Candace
Robb.
The Cross-legged Knight.
London: William
Heinemann, 2002.
xvi,327pp.
Publisher's recommended price
Hardback ISBN
0434005150, £17.99
Trade paperback ISBN
0434009377, no price supplied
England
1371:
a solemn convoy wends its way into York. William of Wykeham, Bishop of
Winchester, is bringing home the remains of Sir Ranulf Pagnell,
patriarch
of a powerful local family, who has died in France. But the family hold
the bishop responsible for Sir Ranulf's death, and ill feeling
surrounds
his arrival.
An
accident in
the grounds of York Minster nearly kills the bishop. Then, only a few
days
later, his townhouse is found ablaze. When the body of a young woman is
discovered in the undercroft of the house, scandal threatens to destroy
Wykeham.
The
Archbishop
of York, John Thoresby, asks Owen Archer for help. The one-eyed spy is
troubled. Was the fire an accident or arson? Was the woman trapped or
the
fire started to conceal a corpse? Stationing guards in front of the
smouldering
remains, he starts to ask questions. When it appears the dead woman was
a midwife known to many of the city's women, including Lucie, Owen's
wife,
his quest becomes personal.
This
is the eighth
Owen Archer novel. |
|