A Dark Night Hidden

As the news of Richard the Lionheart's capture reaches England, an unknown woman, also captive in a strange land, lies in a dark and dirty cell in Tonbridge. Her forehead branded and her back covered in infected weals from a brutal flogging, she lies in her own waste, awaiting not ransom but execution.

The Abbess Helewise, meanwhile, is having problems of her own. A harsh new priest has arrived to minister at Hawkenlye Abbey. No one is safe from Father Micah's fanaticism and soon he is discovered lying in a ditch -- murdered. As Josse d'Acquin investigates he discovers that the Father has a history of taking the law into his own hands: his enemies are still nearby and they are no friends of the church .. .