The Leper's Return: A Knights Templar Mystery (Knights Templar Mysteries (Avon))

When a local goldsmith, Godfrey of Harwood, is found brutally murdered in his home, Furnshill and Puttock are called on to investigate. But when rumors begin spreading that patients from a local leper hospital might have been involved in Godfrey's murder, a series of vicious attacks on the unfortunate victims ensues, culminating in a disastrous fire at the hospital. In a surprising turn of events, Godfrey's daughter Cecily donates a sum to make good the damage. Her connection to one of the lepers is her motive, and only when that connection has been revealed will the truth about Godfrey's murder emerge. Review 'A neatly constructed tale...An absorbing page-turner...Jeck's historical research, his loving descriptions of the Devon countryside, his neat way of drawing characters, are shown to their best advantage in this book' -- Deryn Lake, SHOTS About the Author Michael Jecks gave up a career in the computer industry to concentrate on writing and the study of medieval history, especially that of Devon and Cornwall. He and his wife now live in northern Dartmoor. Version : 5.0 The Knights Templar. They were warrior monks, dedicated to the protection of pilgrims in the Holy Land--until an avaricious king destroyed the order. One knight, however, escaped the stake, vowing justice for his murdered brothers. A fatal tide of intolerance. With civil war looming, tensions are high in the town of Crediton--and the foul murder of a local gold merchant and assault on his daughter merely feed the flames. Keeper of the King's Peace and former Knight Templar, Sir Baldwin Furnshill, and his partner, Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford, must find the culprit and resist the temptation to quickly condemn the most obvious suspect. But their cool heads may not prevail, for rumors are spreading that suggest the lepers of St. Lawrence's hospital--the shunned outcasts of society--are somehow responsible for Crediton's current ills. And any delay on the part of Furnshill and Puttock in apprehending a killer may well lead to a full-scale slaughter of the despised unfortunates. While investigating the murder of a local gold merchant, Sir Baldwin Furnshill and his partner, Simon Puttock, must contend with rumors that patients from a local leper hospital might have been involved in the murder. Previously published by Headline (UK)