A Friar's Bloodfeud

the long version

"It is March 1324 and spring should soon be on its way. But the cruel winter is far from over. In the rural idyll of Iddesleigh, Bailiff Simon Puttock's servant, Hugh, has been granted leave to look after his wife Constance, and her son; but their happy time is to be short-lived. A gang of men break into their home and attack Hugh's family. When word reaches Simon, he and Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, immediately set off for Iddesleigh. They arrive to find the cottage burnt to the ground, the bodies from within already buried. It seems that Hugh must have perished in a dreadful accident--but as they are all too aware, appearances can be deceptive. When they learn of the territorial battles between two neighbouring manors, Baldwin and Simon begin to suspect a deeper, darker truth. Iddesleigh had seemed a harmonious village, but when Simon and Baldwin begin investigating the crime it becomes clear that evil lurks in this land, and the pain and bloodshed are far from over."--Book jacket flap.