The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon are a series of fictional medieval mysteries written by Mel Starr. The first, published in 2008 by

Monarch Books Monarch Books was an American publishing firm in the late 1950s/early 1960s which specialised in pulp novels. Some of these, like ''Jack the Ripper'' (1960), were movie tie-ins. Published novels * ''101 - Dark Hunger'' by Don James (1958) * ''10 ...

, is ''The Unquiet Bones''. The second, published in 2009, is ''A Corpse at St. Andrew's Chapel''. The third, published in 2010, is ''A Trail of Ink''. The fourth, published in 2011, is ''Unhallowed Ground''. The fifth, sixth & seventh in the series are ''The Tainted Coin'', ''Rest Not in Peace'' and ''The Abbot's Agreement.'' Subsequent books in the series include ''Ashes to Ashes'', ''Lucifer's Harvest,'' ''Deeds of Darkness'', ''Prince Edward's Warrant'', ''Without a Trace'', ''The Easter Sepulchre'', and ''Master Wycliffe’s Summons''.

Plot

Hugh de Singleton is a newly practicing

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

in medieval

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

when he comes to the aid of a local lord who is injured. The Lord hires him to come to his

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

of Bampton, and subsequently to be his

Bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

at Bampton Castle (which was an existing castle in the 1360s). In his dual role as surgeon and bailiff Hugh is called upon to solve a series of mysterious murders and other crimes, which make up the plots of the various books. Hugh is also in search of a wife, which imparts a nice romantic

subplot In fiction, a subplot is a secondary strand of the plot that is a supporting side story for any story or for the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporting cha ...

to the beginning of the series; he later marries and fathers two daughters and one son. A minor character is Master

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of O ...

, who is Hugh's mentor, and was a real person, famous for his

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

in to

common English International English is the concept of using the English language as a global means of communication similar to an international auxiliary language, and often refers to the movement towards an international standard for the language. Relat ...

, and for his arguments with the church hierarchy. The characters of several of the Bampton citizens are also based on real historical people, as the author explains in his book notes.

Author

Melvin R. Starr was raised in

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

, Michigan, earned his MA in history from

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

and taught history in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

for thirty-nine years. At retirement, he was chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School. Starr had studied both medieval medicine and

medieval English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton Novels set in the Middle Ages 2008 novels 2009 novels Novels set in Oxfordshire Fiction set in the 1360s Novels set in the 14th century