Domesday books

"In 1086, England's mighty king, William the Conqueror, sends out surveyors and census takers to record the resources of his land and its people. Some welcome these inquisitive royal agents and their "day of judgment." Others hate them. But wherever the king's men go they bring excitement-and sometimes murder ... Hamo FitzCorbucion tortures his Saxon slaves, insults the Norman gentry, and steals his neighbors' land. Now William the Conqueror's Domesday...

One island of wealth and luxury remains in the war-torn lands of Yorkshire, the castle of merchant Aubrey Maminot which holds two great terrors: the rogue Olaf Evil Child, a hero of the poor and conquered Saxon people, and the ravenous lions Maminot keeps as pets. The lions make a feast of an anonymous young man who tries to sneak into the castle. Why would someone commit such an act of suicide?

Three powerful Norman lords and a dispossessed Saxon thegn watch their steeds race close to the forest of Woodstock, each lusting for a win. But the first horse past the post has an empty saddle and his rider is lying in a copse with a knife in his back. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret, Domesday commissioners on behalf of the King, are guests of the Sheriff of Oxford while they settle a land dispute. But soon their attentions are focused on a stretch...