The Assassin in the Greenwood

IN THE SUMMER OF 1302, Edward I of England and Philip IV of France continue to observe diplomatic niceties whilst their agents wage a secret bloody war in the filthy streets of Paris. Edward and his chief clerk and keeper of the Secret Seal, Sir Hugh Corbett, are desperate to discover Philip's secret plans for the invasion of Flanders. They manage by seduction and murder to obtain this information -- only to discover it's hidden in a secret cipher which Corbett is unable to break.

Edward has other problems: a few years previously he issued a pardon to the famous wolfshead Robin of Locksley, popularly known as Robin Hood. Robin, however, has now gone back to his outlaw ways in Sherwood Forest where he battles against royal authority, culminating in the barbarous massacre of royal tax collectors and the mysterious murder of Sir Eustace Vechey, one of the sheriffs of Nottingham.

Corbett and his two faithful servants Ranulf and Maltote are sent to Nottingham to investigate and are all the more perplexed on their arrival to find fresh mysteries: why are three fire arrows shot into the air above Nottingham Castle on the 13th of every month? Who is the traitor in Nottingham Castle? And Corbett's peace of mind is further shattered by
the news that the French have despatched an agent to assassinate him ...