Books like 'Alchemy'
Readers who enjoyed Alchemy by S.J. Parris also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery historical-fiction crime law-enforcement religion thriller early-modern medieval spirituality
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Lamentation by C.J. Sansom
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAs Henry VIII lies on his deathbed, an incendiary manuscript threatens to tear his court apart.Summer, 1546. King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His Protestant and Catholic councilors are engaged in a final and decisive power struggle; whoever wins will control the government...Categorized as:
crime early-modern historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller -
Revelation by C.J. Sansom
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsSpring, 1543. King Henry VIII is wooing Lady Catherine Parr, whom he wants for his sixth wife. But this time the object of his affections is resisting. Archbishop Cranmer and the embattled Protestant faction at court are watching keenly, for Lady Catherine is known to have reformist sympathies. Meanwhile, a teenage boy, a religious maniac, has been placed in the Bedlam hospital for the insane...Categorized as:
crime early-modern historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller -
Между строк by Boris Akunin
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsВторой том переносит нас в Японию, 1878 года: ниндзя, гейши, самураи... Это история любви молодого дипломата Эраста Фандорина и роковой красавицы-ниндзя О-Юми, любви, изменившей всю его жизнь и напомнившей ему о себе через многие годы... -
Heartstone by C.J. Sansom
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSummer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong. Meanwhile Matthew Shardlake is given an intriguing legal case by an old servant of Queen Catherine Parr. He is asked to investigate claims of 'monstrous wrongs' committed against a young ward of the court, which have already involved one mysterious death...Categorized as:
crime early-modern historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller -
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Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsIt is 1540, and Henry VIII has been on the throne for thirty-one years when Matthew Shardlake, the lawyer renowned as "the sharpest hunchback in the courts of England," is pressed to help a friend's young niece who is charged with murder. Despite threats of torture and death by the rack, the girl is inexplicably silent...Categorized as:
crime early-modern historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller -
Stranger at the Dower House by Mary Kingswood
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA widow moves into the long disused Dower House and makes a horrible discovery in the wine cellar.Thirty-year-old widow Louisa Middlehope is determined to escape from her late husband’s family and live life for herself for the first time. The tiny village of Great Maeswood offers her the peace and quiet her heart craves, and perhaps it might provide a little entertainment, too...Categorized as:
historical-fiction law-enforcement religion spirituality adult book fiction historical -
All God's Promises by Vikki Kestell
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFaith-Filled Fiction at Its Best! So many unanswered questions.Who am I really? Kari wondered again. I am not Kari Hillyer. Not Kari Granger. They tell me my real name is Kari Thoresen Michaels. But who is that person?She frowned. And where are my sister and brother? Who took them? Where are they now?“Lord, my uncle and my cousins urge me to trust you... -
City on Fire by Don Winslow
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwo criminal empires together control all of New England.Until a beautiful woman comes between the Irish and the Italians, launching a war that will see them kill each other, destroy an alliance, and set a city on fire.Danny Ryan yearns for a more “legit” life and a place in the sun. But as the bloody conflict stacks body on body and brother turns against brother, Danny has to rise above himself... -
Angels and Demons / The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #1-2) by Dan Brown
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsEnter the labyrinthine world of internationally bestselling author Dan Brown with his first two spellbinding thrillers featuring Robert Langdon:Angels and DemonsWhen a groundbreaking scientist is found brutally murdered, world renowned Harvard professor Robert Langdon is summoned to identify the mysterious symbol seared on to the dead man's chest...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement religion spirituality thriller action-adventure adult -
Brother Cadfael's Penance by Ellis Peters
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhile Cadfael has bent Abbey rules, he has never broken his monastic vows--until now. Word has come to Shrewsbury of a treacherous act that has left 30 of Maud's knights imprisoned. All have been ransomed except Cadfael's secret son, Olivier. Conceived in Cadfael's soldiering youth and unaware of his father's identity, Olivier will die if he is not freed...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller adult -
The Worthy Soldier by Sarah Woodbury
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMay 1147. Gareth and Gwen have traveled to Deheubarth in the retinue of Prince Hywel. The Prince of Gwynedd has temporarily allied himself with King Cadell and his Norman relations in order to finally evict the hated Flemings from south Wales. But while the battle goes well, the celebratory feast afterwards does not, leaving Gareth and Gwen among the few left standing... -
Sovereign by C.J. Sansom
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAutumn, 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission by his rebellious subjects in York.Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak...Categorized as:
crime early-modern historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller -
The Treason of the Ghosts by Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the village of Melford, a local lord is executed for a spate of vicious murders. It's not until the killing begins again, and the dead lord's son alleges that a miscarriage of justice has taken place, that a serious investigation begins... -
The House of Crows by Paul Doherty, P. Harding
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn 1380, the King's parliament debates whether to grant money supplies to the Regent John of Gaunt for his war against the French. John orders Cranston to investigate the murders of the Shrewsbury representatives; the assassin must be caught before parliament suspects the Regent...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction medieval spirituality thriller adult ancient-civilization book -
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By Murder's Bright Light by Paul Doherty, P. Harding
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsScandal, murder and treason… Athelstan and Cranston are back with a bang. Winter, 1379. French privateers are attacking the southern coast and threaten London itself, the very heart of the nation... -
The Anger of God by Paul Doherty, P. Harding
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn autumn 1379, the power of the British crown is invested in John of Gaunt, and the kingdom is seething with discontent. The French are attacking the southern ports and peasants are planning a revolt organized by a mysterious leader who proclaims himself “IRA DEI,” the anger of God. Meanwhile Gaunt's tenuous plans are plunged into chaos by a series of bloody murders in London... -
Murder Most Holy by Paul Doherty, P. Harding
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn the early summer of 1379 in London, Sir John Cranston, Coroner of the city, is trapped into a wager with Signior Gian Galeazzo, Lord of Cremona, who challenges him to resolve a certain murder mystery within two weeks. Men have been found dead in the scarlet chamber of one of Cremona's manors... -
The Bookseller of Inverness by S.G. MacLean
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter Culloden, Iain MacGillivray was left for dead on Drumossie Moor. Wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived only by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades.Six years later, with the clan chiefs routed and the Highlands subsumed into the British state, Iain lives a quiet life, working as a bookseller in Inverness...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime law-enforcement thriller mystery historical fiction audiobook -
Treachery: A Novel by S.J. Parris
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAugust, 1585. A relentless enemy. A treacherous conspiracy. Elizabethan England is on the brink of war. Sir Francis Drake is preparing to launch a daring expedition against the Spanish when a murder aboard his ship changes everything.Giordano Bruno agrees to hunt the killer down, only to find that more than one deadly plot is brewing in Plymouth’s murky underworld...Categorized as:
crime early-modern historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller -
The Angel's Mark by S.W. Perry
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLondon, 1590. Queen Elizabeth I's control over her kingdom is wavering. Amidst a tumultuous backdrop of Spanish plotters, Catholic heretics and foreign wars threatening the country's fragile stability, the body of a small boy is found in the City of London, with strange marks that no one can explain... -
An Excellent Mystery by Ellis Peters
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn 1141, England is still in the midst of the strife caused by the struggle for the throne between King Stephen and the Empress Maud. Among its victims the Abbey of Hyde Meade, totally destroyed...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller adult -
The Easter Sepulchre by Melvin R. Starr
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKeeping watch over the Easter Sepulchre, where the Host and crucifix are stored between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, is a great honour. Which is why the clerics are shocked to discover that Odo, one of the priest’s clerks, has abandoned his post in the middle of the night.But as the hours pass and Odo is not found, panic rises... -
Nor Will He Sleep: An Inspector McLevy Mystery 4 by David Ashton
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBASED ON THE LONG-RUNNING BBC RADIO 4 McLEVY DRAMA SERIES ...WHILE THE STREETS OF LONDON HAD SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE DARK ALLEYS OF EDINBURGH HAD INSPECTOR JAMES McLEVY ELEGANT AND CONVINCING' The Times | 'ASHTON IS THE DIRECT HEIR TO ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON' Brian Cox | 'EXCELLENT' The Sherlock Holmes Society | 'DRIPPING WITH MELODRAMA AND DERRING-DO' Herald 1887... -
The Hangman's Hymn by Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsStumbling upon an execution, Chaucer's pilgrims witness a hanging that leaves the carpenter in a dead faint. That evening, he narrates the tale of a Gloucester hangman whose involvement in the secretive punishment of three witches unleashes a vicious spate of revenge killings.When Simon Cotterill, a carpenter, followes his sweetheart to Gloucester, he is beaten by her father's thugs...Categorized as:
historical-fiction medieval crime law-enforcement mystery fiction historical romantic-love -
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The Council of the Cursed by Peter Tremayne
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Bishop Leodegar of Autun calls upon the church leaders from western Europe to attend a council, it is to be a meeting haunted by sudden death and intrigue.It's AD 670, and the Council of Autun is meeting to discuss serving a final devastating blow to the Celtic Church... -
A Vein of Deceit by Susanna Gregory
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsDespite a new influx of well-heeled students, Michaelhouse has suffered from an acute lack of funds that has made itself manifest in a lack of decent provisions. It is only when the Brother in charge of the account books dies unexpectedly that an explanation is revealed: large amounts of money had been paid for goods the college never received... -
Murder in Canton by Robert van Gulik
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA.D. 681Murder In Canton takes place in 680 A.D. Judge Dee, recently promoted to Lord Chief Justice, is sent incognito to Canton to investigate the disappearance of a court censor... -
Our Lady Of Darkness by Peter Tremayne
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn mid-seventh-century Ireland, Sister Fidelma of Cashel-sister to the King of Muman, an advocate of Brehon Courts, and religieuse of the Celtic Church-returns hastily from a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. James. The news that brings her back is that her companion and friend, the Saxon monk Brother Eadulf, is under arrest for a serious crime in the neighboring kingdom of Laigin... -
The House of the Red Slayer by Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn December 1377 a great frost has the city in its icy grip; even the Thames is frozen from bank to bank. Murder, revenge and treachery also make their presence felt. The Constable of the Tower of London, Sir Ralph Whitton, is found murdered in a cold bleak chamber in the North Bastion...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval spirituality thriller adult ancient-civilization -
The Leper's Bell by Peter Tremayne
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn November of 667 A.D., Fidelma of Cashel has returned home to her brother's castle to discover that a servant, her son's nurse, has been found brutally murdered in the woods near town, and her son is missing, presumed kidnapped or worse... -
Conspiracy by S.J. Parris
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA gripping murder mystery set in 16th-century France, as Giordano Bruno fights against multiple factions manipulating the succession of King Henri III.December 1585: King Henri III of France is the last of his line. He has appointed a Protestant as his successor, which has caused a three-way war in his country...Categorized as:
crime early-modern historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller -
Act of Mercy by Peter Tremayne
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the year 666 C.E., Sister Fidelma embarks on a pilgrimage to reflect upon her commitment to the church and her relationship with the Saxon monk Eadulf. Seabound to the Shrine of St. James, she encounters her first love Cian, who abandoned her ten years earlier. But before she can sort out her feelings-she must discern if a murderer has also set sail with her.. -
The Red Hill by David Penny
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA killer who can’t be stopped. A request that can’t be refused.In 1482 the Englishman Thomas Berrington is living in the last remnants of Moorish Spain. A physician, he is an unwilling friend to the most powerful man in the kingdom. When bodies start to turn up, each showing the marks of a savage attack, Thomas is asked to investigate... -
O Noviço do Diabo by Ellis Peters
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the autumn of 1140 the Benedictine monastery at Shrewsbury finds its new novice Meriet Aspley a bit disturbing. The younger son of a prominent family, Meriet is meek and biddable by day, but his sleep is rife with nightmares so violent that they earn him the name of "Devil's Novice". Shunned by the other monks, Aspley attracts the concern of Brother Cadfael...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller 20th-century -
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The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWinter, 1139. Brother Cadfael's tranquil life in the monastery gardens at Shrewsbury is once again interrupted by violent, mysterious happenings. Raging civil war has sent many refugees north from Worcester, among them two orphans of a great family and a nun. But they seem to have disappeared somewhere in the wild winter landscape of frost and snow, and Cadfael sets out to find them...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller 20th-century -
Dissolution by C.J. Sansom
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsHenry VIII has ordered the dissolution of the monasteries and England is full of informers. At the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control with the murder of Commissioner Robin Singleton. Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer, and his assistant are sent to investigate...Categorized as:
crime early-modern historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval religion spirituality thriller -
A Plague of Heretics by Bernard Knight
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWith the city of Exeter ravaged by an outbreak of the 'yellow plague', Sir John de Wolfe, the county coroner, must divide his time between visiting his brother Willam who has been struck down by the disease, and dealing with a series of brutal murders which appears to be linked to a revival of heresy in the city... -
Without a Trace by Melvin R. Starr
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe wife of a knight disappears while traveling from her husband's manor to Bampton, on the way to another of the knight's properties. She and her maid are travelling in an enclosed wagon, whilst her husband and his grooms and a squire are mounted. When the party arrives at Bampton Castle neither the lady nor her maid are within the enclosed wagon: they have simply vanished... -
A Trick of the Light: An Inspector McLevy Mystery 3 by David Ashton
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe third in David Ashton's series of McLevy books, A Trick of the Light sees McLevy team up with Arthur Conan Doyle to pursue a ruthless killer. It is 1860 and a Confederate officer, Jonathen Sinclair, arrives in Edinburgh with a sheaf of money to purchase a blockade-runner from Clydeside shipbuilders. He is betrayed to the Union forces and brutally shot dead by their secret agents... -
Betrayal at Iga: A Hiro Hattori Novel by Susan Spann
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAutumn, 1565: After fleeing Kyoto, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo take refuge with Hiro's ninja clan in the mountains of Iga province. But when an ambassador from the rival Koga clan is murdered during peace negotiations, Hiro and Father Mateo must find the killer in time to prevent a war between the ninja clans... -
Chains of Folly by Roberta Gellis
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThat Nelda Roundheels had been murdered would have been of little interest to anyone - except that her body turned up in the bishop of Winchester's bedchamber with a letter to the bishop, from the king's most important enemy, rolled up in her breastband... -
The Chariots of Calyx by Rosemary Rowe
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLibertus is in Londinium, at the invitation of the Roman Governor, when news arrives of the brutal murder of Caius Monnius, the city's chief corn-officer. Still reeling from the shock of catching sight of the wife he lost to slavery 20 years earlier, only to lose her again, the ever-inquisitive Libertus is, for once, uninterested in unmasking the murderer...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime law-enforcement thriller mystery historical fiction roman-empire -
A Roman Ransom by Rosemary Rowe
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGlevum, AD 188. Lying in his sick bed, weak and disoriented, Libertus is strictly forbidden visitors. But when Marcus Septimus forces his way in, desperate to speak to the pavement-maker, Libertus knows that something is seriously wrong. Marcus's beloved wife Julia and their baby son have disappeared without a trace...Categorized as:
historical-fiction crime law-enforcement thriller mystery historical fiction roman-empire -
Death Magic by C.S. Quinn
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratings'Quinn is a brilliant new talent!’ —Peter JamesFrom author of the bestselling Thief Taker seriesLondon 1663. A murdered girl. An attic full of charms …Charlie Tuesday has a new case. A maid-servant has been brutally murdered, leaving an array of strange protectorates in her attic room. Stolen from her body was a silver thimble which no-one can explain how she came to have...Categorized as:
crime early-modern historical-fiction law-enforcement action-adventure book fiction historical -
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The Dragons of Archenfield by Edward Marston
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDOMESDAY IS COMINGIn 1086, England's mighty king, William the Conqueror, sends out surveyors and census takers to record the resources of his land and its people. Some welcome these inquisitive royal agents and their day of judgment. Others hate them. But wherever the king's men go they bring excitement; *and sometimes murder. . . -
The Mad Monk of Gidleigh by Michael Jecks
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAlone in his isolated, windswept chapel on the edge of Dartmoor, his only companions moor men and poverty–stricken serfs, who could blame the young priest, Mark for seeking affection from Jane, the local miller’s daughter? But when Jane’s body is found brutally stabbed, Mark is the obvious suspect—and the discovery that Jane was pregnant seems to confirm his guilt... -
The Noble Outlaw by Bernard Knight
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRenovations of a school in 12th-century Exeter are disrupted by the shocking discovery of a partially mummified corpse hidden in the rafters, and the county coroner Sir John de Wolfe is called in to investigate. Richard de Revelle, Sir John's brother-in-law and founder of the school, immediately blames Nicholas de Arundell, a young outlawed knight... -
Lucifer's Harvest by Melvin R. Starr
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLord Gilbert Talbot must provide soldiers for Prince Edward's battle in France. He wishes his surgeon--Hugh de Singleton--to travel with the war party to tend any injuries. Among those on the road is Sir Simon Trillowe, Hugh's old nemesis, who had once torched Hugh's house...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement medieval spirituality action-adventure adult audiobook -
Ashes to Ashes by Melvin R. Starr, Tim Bruce
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMaster Hugh, Kate, and their children attend the Midsummer's Eve fire. Early next morning, Hugh hears the passing bell ring from the Church of St. Beornwald, and moments later is summoned. Tenants collecting the ashes to spread upon their fields have found burned bones. Master Hugh learns of several men of Bampton and nearby villages who have gone missing recently... -
Rest Not in Peace by Melvin R. Starr
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMaster Hugh, surgeon and bailiff, has been asked to provide a sleeping potion for Sir Henry Burley, a friend and guest of Lord Gilbert at Bampton Castle, near Oxford.Three days before St. John's Day, in the year of our Lord 1368, Sir Henry went to his bed hale and hearty after enjoying a long evening of music, conversation, and dancing in Bampton Castle's hall...
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