"Gripping and believable...you can almost smell the streets of
14th-century York as you delve deeper into an engrossing plot." --PRIMA
In the year of our Lord 1369 the much-loved Queen Philippa lies dying in
Windsor Castle, the harvest has failed, and the pestilence has returned.
In York, the atmosphere of fear and superstition is heightened by a
series of thefts and violent deaths at St. Leonard's Hospital, as well
as rumors that these crimes are connected to the hospital's dwindling
funds. The Master of St. Leonard's, Sir Richard Ravenser, hurries north
from the queen's deathbed to summon Owen Archer, soldier-spy, to
investigate the scandal before it ruins him.
While his wife Lucie faces the plague-panicked townsfolk at the
apothecary, Owen encounters a seemingly random series of clues: a riddle
posed by one of the victims at the hospital, a lay sister with a
scandalous past, the kidnapping of a child from the hospital orphanage,
and a case of arson. The answer to the riddle of St. Leonard's lies in
the past, and as Owen's family is caught up in the sweep of the
pestilence, he must abandon them to race across the countryside to save
the next victim.