June, 1381. The rebel armies are massed outside London, determined to overturn both Crown and Church. The Regent, John of Gaunt, has headed north, leaving his nephew, the boy-king Richard II, unprotected.
Brother Athelstan would prefer to be protecting his parishioners at St Erconwald’s. Instead, he finds himself investigating a royal murder that took place fifty-four years earlier whilst the rebel leaders plot the present king’s destruction.
What does the fate of the king’s great-grandfather, Edward II, have to do with the murder of Brother Alberic, a priest stabbed at the monastery in Blackfriars, more than fifty years later? When he finds his own life under threat, Athelstan discovers that exposing past secrets can lead to present danger.
A gripping medieval mystery of rebellion and murder, perfect for fans of Edward Marston, Kate Sedley and David Penny.
Paul Doherty was born in Middlesbrough in 1946. He was admitted to Liverpool University to study History, and won a state scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford. While there he met his wife, Carla. He was appointed as Headmaster to Trinity Catholic High School, Essex, in 1981. Paul has written a slew of historical mystery series set in the Middle Ages, Classical Greece and elsewhere. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages.