Cruel as the Grave

(Paperback)

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April, AD 1193: A usurper threatens England's empty throne. Richard the Lionheart languishes in an Austrian dungeon, prisoner of the Holy Roman Emperor. Eleanor of Aquitaine, his mother, searches for a way to free her eldest son, aware her youngest plots to take the crown. When John seizes Windsor castle, Eleanor summons her trusted agent, Justin de Quincy, to do the impossible mediate a truce with her rebel son. De Quincy cannot but heed his Queen's demand, but he is already ensnared in another matter: the cruel murder of a young girl, daughter of an itinerant Welsh peddler. He is determined to bring her killer to justice and nothing, not even the threat of war, can keep him from pursuing her murderer.

Reviews

Energetic and adroitly plotted... Justin is so beguiling, and the action so lively and unpredictable, that readers will cheer Justin's return in further adventures * Publishers Weekly *
Masterfully told... Penman's authentic period details, larger-than-life characters, and fast-paced plot add up to great reading for both mystery fans and history buffs. * Booklist *

Author Bio

Sharon Kay Penman is the author of eight critically acclaimed historical novels: The Sunne in Splendour, Here be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, The Reckoning, When Christ and his Saints Slept, Time and Chance, Devil's Brood and Lionheart.