• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Historical Writers Association

The official website of the HWA

  • Members
  • Awards
  • Events
  • Historia
  • About us
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Login

Karen Maitland

Karen Maitland

31/03/2015 by Karen Maitland

Writing as K J Maitland, Karen Maitland’s new Jacobean crime thriller quartet is set in the aftermarth of the failed Gunpwder plot and follows Daniel Pursglove as he becomes embroiled in the dark world of spies, murder and treason. The first novel, The Drowned City, takes place amid the devastation of the Bristol tsumani of 1606. And the second, Traitor in the Ice, is set in 1607 in Battle Abbey, Sussex. The third, Rivers of Treason, in which Daniel finds himself emboiled in a series of brutal murders, was published by Headline, in 2023. The pb of the final book in the quartet, A Plague of Serpents, published November 2024, has Daniel tasked by royal command with one final mission: he must infiltrate and aid the Serpents who are plotting to kill the King – or risk his own execution.

Karen has written eight medieval thrillers – Company of Liars, The Owl Killers, The Gallows Curse, Falcons of Fire & Ice, The Vanishing Witch, The Raven’s Head and The Plague Charmer. Her most recent novel is A Gathering of Ghosts, set in 1316 in the wilds of Dartmoor during the Great Famine.

She is published by Penguin and Headline UK. Her novella, Liars & Thieves, in which the characters of Company of Liars face a deadly new threat was published by Headline as an e-book. The free e-book short The Dangerous Art of Alchemy, also published by Headline, tells more true stories about medieval alchemists and their mysterious work. Her new free e-short is Wicked Children: Murderous True Tales from History.

Karen is also one of six historical crime writers along with Philip Gooden, Susannah Gregory, Michael Jecks, Bernard Knight and Ian Morson who are together known as the Medieval Murderers. Karen has written five historical crime novels with the Medieval Murderers – The Sacred Stone, Hill of Bones, The First Murder, The False Virgin and The Deadliest Sin – all published by Simon & Schuster.

Her novel La Malediction du Norfolk (The Gallows Curse), French translation published by Sonatine, won the Prix du Balai d’or 2015. An international award for noir literature.

Karen lives in Devon, not far from Dartmoor where Sir Arthur Colon Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles. She is a member of the Crime Writers Association, The Historical Novel Society and the Society of Authors. She is also one of The History Girls bloggers.

https://karenmaitland.com

 

 

Published works:

A Plague of Serpents

A Plague of Serpents

Rivers of Treason

Rivers of Treason

Traitor in the Ice

Traitor in the Ice

The Drowned City

The Drowned City

Company of Liars

Company of Liars

The Owl Killers

The Owl Killers

The Gallows Curse

The Gallows Curse

The Falcons of Fire and Ice

The Falcons of Fire and Ice

The Vanishing Witch

The Vanishing Witch

The Raven’s Head

The Raven’s Head

The Plague Charmer

The Plague Charmer

A Gathering of Ghosts

A Gathering of Ghosts

Primary Sidebar

Historical Writers Association member - Karen Maitland

Writes about:

  • Early Medieval
  • Late Medieval
  • 16th Century
  • 17th Century

Is similar to:

  • Patricia Bracewell
  • James Aitcheson
  • Michael Jecks

Is located in:

  • South-West

Is online at:

  • Website
  • Facebook

Press enquiries

We welcome enquiries from the media and are happy to put you in contact with our members.
Press Enquiries

Join the HWA

Find out more and apply to join
Join Us

Copyright © 2014–2025 Historical Writers Association Log in