The Canterbury Murders

Easter, 1177. Aelred Barling and Hugo Stanton arrive at Canterbury on pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket, whose murder still defines the cathedral and the relationship between crown and church. Fire has damaged the great building, and Prior Benedict is directing its reconstruction when a stonemason is found murdered with a deliberate and disfiguring wound.

The prior orders the king’s clerk and his assistant to investigate before scandal overwhelms the rebuilding project and the crowds of pilgrims. Further victims appear without an obvious connection, forcing Barling and Stanton to examine craftsmen, clergy and visitors whose livelihoods depend on the cathedral’s sacred reputation. The case turns Becket’s continuing presence—from martyr’s tomb to political symbol—into the setting for a killer exploiting fear, penitence and institutional secrecy.