Coroner Sir John investigates a series of attacks on wealthy women in this tense, pacey instalment in the Crowner John medieval mystery series, set in twelfth-century England. 1194. The well-born ladies of Exeter are under attack. First, Christina Rifford, the daughter of a rich merchant, is raped. Then, just months before her marriage, Lady Adele de Courcy is found dead in one of the poorest areas of the city. The common factor is Godfrey Fitzosbern, the local silversmith. Despite his own suspicions, county coroner Sir John de Wolfe is determined to protect Godfrey from the women's vengeful families. Until, that is, he can find proof of the man's guilt. Aided by his mistress Nesta, and hindered by his social-climbing wife Matilda and her power-hungry brother, Sheriff Richard de Revelle, John slowly begins to put the pieces together. But a final, brutal act of violence makes John question everything he's discovered so far . . .