title: The Merchant's Tale (Oxford Medieval Mysteries) (Volume 4)
author:  Ann Swinfen 
description: Ann Swinfen is the author of the highly acclaimed series, The Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez. Set in the late sixteenth century, it features a young Marrano physician recruited as a code-breaker and spy in Walsinghams secret service. In order, the books so far are: The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez, The Enterprise of England, The Portuguese Affair, Bartholomew Fair, Suffer the Little Children, Voyage to Muscovy, The Plays the Thing and That Time May Cease. Her Fenland Series takes place in East Anglia during the seventeenth century. In the first book, Flood, both men and women fight desperately to save their land from greedy and unscrupulous speculators. The second, Betrayal, continues the story of the dangerous search for legal redress and security for the embattled villagers, at a time when few could be trusted. Her latest series, Oxford Medieval Mysteries, is set in the fourteenth century and features bookseller Nicholas Elyot, a young widower with two small children, and his university friend Jordain Brinkylsworth, who are faced with crime in the troubled world following the Black Death. In order, the books are: The Booksellers Tale, The Novices Tale, The Huntsmans Tale and The Merchants Tale. She has also written two standalone novels. The Testament of Mariam, set in the first century, recounts, from an unusual perspective, one of the most famous and yet ambiguous stories in human history, while exploring life under a foreign occupying force, in lands still torn by conflict to this day. This Rough Ocean is based on the real-life experiences of the Swinfen family during the 1640s, at the time of the English Civil War, when John Swynfen was imprisoned for opposing the killing of the king, and his wife Anne had to fight for the survival of her children and dependents. She now lives on the northeast coast of Scotland, with her husband, formerly vice-principal of the University of Dundee, a rescue cat called Maxi, and a cocker spaniel called Suki. You can receive notifications of new books and audios by signing up to the mailing list at www.annswinfen.com/sign-up/ Learn more at her website www.annswinfen.com
zlib_text: **Chapter 1**
  
   **Cornwall**
  
  October 1818
  
  "C'mon, me laddies. What'm I bid fer this fine bit o' flesh?"
  
  "'Alf a crown!"
  
  Raucous laughter almost drowned out the auctioneer's rude response to the
  opening bid. James
  
  Gordon Harkness, fifth Baron Harkness, leaned against the rough granite wall
  of the village
  
  apothecary shop just off Gunnisloe market square. The lane and its shops were
  deserted; most of the
  
  villagers and market-day travelers had gathered in the square to watch the
  livestock auction.
  
  James nibbled on the last bit of savory meat pie as his servant loaded the
  carriage boot with the
  
  day's purchases: several bolts of local wool, a few hammered copper cook pots,
  two large bags of seed,
  
  a brace of pheasant, a basket of smoked fish, and three cases of wine.
  
  "Two pounds!"
  
  James licked the pastry crumbs from his long fingers as he listened to the
  auction taking place around
  
  the corner. The voices of auctioneer and bidders rang clearly in the crisp air
  of early autumn.
  
  "T