Description: In the year 1271, Crowner Ralf finds a corpse pierced by a dagger with a strange design. He takes the corpse to the priory but finds there a maelstrom of conflict involving Prioress Eleanor. Meanwhile, the murderer watches and waits.
Brief description:
Priscilla Royal grew up in British Columbia, earned a degree in world literature from San Francisco State University, and worked for the federal government in various positions. She is the author of the Medieval Mystery series featuring Eleanor, prioress of Tyndal, and she is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, California Writers Club, and Sisters in Crime.
Review Quotes:
"Terror grips a remote North Sea priory in Royal's superior medieval thriller, her third to feature Eleanor, prioress of Tyndal. In 1271, tough-minded Ralf the Crowner, who's trying to bring a brutal serial killer to justice, prevails upon Eleanor to allow the mangled corpse of a lowly foot soldier to be laid in the chapel during his investigation...Eleanor resists the demands of rival monks who complicate Ralf's work with their own competing agendas...Suspense builds amid a vivid backdrop of lepers wearing 'clappers, ' a madman who chatters warnings, venal relic sellers, and the shadowy 'man from Acre' haunted by guilt for his wife's death at the hands of a sadistic crusader. Eleanor's steadfast faith in a merciful God must contend with the vicious nature of man in a compelling resolution."
-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"