Murder in the Palace: A Nikolas of Kydonia Mystery
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Enfeoffed as a reward for his services Alan woos and then marries a young Anglo-Danish widow, and struggles to protect all he holds dear against violent attack and political intrigue, trying to achieve a balance between his noble English friends and the English villagers for whom he is responsible, while dealing with corrupt officials, both Norman and English, who had largely been appointed by the former King Edward ‘The Confessor’and retained by William, or who were close family relations to the new king.
This is the first book of a trilogy dealing with the Norman Conquest of England and the subsequent events of this turbulent period.
Winter of Discontent
Following his involvement in the invasion and the Battle of Hastings, Norman knight Sir Alan de Gauville, now lord of Thorrington in Essex, administers and protects his land, family, retainers and neighbours – while seeking to maintain his honour and integrity amidst the bloodshed and mayhem of the Welsh incursion in the Western Marches, Danish landings on the east coast, the English Revolt of 1069 and political intrigue directed against him by his enemies.
The second book in the trilogy, following the success of Wolves in Armour, covers the period and events of 1068-1069.
Fire in the North
Having already taken part in the invasion of England, and later suffering serious injury in battle, Sir Alan de Gauville, lord of Thorrington, is now asked to use his wits to assist King William in the political and judicial arenas.
Dispatched to the Western Marches, Alan negotiates the surrender of Eadric ‘The Wild’, before again acting as the king’s spy in northern England. Journeying with an embassage to King Malcolm of the Scots, when one of the ambassadors is foully murdered, Alan takes the leading role in the investigation.
Shipwreck, murder, intrigue and bloody battles, culminating in the Revolt of the Earls in 1075, form part of this spellbinding story, set in the turbulent years following the Norman invasion and the subsequent subjugation of the English.
The third book in the trilogy, Fire in the North covers the period and events of 1070-1075.
NIKOLAS OF KYDONIA EGYPTIAN MURDER-MYSTERY SERIES
Nikolas is a noble-born Cretan pharmacologist studying at the House of Life scriptorium at Memphis Egypt in 1223 BC, and is unwillingly recruited as a special investigator by Pharaoh Ramesses II - principally because of his expendability. Nikolas soon proves to be both irreverent to authority, highly intelligent, politically savvy – and where necessary quite ruthless.
He builds a team to investigate his cases, and during his investigations and travels reveals the intricacies of the life and society Ancient Egyptian and the splendors which were the New Kingdom. The beauty of the land, from the lush green of the Nile Valley, the Faiyum and the Oases to the harsh wilderness beyond, and the southern and eastern deserts, reveal both their secrets and the animals and birds which inhabit the land - and many of the feral animals are humans!
Rich in historical and botanical detail, and with cunning and detailed plots, Iain uses his sometimes sardonic style to reveal Rammesside Egypt and its people in all their complex glory in this series of historical mysteries.
Murder in the Palace
Prince Ra-em hotep, is found dead in his apartment in the Memphis Palace, apparently poisoned, and Pharaoh Ramesses demands answers. Unexpectedly inveigled into the investigation of the death, Nikolas soon has to use all his wiles to preserve the lives of himself, the wife Kiya (who he acquires virtually accidentally) and his assistants from the machinations of the plotters, and to both solve the murder and assist Pharaoh Ramesses to stave off rebellion.
The Tomb Robbers
On his travels outside Egypt Nikolas is presented with artifacts clearly originating in the Valley of the Kings, and on advising Ramesses of the problem is appointed to both find the perpetrators and recover the stolen treasures. The investigation proves both difficult and dangerous, with Nikolas travelling as far as Damascus in search of clues.
Those responsible have hidden their tracks well and Nikolas has to take extraordinary steps to ensure that justice is served.
The Memphis Murders
Sadistic serial murders are taking place in the Southern capital of Memphis. A fiendish killer is at large. Speed is essential as young victims are raped and butchered at each new moon and full moon. Nikolas and his associates enjoy the assistance of the Gods, but struggle to solve the case before the next victim dies - and before Nikolas’ own family join the ranks of the slain. Nikolas is assisted by his wife Kiya, his friends Pamose and Kahun – and by magical assistance of a priest of the Crocodile God, Set, God of Chaos.
The Sea People
The known world is in crisis. The vital sea-borne trade between the great civilizations is being strangled by the mysterious Sea People, a collection of disparate barbaric coastal tribes who have had one thing in common. Plunder and murder, even of towns and cities. Are the various tribes being directed by a single hand? Now they are settling in conquered territory and their actions threaten the very existence of known civilization. Nikolas inspires the creation of a multi-national naval force to hunt down these predators and leads the Egyptian component to try to stave off this threat to civilization.
Death in the Desert
Gold is vital to the Kingdom of Egypt. Gifts of gold are the mortar that holds together foreign alliances and treaties, and together with exports of precious gems and fine linen, gold pays for imports of vital products, such as timber, tin and silver, and luxury goods such as wine and honey. The Gods must constantly be appeased with the gift of gold, to ensure the prosperity of Egypt, the annual Flood and bountiful harvests.
Every year, in the cooler winter months, Pharaoh sends expeditions into the deserts to obtain gold and gems.
One of those annual expeditions is to the gold mines at several small villages along the Wadi Hammamat, ‘The Road to The Sea’, which passes from the Nile River near Thebes to the Red Sea coast at Quseir. Each year hundreds of workers are dispatched to work the deep mines in the mountains, with a strong military escort for their protection.
Word is received from a travelling trade caravan that the entire village of Bir Umm Fawakhir lies dead – every villager, worker, soldier and every animal down to the last goat. And that the entire supply of gold that had been extracted during the season is gone.
Near Aswan, far to the south, the heavily-defended caravan carrying the annual output of the amethyst mines has been attacked and massacred at Wadi e-Hudi. Again, the valuable gems have disappeared.
Nikolas, Ramesses’ ‘Unraveller of Truths’, and his colleagues are requested by Pharaoh Ramesses to catch the culprits, and if possible to recover the stolen booty.
The Cosmos Conspiracy
Everybody knew that the long-built pyramids at Giza were just a monumental ego-trip by Pharaoh Khufu and his successors to mark their rule and to be their tombs. Right? They stand at Giza, near Memphis, in shiny splendor, some then clad in gleaming white stone, others in black, and each with a pyramidion tip of solid gold.
Nikolas, now with royal favour and a reputation for discretion as an investigator, having been named Ramesses’ ‘Unraveller of Truths’ is appointed to investigate the poisoning of Babylonian scholars studying, like himself, at the Royal Scriptorium at Memphis.
Nikolas soon finds all is not what it seems and becomes privy to great secrets. A trail of suspicious deaths sends him and his associates as far as the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in search of answers – which lead back to the Egyptian Royal Court and the powerful Egyptian priesthood.
MEDLION COLONY SCI-FI SERIES
Under Two Suns
The space exploration ship Integra, dispatched by the nearly bankrupt company AHL to search for habitable planets to support a overcrowded, depleted and heavily polluted Earth, crash lands on the remote planet EX-533. All the crew, including scientists and technicians, survive, but the required emergency beacon has not been fitted to the crashed ship and the ship is not repairable. Realising that
they are all alone, with no chance of rescue, the crew begin to explore the beautiful and apparently bountiful land and settle in as best they can.
But are they alone? Botanist Toni Anderson senses that there may be others on the planet. Contacted by the Eelarks, a technologically advanced and telepathic bipedal species similar in appearance to bears, Toni and her mate Lin Liu travel to the planet Eelark and meet the Ruling Council, Toni herself having her innate telepathic powers awoken by the Eelarks. Having negotiated the purchase on credit of an advanced transport ship, most of the crew decide that they wish to stay on the planet and form their own colony, which they name Medlion.
With those who chose to return to Earth being ‘mind wiped’ of their memories of Medlion by the Eelarks, the settlers act as agents to sell technologically advanced produced goods produced by the Eelarks to the three Corporations which rule Earth, in return for rare-earth minerals being mined by the Corporations on other colony planets. The transport ship begins a shuttle of high-tech Eelark goods to Earth, precious minerals for the Eelarks, and carefully selected human settlers and equipment for the nascent colony. Amongst the items brought from Earth are the parts required to repair the Integra, which is used for detailed planetary exploration and transport between the small villages established by the slowly increasing number of settlers.
But the new settlers bring more problems than just having to be provided with accommodation and food. They bring social division - and a disease which threatens the existence of the colony.
Declaration of Independence
Two years after the establishment of Medlion, still a tiny colony on a remote planet, the settlers continue to explore the rich planet, but their Eelark allies have almost exhausted on their planet many of the minerals they need. The Medlions assist as best they can and agree to a small Eelark colony being established on a inhospitable continent far from the area settled by the humans. But that continent proves dangerous and human assistance in required to deal with the threat.
With Toni having negotiated a trade deal with the European-based Global Corporation, the more reasonable of the three Earth-based Corporations which control all aspects of life on Earth, and with the Americas-based AIC Corporation proving untrustworthy, the flow of carefully selected colonists with required skills continues.
But the avaricious AIC decides that it wants both the high technology of the peace-loving Eelarks and the rich resources of Medlion, which it intends to claim for itself. After a AIC attempt to suborn one of the colonist by threats to his Earth-based family, Toni leads a small party to rescue the family.
AIC sends a small invasion force to annex Medlion, with the later intention to subjugate the Eelarks. but having received prior warning from their own spies, the Medlions carefully prepare their defence and destroy the attacking force - making a stand and a clear declaration of their independence from the power-hungry Corporations which control Earth.
WORLD WAR TWO HISTORICAL FICTION
The Jigsaw Men
Everybody knows that it was the US Navy which broke the Japanese Navy codes, and that won the war in the Pacific? Wrong. The Japanese attack on the Western interests in Asia and the Pacific on 7th/8th December was completely unexpected? Wrong.
This is an extensively-researched factual novel which explains via the characters the web of, occasionally cooperative, Allied intelligence agencies operated by or in Australia in WW2. Some in conjunction with the US Army Signals Intelligence Service, some in conjunction with the US Navy OP-20-G Intelligence Service and some with the cooperation with the Far East components of the British Government Code and Cipher School (GCCS Bletchley Park) and its two Far East subsidiaries (FECB and WEC). The vital contribution of the Coast Watchers in the campaigns in the Solomon Islands (notably Guadalcanal), Papua and the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago are highlighted, and the lesser achievements of the Australian Commandos are noted.
The book deals ‘warts and all’ with the occasional triumphs and more frequent blunders of General MacArthur and his staff, the complete incompetence of British policy and generalship in Malaya in 1941 and early 1942, the abandonment of Australia by the British as early as 1940/ early 1941, and the transition of the Australians to relying on the self-interested involvement of the Americans in the retaking of the South-West Pacific Area – which necessarily involved the defence of Australia as its main base for later operations.
The effects on the civilian population of a virtual invasion of American troops into Australia from 1942 to 1944, together with the effects of both the war and the severe drought that had gripped Australia since 1937, is also explored. The story also considers the SWPA conflict in its context with the then ongoing wars in the Atlantic, in Europe, in Russia and in China.
The principal characters are a fictional Australian mathematician Tom Miller involved in codes and code-breaking, and his Jewish girlfriend/ wife Anna. Most of the other characters, both major and minor, are historically accurate at least as far as their existence and duties, and frequently as regards their personal characteristics.
The book also contains an excellent Bibliography of reputable resources for those aficionados interested in detailed research on the topic, much of which is available free online, and also detailed historical information and maps which are available at Iain’s website.
WEBSITE
Iain Campbell has a website which provides extensive historical notes and maps associated with his books. This is iancampbell.net. Contact Iain on Facebook, via his Amazon Kindle Page or by email at iain@iaincampbell.net.