Aberdeen, 1631. University librarian Robert Sim has been found murdered in the college courtyard. It falls to his colleague and good friend Alexander Seaton to look into Sim's private life for clues as to his killer's motive.
Alexander suspects Sim was murdered because of something he knew. On the day of his death, the librarian had been cataloguing a gift of books to the college recently arrived from overseas, among them works on alchemy and hermetics – the pursuit of ancient knowledge. Is the answer to the librarian's death to be found amongst these books, or in the hidden places of a town Alexander thought he knew and in the lives of people who are not what they seem to be?
Crucible of Secrets is a fantastic historical thriller that imagines deep-rooted deceptions and a years-old secret whose revelation spells danger for anyone who comes close.
