The last Templar : the first Knights Templar mystery

The Knights Templar They had all joined taking three vows: poverty, chastity, and obedience for they were monks: warrior monks, dedicated to theprotection of pilgrims in the Holy Land -- until stories spread by anavaricious king who wanted their wealth for his own destroyed the order. There was one knight, however, who escaped the stake, vowing justiceas he watched his innocent brothers die. In the Service of the Lord Simon Puttock has not been bailiff of Lydford Castle long in this year of 1316, when he is called to a nearby village to examine a burned-out cottage and the dead body within. But it is the newly arrived knight, Sir Baldwin Furnshill, who discerns the deceased was no victim of a tragic mishap; he was, in fact, murdered prior to the blaze. Simon would be well-served by accepting further assistance from this astute, though haunted and secretive stranger. For a second fatal burning indicates that some harsh evil has invaded this once-peaceful place, and its hunger has yet to be sated. Version : 4.0 "1314 Paris, Pope Clement has destroyed the Order of Knights Templar, wrongly persuaded of their corruption. Watching through a veil of tears as his friends die at the stake, a surviving knight swears vengeance on their accusers. 1316 Devon. The newly appointed bailiff of Lydford Castle, Simon Puttock, is called to a village where a charred body has been found in a burned-out cottage. Unaccustomed to violence in this peaceful area, Simon assumes it's accidental death-but Sir Baldwin Furnshill, recently returned from abroad, quickly convinces him that the victim had been killed before the fire began. As Simon and the astute yet strangely reticent knight piece together the evidence, word comes of another murder, more horrible by far, for in this case the victim was undoubtedly burned alive. Are the two incidents connected-and will the killers strike again? The colours and smells of fourteenth-century Devon come vividly to life in this riveting tale of petty jealousy, burning passion and brutal revenge."--BOOK COVER