The Seventh Owen Archer Mystery.
Late spring 1370. Owen Archer, ex-soldier and spy, prepares to depart Wales after completing political duties for John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. But his attempts to arrange safe passage home to York are thwarted when a stonemason in his employ is found hanged.
In York Lucie Wilton waits, disheartened by her husband's long absence and troubled by accusations against her apothecary. When Owen's erstwhile travelling companion Brother Michaelo arrives with bad news, she must journey without delay to her father's manor outside York. A concerned neighbour insists that his new steward, Harold Galfrey, escort her, an act which proves invaluable when they face danger.
Angered by Owen's prolonged absence, aware of rumours that the spy has abandoned his family, John Thoresby, Archbishop of York, dispatches a messenger to order Owen's return. But Owen is caught up in a country at war. His return to the land of his birth has engendered divided loyalties, and he feels a powerful tug from the rebel cause. Those who serve rebel leader Owain Lawgoch would have Owen sign up to fight and never return home . . .
