Outside, he stood and breathed deeply.
To know it all… that was impossible. No man could look into another’s heart and see everything that was there. Not even a priest. But he had an explanation of some fashion now, and it left him filled with sorrow.
A young woman who’d given her life to God had to die to satisfy her sister’s appetites. All the others who had been murdered… they were the debris gathered along the way. He could have been one of them. So could his daughter. He’d shed no tears for Gwendolyn, said no prayer for her soul. He’d feel no regret when he heard that Roland had been hung.
Slowly, he ambled home. All this had changed his life. It had come close to ending it. But he was still here, with God’s good grace. He had his wife, his family. His life. A fortune and a future.
Katherine raised an eyebrow as he entered the hall.
‘What did he want? Was it anything important?’
‘No,’ he replied after a small pause. ‘Nothing important at all.’
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As well as penning the John the Carpenter mysteries, CHRIS NICKSON is also the author of the Dan Markham mysteries and the Lottie Armstrong series (both for The Mystery Press). Chris is a well-known music journalist, and he lives in Leeds.
Also by the Author
The Saltergate Psalter
The Holywell Dead
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Dark Briggate Blues: A Dan Markham Mystery
The New Eastgate Swing: A Dan Markham Mystery
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Modern Crimes: A WPC Lottie Armstrong Mystery
The Year of the Gun: A WAPC Lottie Armstrong Mystery
www.chrisnickson.co.uk
The Crooked Spire
‘The author powerfully evokes a sense of time and place with all the detailed and meticulous research he has carried out for this very suspenseful and well plotted story of corruption and murder.’
Eurocrime
‘[Nickson] makes us feels as though we are living [in] what seems like a fourteenth-century version of dystopia, giving this remarkable novel a powerful immediacy.’
Booklist (starred review)
The Saltergate Psalter
‘Sympathetic characters, a puzzling mystery, and plausible historical detail distinguish British author Nickson’s second novel.’
Publishers Weekly
‘This solid…whodunit will appeal to fans of Deryn Lake.’
‘This is no rip-roaring adventure, more the confused progression of a decent man trying to do his best in circumstances in which he has little control, but it’s a brilliant read and for my money Nickson’s best to date.’
Crime Review
‘Nickson stands in the front rank of historical mystery writers.’
Publishers Weekly