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A nun is found dead.

A priest is horribly attacked.

An evil older than sin is loose in Yorkshire…

Marske, 1361. Sir Ralph de Mandeville with his assistants Peter and Merek have recently come from Reeth to hold a court session in Marske but are pulled away at the news of a most heinous crime having been discovered further down the River Swale.

A boat has been found, floating down the river. Inside is a truly horrifying scene - the body of a nun, her wrists cut and her hands fixed in the sign of benediction… As Ralph uses his astute skills of inspection, his mind asks a most difficult question - is this self-murder or murder most foul? Were her last moments spent in benediction prayer… or malediction warning? With both Marrick Priory and Easby Abbey within a stone’s throw of Marske, it appears something is not quite right in the house of God…

When the body of a priest is found mutilated as if by a wild animal, the villagers fear the nun's body has opened the gates and let loose a monster from Hell… but Ralph starts to wonder if something much more human is at the root of these evils.

As he follows the grim clues, he fears he knows where this miserable sacrilegious journey will end. The question is, can he catch the murderer and prevent more grisly deaths – his own included?