Paul C. Doherty is an award-winning British author, educator, lecturer and historian. He is also the Headmaster of Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green

Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green

Trinity Catholic High School is a co-educational, Catholic comprehensive school located in Woodford Green, Greater London, England. It is split between two sites, with years 7-9 on the Lower Site, Sydney Road, and years 10-13 on Upper Site, Mornington Road. There are approximately 1750 pupils, with...

, Essex, in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Biography

Paul C. Doherty was born in 1946 and spent his early years in Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. He went to Liverpool University where he gained a First Class Honours Degree in History and won a state scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College, Oxford

Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...

. He then proceeded to the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 where he received a doctorate for his thesis on Edward II and Queen Isabella. Dr. Doherty is a medieval historian who lectures for a number of organisations, particularly on historical mysteries, many of which feature in his writings.

Educator

His other career is that of Headmaster at Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green

Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green

Trinity Catholic High School is a co-educational, Catholic comprehensive school located in Woodford Green, Greater London, England. It is split between two sites, with years 7-9 on the Lower Site, Sydney Road, and years 10-13 on Upper Site, Mornington Road. There are approximately 1750 pupils, with...

, Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 for 30 years. In 1999, the school was given Beacon status. A February 2006 Ofsted report declared the school Grade 1, "outstanding". A February 2009 Ofsted report again rated the overall effectiveness of the school as Grade 1, "outstanding".

Literary career

Paul C. Doherty has published a series of historical mysteries set in the Middle Ages, Classical, Greek, Ancient Egypt and elsewhere. He writes both fiction and non-fiction under his own name, both as P.C. Doherty and Paul C. Doherty, as well as the pennames: Anna Apostolou, Michael Clynes, Ann Dukthas, C. L. Grace, Paul Harding, and Vanessa Alexander. Doherty is the author of several mystery series, including The Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan, the Hugh Corbett medieval mysteries, the Canterbury Tales of mystery and murder which are listed below.

Dr. Doherty has written over 80 books which have been printed in several languages and distributed in several different countries including the UK, United States, Spain, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Romania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Bulgaria, Portugal and China, as well as Argentina and Mexico.

Documentaries

The UK Channel Five documentary , "The Secret Life of Elizabeth I" (2006), was based on his book of the same title. It explored Doherty's theory that Elizabeth I may have had a secret love child. The documentary received mixed reviews. The Daily Mail summarised the evidence, concluding "the truth about Elizabeth's romantic life and possible parenthood will continue to fascinate generations to come."

He has also recently appeared in a National Geographic Channel documentary entitled: "Secrets of the Virgin Queen". The documentary examines some controversial theories as to why Elizabeth never married.(2011).

Literary Reviews, recognition, and awards

In an interview with Michael Shankland, Shankland states of Doherty: "I admire how this writer can use the medium of a novel to demonstrate a deep knowledge of the complex working of early 14th-century diplomacy and espionage. Paul C. Doherty seems to be one of the few writers focusing on the Hundred Years’ War who understands the importance of the relationship between England and Gascony

Gascony

Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...

 during this era". http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/solander%20files/doherty.htm.

A review of his book "The Horus Killings" at reviewingtheevidence.com states that Doherty maintains a balance between historical description and the action of the plot on perfect pitch. "The mix is near perfect. The descriptive passages enhance the story, allowing the reader to vividly visualize an unfamiliar setting without detracting from the page-turning pace desirable in a light mystery." http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=1204. Harriet Klausner

Harriet Klausner

Harriet Klausner is a reviewer of books. She was the #1 ranked reviewer on Amazon.com until October 24, 2008 when the company began a new ranking system and, as of May 28, 2011, is ranked number 706 with over 24,500 reviews total....

 states in her review of this same book that "Ancient historical fiction/mystery readers, especially Egyptologists, will cherish this novel."

A 2009 review by Mike Ripley, himself an acclaimed author and regular contributor of SHOTS Crime and Mystery magazine, states of Doherty's book "The Spies of Sobeck": "A very wise literary agent (and there are some) once told me that the trick with historical mysteries was to hook the reader early on with the mystery and then give them the history lesson. They know the lesson is coming but they want to be lured, almost fooled, into listening to it. Paul Doherty goes out of his way to break this rule. His latest novel and the seventh in his 'Ancient Egyptian Mysteries' series, "The Spies of Sobeck" starts (and ends) with historical notes by the author; there's also a map and a list of characters and their position in the hierarchy of Egypt in 1477BC. So the reader is left in no doubt that they are in for a history lesson and they get one; and it is the positive master class we have come to expect from Paul Doherty. This is history red in tooth and claw and Doherty has proved, in more than fifty novels over a variety of historical settings, that when he gives a history lesson, readers sit up straight and pay attention." http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/reviews/The_Spies_of_Sobeck.html.

In 1998 Paul Doherty was included in the Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

 "Murder They Write: 100 masters of crime" list published as a supplement to the Times on 18 April 1998. The list, compiled by book critics and authors, included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/library/services/book-promos/100crime/100crime.htm http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/archive/1998/05/01/Local+London+Archive/6510698.MEDIEVAL_MYSTERY_MASTER_/.

He was also awarded the Herodotus, for lifelong achievement for excellence in the writing of historical mysteries by the Historical Mystery Appreciation Society http://www.mysterynet.com/awards/herodotus/ http://www.themysterybox.com/hmas/links.html).

Treason of the Ghosts was one of The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

  "Best of this year's crime novels", 2000

"Resurrectionist magic"--The Templar

Dr. Doherty will be the International Guest of Honor at the Bouchercon International Mystery Festival in Albany, New York, 2013

Hugh Corbett Series

1. Satan in St Mary's (1986)
2. The Crown in Darkness (1988)
3. Spy in Chancery (1988)
4. The Angel of Death (1989)
5. The Prince Of Darkness (1992)
6. Murder Wears a Cowl (1992)
7. The Assassin in the Greenwood (1993)
8. The Song of a Dark Angel (1994)
9. Satan's Fire (1995)
10. The Devil's Hunt (1996)
11. The Demon Archer (1999)
12. The Treason of the Ghosts (2000)
13. Corpse Candle (2001)
14. The Magician's Death (2004)
15. The Waxman Murders (2006)
16. Nightshade (2008)
17. The Mysterium (2010)

Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan

1. The Nightingale Gallery (1991) (writing as Paul Harding)
2. The House Of The Red Slayer (1992) (writing as Paul Harding) aka The Red Slayer
3. Murder Most Holy (1992) (writing as Paul Harding)
4. The Anger Of God (1993) (writing as Paul Harding)
5. By Murder's Bright Light (1994) (writing as Paul Harding)
6. The House Of Crows (1995) (writing as Paul Harding)
7. The Assassin's Riddle (1996) (writing as Paul Harding)
8. The Devil's Domain (1998)
9. The Field Of Blood (1999)
10. The House of Shadows (2003)
11. Bloodstone (2011)

Sir Roger Shallot Tudor Mysteries (writing as Michael Clynes)

1. The White Rose Murders (1991)
2. The Poisoned Chalice (1992)
3. The Grail Murders (1993)
4. A Brood of Vipers (1994)
5. The Gallows Murders (1995)
6. The Relic Murders (1996)

Kathryn Swinbrooke Series (writing as C. L. Grace)

1. Shrine of Murders (1993)
2. Eye of God (1994)
3. Merchant of Death (1995)
4. Book of Shadows (1996)
5. Saintly Murders (2001)
6. Maze of Murders (2002)
7. Feast of Poisons (2004)

Nicholas Segalla Series (writing as Ann Dukthas)

1. A Time for the Death of a King (1994)
2. A Prince Lost to Time (1995)
3. The Time of Murder at Mayerling (1996)
4. In the Time of the Poisoned King (1998)

Canterbury Tales

1. An Ancient Evil (1994)
2. A Tapestry of Murders (1994)
3. A Tournament of Murders (1996)
4. Ghostly Murders (1997)
5. The Hangman's Hymn (2001)
6. A Haunt of Murder (2002)

Mystery of Alexander the Great (writing as Anna Apostolou)

1. A Murder in Macedon (1997)
2. A Murder in Thebes (1998)

The Egyptian Mysteries

Amerokte is the chief judge of the temple of Ma'at

Maat

Maat is a naval rank of the German navy equivalent to the army rank of Unteroffizier. A Maat is considered the equivalent of a junior Petty Officer in the navies of many other nations....

, he becomes the investigator of conspiracies against the reign of Queen Hatusu

Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut also Hatchepsut; meaning Foremost of Noble Ladies;1508–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt...

1. The Mask of Ra
   Ra
   Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty he had become a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun...
   
   (1998)
2. The Horus
   Horus
   Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...
   
    Killings (1999)
3. The Anubis
   Anubis
   Anubis is the Greek name for a jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion. In the ancient Egyptian language, Anubis is known as Inpu . According to the Akkadian transcription in the Amarna letters, Anubis' name was vocalized as Anapa...
   
    Slayings (2000)
4. The Slayers of Seth
   Seth
   Seth , in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who are the only other of their children mentioned by name...
   
   (2001)
5. The Assassins of Isis
   Isis
   Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
   
   (2004)
6. The Poisoner of Ptah
   Ptah
   In Ancient Egyptian Religion, Ptah was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen , meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land, though Tatenen was a god in his...
   
   (2007)
7. The Spies of Sobeck
   Sobek
   Sobek , and in Greek, Suchos was the deification of crocodiles, as crocodiles were deeply feared in the nation so dependent on the Nile River...
   
   (2008)

Mahu (The Akhenaten-trilogy)

The ancient Egpytian noble Mahu

Mahu (noble)

Mahu was Chief of Police at Akhetaten.Mahu's tomb is Amarna Tomb 9 of the Tombs of the Nobles at Amarna. In the tomb Mahu is shown being rewarded by king Akhenaten. He is shown inspecting the defences of the city with the king and queen. The vizier and other officials are also present...

 recounts the events of the age of Akhenaten

Akhenaten

Akhenaten also spelled Echnaton,Ikhnaton,and Khuenaten;meaning "living spirit of Aten") known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC...

 and his part in them and his relationships with other personages of the Amarna period

Amarna Period

The Amarna Period was an era of Egyptian history during the latter half of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten in what is now modern-day Amarna...

.

1. An Evil Spirit Out of the West (2003)
2. The Season of the Hyaena (2005)
3. The Year of the Cobra (2005)

Mathilde of Westminster Series

1. The Cup of Ghosts (2005)
2. The Poison Maiden (2007)
3. The Darkening Glass (2009)

Political Intrigue in Ancient Rome

set during the time of Constantine the Great

1. Domina (2002)
2. Murder Imperial (2003)
3. The Song of the Gladiator (2004)
4. The Queen of the Night (2006)
5. Murder's Immortal Mask (2008)

Alexander the Great Mysteries

• The House of Death (2001)
• The Godless Man (2002)
• The Gates of Hell (2003)

Novels

• The Death of a King: A Medieval Mystery (1985)
• Prince Drakulya (1986)
• The Fate of Princes (1990)
• Dove Amongst the Hawks (1990)
• The Masked Man (1991)
• The Rose Demon (1997)
• The Haunting (1997)
• The Soul Slayer (1997)
• The Love Knot (1999) (writing as Vanessa Alexander)
• Of Love and War (2000) (writing as Vanessa Alexander)
• The Loving Cup (2001) (writing as Vanessa Alexander)
• The Plague Lord (2002)
• Great Crown Jewel Robbery of 1303 (2005)
• The Death of the Red King (2006)

Non-fiction

• 1987 King Arthur publisher World leaders past & present cat.org/oclc/14067746
• The mysterious death of Tutankhamun ISBN 978-1-84119-595-7
• 2003 Isabella and the strange death of Edward II publisher ISBN 978-1-84119-843-9
• 2004 Alexander the Great, the death of a god : what – or who – really killed the young conqueror of the known world? ISBN 978-1-84529-156-3 url worldcat.org/oclc/61175606
• 2006 The secret life of Elizabeth I ISBN 978-1-871551-85-3 org/oclc/62089411

Sources

• www.paulcdoherty.com Official Website and bibliography
• http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/solander%20files/doherty.htm
• http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/reviews/The_Spies_of_Sobeck.html
• http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=1204
• http://www.mysterynet.com/awards/herodotus/