find the real culprits.






690 reviews2 followers
August 6, 2025
Enjoyable light read - shame it is the last in the series.
Profile Image for Hristina Ivanova-Petrova.
342 reviews25 followers
November 28, 2013
As always, Doherty didn't disappoint. Interesting, intriguing, suspenseful. What more would you want form a brief historical novel? I liked it very much and until the end I wasn't sure who was the guilty one.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews