With a Foreword by Sharon Kay Penman.It's summer 1270, and England is as weary as its aging king, Henry III. The Simon de Montfort rebellion is over, and in the small priory of Tyndall on the remote East Anglian coast, the monks and nuns of the Order...
A nun and a monk defy death and dishonor at her family's Welsh fortress...In the winter of 1271, Death stalks the corridors of Wynethorpe Castle on the Welsh border. When the Grim Reaper touches the beloved grandson of the castle lord, Baron Adam sen...
"Excellent...oozes with suspense and intrigue." -- BooklistAs the autumn storms of 1271 ravage the East Anglian coast, Crowner Ralf finds the corpse of a brutally murdered soldier in the woods near Tyndal Priory. The dagger in the man's chest is eng...
Alice McDoughall has absolutely no interest in sleuthing, and thinks amateur detectives are a silly bunch, so imagine her shock when she comes to the defense of her best friend, whose restaurant is threatened when obnoxious food critic Arthur Pete...
It is May of 1272, and Prioress Eleanor, recovering from a near-fatal winter fever, returns to Amesbury Priory to visit her aunt in time for the Feast of Saint Melor. Although Eleanor hopes to regain her strength in the midst of pleasant childhood me...
The summer of 1273 is peaceful for most of England, but not for Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal Priory. Her friend, Crowner Ralf, is newly widowed with a baby. And her new anchoress is welcoming visitors to her window at night: one of them a man the prior...
When one of her company falls ill on a return journey to Tyndal, Prioress Eleanor accepts lodging at a nearby manor. Master Stevyn's wife is having an affair with the groom while a local widow acts more the lady of the manor than the lady herself. Hi...
In the late summer of 1274, King Edward has finally been anointed England’s ruler, and his queen contemplates a pilgrimage in gratitude for their safe return from Outremer, a journey that will include a stay at Tyndal Priory. Envoys are sent to con...
When Baron Herbert returns from crusade he grows increasingly morose and withdraws from his family. When his sons begin to die in strange accidents, questions are asked whether Herbert harbors a dark sin for which God has cursed him. The baron su...
The corpse of an unpopular newcomer floats in the priory millpond. A Jewish family, refugees under the 1275 Statute of the Jewry, is accused. Did Jacob ben Asser kill him or was it Gytha, the prioress’ maid? Even Prioress Eleanor now wonders if she...
In the Spring of 1277, Prioress Eleanor goes on a pilgrimage to a famous East Anglian shrine. There are rumors that King Edward may also visit the shrine soon to seek God’s blessing for his invasion of Wales. Lurking in this sacred place, how...
It is the autumn of 1278. The harvest is in. The air is crisp. Dusty summer breathes a last sigh before the dark seasons arrive. For Prioress Eleanor, dark times arrive early in Norfolk. The head of her order, Abbess Isabeau, has sent Father Etienne ...
A royal birth, a nobleman’s death, a scarlet woman’s murder… In March, 1279, Edward I takes a break from hammering the Welsh and bearing down on England’s Jews to vacation in Gloucestershire. The royal party breaks the journey at Woodstock...
In the winter of 1282, snow and ice ravage East Anglia while Prioress Eleanor awaits the decision of her young maid, Gracia, found starving on the streets some years ago, whether to take vows or to leave Tyndal Priory to make her way in the world. ...
It is Spring 1282. England is at war again with Wales. As Baron Hugh of Wynethorpe, a veteran of fighting in Outremer, prepares to join his King's army, he begs his sister, Prioress Eleanor, a favor. On her journey home to Tyndal Prior in Norfolk, sh...
It is Autumn, 1282. Edward I, more often hammering the Scots, is at war with Wales and it is not going as well as he wished. Everyone is edgy on both sides of the loosely defined border between England and Wales. Crucial battles have been lost. Raids...
November 1283. Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal priory is visited by her cousin, the Earl of Ness, and his wife, Eda. When she is murdered in chapel with his knife, he becomes the prime suspect. Soon after, her priest is also killed in the same chapel. Are...