It is the autumn of 1278. The harvest is in. The air is crisp. Dusty summer breathes a sigh before the dark seasons arrive. For Prioress Eleanor, dark times arrive early in Norfolk. Abbess Isabeau, the head of her order, has sent Father Etienne Davoir from its headquarters in France to inspect all aspects of Tyndall Priory from its morals to its roofs. Surely the Abbess would not have chosen her own brother for this rare and thorough investigation...

"In the Spring of 1277, Prioress Eleanor goes on a pilgrimage to a famous East Anglian shrine. There are rumors that King Edward may also visit the shrine soon to seek God's blessing for his invasion of Wales. Lurking in this sacred place, however, is an assassin hoping to murder a king. Soon after Prioress Eleanor and Brother Thomas arrive, a nun falls to her death from the priory bell tower. Brother Thomas finds the body, and the pair quickly grasp...

The summer of 1276 at Tyndal Priory is passing peacefully until a villager's corpse is found floating in the millpond. A Jewish family, refugees under the 1275 Statute of the Jewry, is accused. Did Jacob ben Asser kill him or was it Gytha, the prioress' maid? Even Prioress Eleanor now wonders if she wants to unmask the killer.