New Series Announced in Publishers Weekly!

It’s official!!!!!

Pegasus Lands New Robb Series

Author of the Owen Archer series, Candace Robb, closed a three-book deal with Pegasus Books for a new historical mystery series set in 14th-century York. The first book, The Service of the Dead, introduces readers to the axe-wielding young widow Kate Clifford, who runs a high-end guest house. Robb was represented by Jennifer Weltz at the Jean V. Naggar Agency; Weltz sold North American rights in the deal.

I am having so much fun with these new characters in a familiar yet slightly later setting (begins in 1399) against the backdrop of rising tension between King Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke, exiled Duke of Lancaster. Kate Clifford is a young widow determined to make her way on her own terms despite her late husband’s tangled legacy. And, yes, she is skilled with a small battle-axe as well as a bow. I can’t wait for you to meet her. I’ll be sharing more about her in days to come, so stay tuned.

Kate’s “guest house” is on High Petergate. I love this photo of the Christmas trees above the crossing of Stonegate and Petergate, taken at Christmas, 1992. It was while I was in York that Christmas season that St Martin’s Press made an offer on The Apothecary Rose, but only if I agreed it was the first in a series.  The photo I’m currently using as the banner page photo on this blog, of me at St Mary’s Abbey, was taken the day after I learned the news, as I wandered around the city in a happy daze.

No set publication date yet, but the manuscript of The Service of the Dead is with my editor.