Description:
A dual-timeline murder mystery set in an English country manor, when an ambitious professor discovers the long-lost manuscript of a Reformation-era prophetess
Historian Alison Sage has made a groundbreaking archival discovery―she found a manuscript containing the prophecies of a sixteenth-century nun, Elizabeth Barton. Barton's prophecy condemning Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn led to her execution and the destruction of all copies of her prophecies―or so the world believed. With Alison's discovery, she is catapulted to academic superstardom and scores an invitation to the exclusive Codex Consortium, a week of research among a select handful of fellow historians at a crumbling manor in England, located next to the ruins of the priory where Elizabeth herself once lived. What begins as a promising conference turns into a nightmare as the eerie house becomes the site of a murder. Suddenly, everyone is a suspect, and it seems that answers lie at the root of a local legend about centuries-old hidden treasure. Alison's research makes her best-suited to solve the mystery―but when old feelings resurface for a former colleague, and the stakes of the search skyrocket, everyone's motives become murky.
Brief description: Jennifer N. Brown is the dean of arts and sciences at Bentley University, where she is also professor of English and media studies, with a specialization in medieval literature written for and by women. She has published a lot on this topic but The Lost Book of Elizabeth Barton is her first novel. She lives in the Boston area with her husband, their two children, and two miniature dachshunds.