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Religion, politics, and the spirit of King Arthur reign in this thrilling seventh bloody historical mystery from the acclaimed Medieval Murderers
Cerdic, a young boy who has the ability to see into the future, has a mysterious treasure in his possession. A blind old woman once gave him a miniature knife with an ivory bear hilt—the symbol of King Arthur—and told him that when the time comes he will know what he has to do with it. But when he and his brother, Baradoc, are enlisted into King Arthur's army, he finds that trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes. When Baradoc dies fighting with King Arthur in an ambush of the Saxons on Solsbury Hill, Cerdic buries the dagger in the side of the hill as a personal tribute to his brother. From that day forward throughout history, Solsbury Hill continues to be the scene of murder and theft—leaving a trail of corpses and treasure buried in the hill as an indication of its turbulent past.
Review:
"Gregory and Maitland's contributions lift the winning seventh collaborative effort by five of today's top historical mystery novelists (after 2011's The Sacred Stone). In Gregory's chilling variation on The Hound of the Baskervilles, set in 1199, the master of Bath's St. John's Hospital is found dead on Solsbury Hill with marks on his corpse suggesting that a vicious beast was responsible. According to legend, 'only the pure of heart could survive a night when the moon was full.' Gregory makes the most of her setup, concocting a typically intricate, but satisfying, solution. Clever plot twists and gripping pacing distinguish Maitland's entry, a tale of revenge set in 1453 involving a shipwreck's survivor turned miracle worker who lives in fear of a shadowy nemesis. The selections by Knight, Morson, and Gooden, each involving Solsbury Hill, also entertain. (Jan.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
The Medieval Murderers are Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson, Philip Gooden, and Simon Beaufort. They are the authors of House of Shadows, King Arthur's Bones, The Lost Prophecies, Sacred Stone, Sword of Shame, and The Tainted Relic.
"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"Gregory and Maitland's contributions lift the winning seventh collaborative effort by five of today's top historical mystery novelists (after 2011's The Sacred Stone). In Gregory's chilling variation on The Hound of the Baskervilles, set in 1199, the master of Bath's St. John's Hospital is found dead on Solsbury Hill with marks on his corpse suggesting that a vicious beast was responsible. According to legend, 'only the pure of heart could survive a night when the moon was full.' Gregory makes the most of her setup, concocting a typically intricate, but satisfying, solution. Clever plot twists and gripping pacing distinguish Maitland's entry, a tale of revenge set in 1453 involving a shipwreck's survivor turned miracle worker who lives in fear of a shadowy nemesis. The selections by Knight, Morson, and Gooden, each involving Solsbury Hill, also entertain. (Jan.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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