Fan CastingThe Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon

Hugh de Singleton is a newly practicing surgeon in medieval Oxford, England when he comes to the aid of Lord Gilbert Talbert, a local lord who is injured. Lord Gilbert hires him to come to his manor of Bampton, and subsequently to be his Bailiff at Bampton Castle (which was an existing castle in the 1360s). In his dual role as surgeon and bailiff Hugh is called upon to solve a series of mysterious murders and other crimes, which make up the plots of the various books. Hugh is also in search of a wife, which imparts a nice romantic subplot to the beginning of the series; he later marries and fathers two daughters and one son. A minor character is Master John Wycliffe, who is Hugh's mentor, and was a real person, famous for his translation of the Bible in to common English, and for his arguments with the church hierarchy. The characters of several of the Bampton citizens are also based on real historical people, as the author explains in his book notes.