The Stone of Destiny
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4.0 • 10 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
A series of grisly deaths are linked to the sacred Stone of Scone in this compelling medieval mystery featuring friar-sleuth Brother Athelstan.
"This abbey is a strange place, Brother Athelstan. A hall of ghosts, a place of flitting shadows. The dead throng here. I can hear them whispering as they ride the air."
During the harsh winter of 1381 murder stalks the streets of London in all its grisly forms. The city's prostitutes are falling prey to a silent, deadly assassin known as The Flayer who carefully peels his victims' skins for his collection.
At the same time, Westminster Abbey, which houses the sacred Stone of Scone, is plagued by a series of hideous poisonings. Could there be a connection between these brutally violent deaths and the stone, which the English crown cherishes as a symbol of its rule over Scotland?
Then there are the two former Upright Men, leaders of the Great Revolt, who are found mysteriously hanged in the Piebald Tavern, close to Brother Athelstan's parish church of St Erconwald - and Athelstan is faced with his most baffling investigation to date. Can he navigate this deadly maze of murder and intrigue and pull the various threads together?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Doherty's strong 20th 14th-century historical featuring Brother Athelstan (after 2019's The Godless), the brilliant, compassionate Dominican friar and his coroner friend, Sir John Cranston, investigate the death of Brother Robert, who collapsed while singing at London's Westminster Abbey. Another monk sniffed his mouth and detected poison. Brother Robert is just the first Benedictine monk to be eliminated at the abbey. Is it relevant that Westminster houses the sacred Stone of Scone, the ancient ceremonial object revered by the Scottish nation and stolen by Edward I, the ruthless English king, in the previous century? Meanwhile, a horrific killer known as the Flayer stalks defenseless "women of the streets." As the body count rises, Brother Athelstan uses his knowledge of Londoners great and humble, as well as his sharp observational skills, to draw connections between apparently unrelated events. With consummate skill and pacing, Doherty answers the plot's mysteries in a series of startling revelations, and the atmosphere of a London driven by ambition and greed is palpable. The prolific Doherty shows no sign of losing steam.
