A Crowning Mercy

In a country at war, a secret inheritance reveals a dark conspiracy …

On a sunlit afternoon in seventeenth-century Dorset, a young girl falls in love with a stranger.

But when her Puritan brother tries to force her into an unbearable marriage she flees, taking with her only the gift left to her by her unknown father, a gold pendant sealed by an engraving of an axe, and the words: St Matthew.

One of four intricately wrought seals – each holding a secret within – it can, when combined with the other three, bring great wealth and power. This power is her true inheritance – but it’s a perilous legacy others will kill for …

Reviews

Praise for Bernard Cornwell:

‘The best battle scenes of any writer I’ve ever read, past or present. Cornwell really makes history come alive’ George R.R. Martin

‘Cornwell draws a fascinating picture of England as it might have been before anything like England existed’ THE TIMES

‘He’s called a master storyteller. Really he’s cleverer than that’ TELEGRAPH

‘A reminder of just how good a writer he is’ SUNDAY TIMES

‘Nobody in the world does this better than Cornwell’ Lee Child

This is a magnificent and gory work' Daily Mail

'The historical blockbuster of the year' EVENING STANDARD

‘A runaway success’ OBSERVER

‘A master of storytelling’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

This is typical Cornwell, meticulously researched, massive in scope, brilliant in execution’ NEWS OF THE WORLD

About the author

Bernard Cornwell was born in London, raised in Essex and now lives in the USA. In addition to the Sharpe series, he is the author of the Arthurian series, the Warlord Chronicles; the Starbuck Chronicles on the American Civil War; Stonehenge; Gallows Thief; the Grail Quest series; and his new series, set during the reign of King Alfred. His latest novel is Azincourt.