The malice of unnatural death

It is 1324, and the kingdom is in uproar. Escaping from the Tower, Roger Mortimer - the King's most hated enemy - makes his way to France, and hires an assassin to murder the King.

But just as his plans begin to succeed, the plot is uncovered, and the assassin flees the city.

Then the body of a local craftsman and that of a King's messenger are found in the city's streets and Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, the Keeper of the King's Peace and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock, are asked by the Bishop to find out who was responsible.

The dead messenger was carrying a dangerous secret and the Bishop is desperate to have his message returned to him before anyone else discovers its contents.

Baldwin and Simon are reluctant to get involved, but the politics of the nation and of their patrons are growing ever more insistent, and the two must find the murderer before he can strike again.

But when murderers can use magic, no one is safe...