Dear readers, we interrupt our regular gossip column this week, to bring you a bit of delicious reporting from our archives.

Back in the day, before we even had periodicals, when messages were passed by memory and entrusted to messengers on horseback, our old medieval forbears were facing a problem.

If you paid attention in finishing school or listened to your governess, you might recall a little period of tumultuous fighting amongst the English, known as ‘the Anarchy’. For about twenty years during the 1100s, King Stephen and his wife Queen Matilda, fought against Empress Maud for the English crown, and control of the country.

One the key battles in their campaigns happened in Lincoln, in February, 1141. Our little gossip pertains to a young woman of humble origin, a baker’s daughter, Bronwyn Blakenhale. From what we hear, this young woman and her father, accepted an ordinary order for bread rolls from an aristocrat.

The only problem is that when the poor girl delivered the rolls to the castle, she spotted someone tinkering with the rolls, and despite raising a fuss, Miss Blakenhale’s protests were overlooked. Ignored, from the sounds of it.

Is it any surprise then, dear reader, that the rolls ended up killing the very same nobleman who placed the order, and made another man ill? For the bread was poisoned. If only people had listened to the fair young Bronwyn.

Some people thought it was all a plan by the nobleman to poison the king and queen at dinner. And who better than to blame the bakers from outside the castle? Others believed that it was the pair of bakers themselves who sought to do away with the royal couple, and blame it on the nobleman.

Who can people believe when the nobleman himself is dead? And all because of a bit of bread.

We know what happened, and so can you. At the time, Miss Blakenhale’s father was imprisoned, for the royal couple needed to enact justice and punishment in some way. Although our historians tell us that the queen herself gave Miss Blakenhale the task of finding out who really poisoned the bread rolls, if she wanted to truly prove her father’s innocence.

But that’s not all. Our sources tell us that Miss Blakenhale has not one, but two admirers, who are both vying for her attention. Could she lose her heart along the way? For if there’s one thing we love, it’s a bit of romantic distraction.

Did Miss Blakenhale save her father from the noose? Did she find out who attempted to kill the king and queen? Did Miss Blakenhale survive the historic Battle of Lincoln?

Read on and find out in Winter’s Poison.

Winter’s Poison

Bronwyn Blakenhale’s world is about to turn upside down. A young baker who wants a bit of independence from her simple life in twelfth-century Lincoln, she gets involved in courtly politics when an expensive order for bread rolls leaves one man dead at the king’s table, and all fingers point at her and her father.

With her father imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, Bronwyn is tasked by the queen to find out who poisoned the rolls and likely meant to kill the royal family. But with her father surrounded by men loyal to the opposing empress, spies afoot in the castle, and a poisoner on the loose, Bronwyn’s time is short. Now, if only she didn’t have young men like the squire Rupert to distract her.

Rupert Bothwell, the squire of a knight, has a friendly smile for everyone, including a beautiful lady at court who admires him, but he insists on walking Bronwyn home at night. Is he just being chivalrous or is there something more? But Bronwyn has more to deal with, as a childhood friend steps in to help her family’s bakery and makes it clear he doesn’t want her friendship, but her heart.

From feuding factions and turncoat knights at court to castle prisons and an invading army on the horizon, Bronwyn must find the killer and prove her father’s innocence—or lose all that she holds dear. In a world dominated by intrigue and murder, Bronwyn might just surprise everyone and prove that she is no ordinary baker.

Buy Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Winters-Poison-Medieval-Historical-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0DTWVCYT5?ref_=ast_author_mpb

Author bio

E.L.Johnson is an ex-pat from Concord, Mass, now living in the UK. She is currently an author with Dragonblade Publishing and recently finished a five-book historical mystery series set in Georgian-era England. Last year, one of her short stories was nominated for Best of the Net anthology, and she was a guest speaker for the Writer’s Workout first annual writing conference. For the second year in a row, she was a volunteer reader for the Orwell Youth Prize for the longlist and shortlisted entries. Johnson is a member of the Hertford Writers’ Circle and runs the London Seasonal Book Club, a monthly book club with over 3500 members.