A man possessed. A woman ravished. There be demons in this place...
Malton, 1361. Justice of the Peace Sir Ralph de Mandeville arrives in the walled town of Malton and is instantly plunged into a twisted web of brutal murder, forbidden romance and dark superstitions.
What starts as a routine session of the peace turns into a much darker, more complicated state of affairs. One suspected count of self-murder quickly followed by a formal plea of mayhem is enough to keep Ralph and his assistants Peter and Merek on their toes, but tension erupts into outright terror when a string of gruesome, theatrical murders rocks the Ryedale wapentake.
As panic spreads and terrified townsfolk blame the horrific deaths on a 'revenant' - a vengeful, undead spirit rising from the grave to spread the pestilence - Sir Ralph refuses to let fear overrule logic. Instead, guided by his beloved wife's locket around his neck, he must follow a bloody trail of clues to expose the superstitions from the very human monsters living in plain sight.
Praise for Keith Moray's Ralph de Mandeville series:
'As many bodies as a Clint Eastwood movie! The plotting is clever and the characters likeable, well, the good guys!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review
'If you like your serial killer tales backed with some spot-on medieval storytelling then this is the book for you.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review