Stephen Lewis welcomes the return of a York medieval hero.

AMERICAN author Candace Robb has been fascinated with York ever since she first set foot here in the 1970s.

She had been studying medieval literature and history at Seattle University and came to England to bring the dusty subject alive.

But none of the English towns and cities she visited compared to York.

So when she began thinking of a setting for what was to become her best-selling series of historical murder-mysteries starring one-eyed hero Owen Archer, there was no competition.

Over the years since, Robb has written eight Owen Archer books - all of them dark, atmospheric thrillers that bring medieval York to vivid life.

Fans, however, have had to wait five long years for the ninth.

That wait is now over, with the publication this week The Guilt Of Innocents.

It is York, in the winter of 1372. A man has drowned in the River Ouse after a fight with a group of boys from St Peter's School.

It soon becomes clear that his death was no accident. But why was a humble river pilot killed for possessing a young boy's purse?

It's a case for one-eyed spy Owen Archer, the Captain of Archbishop Thoresby's personal guard and a man noted for his ability to solve unusual crimes.

But when another body is found in the river, and Owen and his adoptive son Jasper begin to get near to the truth, they soon find their own lives in jeopardy Robb has won widespread praise for her Archer novels. "It's the Machiavellian intrigue that makes (her work) such an enjoyable read," said one reviewer. "The great thing is. the interplay between the characters and a medieval city brought alive by thorough research," wrote Liz Page in The Press of an earlier Archer novel ten years ago.

The Guilt of innocents promises to be just as Machiavellian and authentic. Enjoy.


* The Guilt Of Innocents by Candace Robb is published by William Heinemann, price £11.99.