No catches, no fine print just unadulterated book loving, with your favourite books saved to your own digital bookshelf.
New members get entered into our monthly draw to win £100 to spend in your local bookshop Plus lots lots more…
Find out more
SD Sykes lives in Kent with her family and various animals. She has done everything from professional dog-walking to co-founding her own successful business. She is a graduate from Manchester University and has an MA in Writing from Sheffield Hallam. She attended the novel writing course at literary agents Curtis Brown where she was inspired to finish her first novel. She has also written for radio and has developed screenplays with Arts Council funding.
Author photo © Keeley Hoad Photography
A captivating and wonderfully evocative historical crime novel based in 1351, this is the second in the series, set after ‘Plague Land’. While it’s best to start at the beginning, ‘The Butcher Bird’ can actually be read as a standalone novel, as the background to the family structure is explained. At Somershill Manor, Oswald de Lacy attempts to solve the mysterious death of a baby, however he finds the situation running away from him. The historical notes at the end confirm this was a frightening time, with change coming hard on the heels of the Black Death. S. D. Sykes ensures that menace stalks through the pages, yet a weary and determined defiance makes itself felt. I believed the perilous nature of the times and flinched from the raw stink and the healing concoctions as I attempted to unravel this knotty, yet compelling mystery.
November 2015 eBook of the Month. A captivating and wonderfully evocative historical crime novel based in 1351, this is the second in the series, set after ‘Plague Land’. While it’s best to start at the beginning, ‘The Butcher Bird’ can actually be read as a standalone novel, as the background to the family structure is explained. At Somershill Manor, Oswald de Lacy attempts to solve the mysterious death of a baby, however he finds the situation running away from him. The historical notes at the end confirm this was a frightening time, with change coming hard on the heels of the Black Death. S. D. Sykes ensures that menace stalks through the pages, yet a weary and determined defiance makes itself felt. I believed the perilous nature of the times and flinched from the raw stink and the healing concoctions as I attempted to unravel this knotty, yet compelling mystery. ~ Liz Robinson
June 2015 Debut of the Month. The fourteenth century is widely believed to be a terrible time in which to live. Here, in 1350, the Black Death has left half the population dead, the fields empty and a novice monk in charge of a lord’s holding. A great time to set a murder mystery. Superstition is rife; the devil’s hand appears in everything. It is far easier to blame him for atrocities than seek a human culprit. This has an easy style which is a pleasure to read but the shadow of the plague hangs over everything, making all feel dark and sinister. I enjoyed it and I believe we can expect more. ~ Sarah Broadhurst
Oswald de Lacy was never meant to be the Lord of Somerhill Manor. Despatched to a monastery at the age of seven, sent back at seventeen when his father and two older brothers are killed by thePlague, Oswald has no experience of running an estate. He finds the years of pestilence and neglect have changed the old place dramatically, not to mention the attitude of the surviving peasants. Yet some things never change. Oswald's mother remains the powerful matriarch of the family, and his sister Clemence simmers in the background, dangerous and unmarried. Before he can do anything, Oswald is confronted by the shocking death of a young woman, Alison Starvecrow. The ambitious village priest claims that Alison was killed by a band of demonic dog-headed men. Oswald is certain this is nonsense, but proving it - by finding the real murderer - is quite a different matter. Every step he takes seems to lead Oswald deeper into a dark maze of political intrigue, family secrets and violent strife. And then the body of another girl is found. SD Sykes brilliantly evokes the landscape and people of medieval Kent in this thrillingly suspenseful debut.
June 2015 Debut of the Month. The fourteenth century is widely believed to be a terrible time in which to live. Here, in 1350, the Black Death has left half the population dead, the fields empty and a novice monk in charge of a lord’s holding. A great time to set a murder mystery. Superstition is rife; the devil’s hand appears in everything. It is far easier to blame him for atrocities than seek a human culprit. This has an easy style which is a pleasure to read but the shadow of the plague hangs over everything, making all feel dark and sinister. I enjoyed it and I believe we can expect more. ~ Sarah Broadhurst
A brilliantly dark and compelling novel set in Venice from 'the medieval CJ Sansom' (Jeffery Deaver) 1358. Oswald de Lacy, Lord Somershill, is in Venice, awaiting a pilgrim galley to the Holy Land. While the city is under siege from the Hungarians, Oswald lodges with an English merchant, and soon comes under the dangerous spell of the decadent and dazzling island state that sits on the hinge of Europe, where East meets West. Oswald is trying to flee the chilling shadow of something in his past, but when he finds a dead man on the night of the carnival, he is dragged into a murder investigation that takes him deep into the intrigues of this mysterious, paranoid city. Coming up against the feared Signori di Notte, the secret police, Oswald learns that he is not the only one with something to hide. Everybody is watching somebody else, and nobody in Venice is what he or she seems. The masks are not just for the carnival.
Book 3 in the gripping Oswald de Lacy series, which can be read as a standalone, from 'the medieval CJ Sansom' (Jeffery Deaver) 'It is Sykes' outstanding portrayal of the Venice of 1358 which makes such a fascinating setting for a mystery...[a] clever and original story' Crime Review 1358. Oswald de Lacy, Lord Somershill, is in Venice, awaiting a pilgrim galley to the Holy Land. While the city is under siege from the Hungarians, Oswald lodges with an English merchant, and soon comes under the dangerous spell of the decadent and dazzling island state that sits on the hinge of Europe, where East meets West. Oswald is trying to flee the chilling shadow of something in his past, but when he finds a dead man on the night of the carnival, he is dragged into a murder investigation that takes him deep into the intrigues of this mysterious, paranoid city. Coming up against the feared Signori di Notte, the secret police, Oswald learns that he is not the only one with something to hide. Everybody is watching somebody else, and nobody in Venice is what he or she seems. The masks are not just for the carnival.
A captivating and wonderfully evocative historical crime novel based in 1351, this is the second in the series, set after ‘Plague Land’. While it’s best to start at the beginning, ‘The Butcher Bird’ can actually be read as a standalone novel, as the background to the family structure is explained. At Somershill Manor, Oswald de Lacy attempts to solve the mysterious death of a baby, however he finds the situation running away from him. The historical notes at the end confirm this was a frightening time, with change coming hard on the heels of the Black Death. S. D. Sykes ensures that menace stalks through the pages, yet a weary and determined defiance makes itself felt. I believed the perilous nature of the times and flinched from the raw stink and the healing concoctions as I attempted to unravel this knotty, yet compelling mystery.
In this chilling historical mystery, young girls go missing from a medieval English village, and Lord Oswald de Lacy must find the killer before tragedy strikes again.Oswald de Lacy was never meant to be the Lord of Somershill Manor. Dispatched to a monastery at the age of seven, sent back at seventeen when his father and two older brothers are killed by the plague, Oswald has no experience of running an estate. He finds the years of pestilence and neglect have changed the old place dramatically, not to mention the attitude of the surviving peasants.Yet some things never change. Oswald's mother remains the powerful matriarch of the family, and his sister Clemence simmers in the background, dangerous and unmarried.Before he can do anything, Oswald is confronted by the shocking death of a young woman, Alison Starvecrow. The ambitious village priest claims that Alison was killed by a band of demonic dog-headed men. Oswald is certain this is nonsense, but proving it-by finding the real murderer-is quite a different matter. Every step he takes seems to lead Oswald deeper into a dark maze of political intrigue, family secrets, and violent strife.And then the body of another girl is found.Sarah Sykes brilliantly evokes the landscape and people of medieval Kent in this thrillingly suspenseful debut.
If this is your author page then you can share your Facebook updates with your readers right here on LoveReading
Find out more
