Priscilla Royal Books In Order

Publication Order of Medieval Mystery Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Priscilla Royal is one of the noteworthy authors from The United States, who specializes in writing novels based on the mystery and thriller genres. She is particularly famous for writing and publishing the Medieval Mystery series of novels. Author Priscilla was born on January 1, 1944, and is a native of Washington, United States. Before beginning her writing career, she earned her graduate degree in the subject of literature, from the State University of San Francisco. It was during her time at the university that she came across the beauty of the literature of the medieval period. Other than writing thriller novels, author Priscilla is a great fan of theater. She also likes to read books about mysteries, history, as well as fiction, having very less violence in them. Currently, author Priscilla lives in Northern California and spends most of her time writing mystery books. She is associated with the Writers Club of California and the Sisters in Crime as one of their members. Being a Washington State native, author Priscilla spent most of her early time in New Westminster, British Columbia. Immediately after completing her bachelor’s degree in world literature, she began working for the federal civil service. In the year 2000, author Priscilla retired from her job and began writing medieval mystery books as a full time writer. She says that she has been fascinated by the medieval history and literature for almost fifty years of her life. It makes her extremely delightful to find the details and facts that are not mentioned usually in most of the fictional works. An example of this is that she has described all her central characters as belonging to an actual Order of Fontevraud. This was actually a double house of nuns and monks and was run by a brave woman at a time when the conventional wisdom had regarded women as illogical, weak, and the ones who should never be allowed to rule the men.

Although, all her characters remain almost true to their era of time, they exhibit some of very universal characteristics of their own. At the time when author Priscilla had started developing interest towards theater and medieval mystery novels, she received a great inspiration from medieval methods of punishment and crime that were depicted in the works of prominent novelists like Sharon Kay Penman and Ellis Peters. This compelled her to start writing her novels based on the medieval period, with the use of her knowledge and imagination about the medieval times. Author Priscilla says that as a child she was more passionate about chemistry as a subject. But, she ended up majoring as a literature student. During her college days, she was interested in teaching, but had a horrible fright of the stage. And when she finally set her foot on the path of a civil servant, she retired after 30 years of service and became a mystery writer. Author Priscilla’s mother used to tell her that history is about family and very much relevant. She has set her books in the 13th century England, where all her sleuths deal with the murder cases. In spite of all their personal struggles and imperfections, they go on to race against time and solve the crimes. Priscilla’s sleuths see the world with a different angles, unlike the modern day sleuths. Author Prisicall also says that even though the characters in her books show differences in dressing, language, expressions, symbols, etc., it can be seen after reading about them that they are people who can be recognized even in the modern times.

The Medieval Mystery series written by Priscilla Royal consists of 13 books in total, which were published between the years 2003 and 2016. The lead character of all the books is depicted as Prioress Eleanor, who lives in East Anglia during the 13th century England. The debut book of this series is titled as ‘Wine of Violence’. It was published by the Poisoned Pen publishing house in the year 2003. Author Priscilla has set the plot in England, United Kingdom, during the time of the year 1270, and has described Eleanor of Wynethorpe as the main character. The opening scene shows that it is summertime in England and the country looks very weary, similar to the aging Henry III. The kingdom has recently succeeded over the Montfort rebellion, but the death’s smell seems to have spread all over the land like smoke. There is a small priory located on the remote coast of East Anglia called Tyndal, that is run by the monks and nuns of the Fontevraud Order. This priory also longs things to return to normal routine. However, the hopes of everyone are dashed when the inexperienced and young Eleanor gets appointed as the prioress in place of someone that the people of Tyndal had chosen. Eleanor prays that things go through peacefully when she gains power. But, as soon as she arrives in Tyndal, a monk in found murdered near the cloister gardens. Also, a young priest named Brother Thomas, who has his own troubled past, comes to Eleanor to inform her about a personal grief. Now, Eleanor is not only required to struggle for gaining the respect of the people, but also deal with lust, greed, and violence.

Another interesting mystery book published in the series is titled as ‘Tyrant of the Mind’. It was released in the year 2004 and continues to feature Prioress Eleanor as the chief protagonist. In this book, author Priscilla has depicted the time of the 1271 when there is a winter season in England. The Wynethorpe Castle, located on the Welsh border, appears to be stalked by death. Prioress Eleanor and Sister Anne are sent by Baron Adam to the castle in order to save the castle lord’s ill grandson with their healing talents and prayers. They are escorted by Brother Thomas, who seems to be fighting with his own demons. As the three of them arrive at the Wynethorpe Castle, one of the important guests gets murdered. When people near the victim’s dead body, they find the prioress’s brother standing near it, holding a bloody dagger in his hand. And when everyone else thinks that he is the murderer, Eleanor believes that her brother was framed by someone. Even though Eleanor is away from her priory and does not have much authority over the happenings, she seems pretty much determined to find the truth and unravel the mystery. She does not fear to go against the wishes of her father, with whom she does share a good relationship. As the time runs short and the winter wind grows colder, Anne, Thomas, and Eleanor struggle to catch the real murderer.