The Mad Monk of Gidliegh — Michael Jecks

AS THE WINTER OF 1323 descends on Dartmoor, life has never seemed so bleak to the young priest, Mark, in his isolated, windswept chapel. So who could blame him for accepting some longed-for companionship when it is offered by the local miller's daughter, Mary? But when Mary and the unborn child she carried are found brutally murdered, it is obvious where the villagers will point the finger of blame.

HOWEVER, investigators Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and Bailiff Simon Puttock soon begin to have their doubts. It becomes clear that Mary was far from the simple village girl she seemed. What exactly was her relationship with the Squire of Gidleigh, Sir Ralph? Could he be responsible for her death? Or perhaps it was Osbert, the mill-hand whose love she rejected time and again? In their search for the truth, Baldwin and Simon unwittingly put themselves in the greatest danger they have ever faced, and by the time the investigation is over, life for themselves and their families will never be the same again...