Sharon Kay Penman

She was fifteen, carefree and innocent, unused to London's violence and its dark secrets. Why was pedlar's daughter Melangell brutally killed in a churchyard near Cripplegate, her head bloodied and her bodice ripped open? As the Queen's Man, helping Eleanor of Aquitaine in her search for her missing son Richard Lionheart, Justin de Quincy has one clear duty: to restrain Richard's brother Prince John in his relentless quest for the throne. Yet, even though he is intensely loyal to Eleanor, Justin cannot tear his mind away from Melangell's hideous death... Juggling his investigation and his allegiance to the Queen with the subtle intrigues at Court - including those of his treacherous mistress Lady Claudine - can Justin unmask Melangell's murderer without neglecting his royal duties?

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