The Stone of Destiny
by Paul Doherty

A series of grisly deaths are linked to the sacred Stone of Scone in this compelling medieval mystery featuring friar-sleuth Brother Athelstan.

“This abbey is a strange place, Brother Athelstan. A hall of ghosts, a place of flitting shadows. The dead throng here. I can hear them whispering as they ride the air.”

During the harsh winter of 1381 murder stalks the streets of London in all its grisly forms. The city’s prostitutes are falling prey to a silent, deadly assassin known as The Flayer who carefully peels his victims’ skins for his collection.

At the same time, Westminster Abbey, which houses the sacred Stone of Scone, is plagued by a series of hideous poisonings. Could there be a connection between these brutally violent deaths and the stone, which the English crown cherishes as a symbol of its rule over Scotland?

Then there are the two former Upright Men, leaders of the Great Revolt, who are found mysteriously hanged in the Piebald Tavern, close to Brother Athelstan’s parish church of St Erconwald – and Athelstan is faced with his most baffling investigation to date. Can he navigate this deadly maze of murder and intrigue and pull the various threads together?

Reviews

With consummate skill and pacing, Doherty answers the plot’s mysteries in a series of startling revelations, and the atmosphere of a London driven by ambition and greed is palpable. The prolific Doherty shows no sign of losing steam

Publishers Weekly

A tortuous, fascinating historical mystery whose finally honed descriptions are not for the faint of heart

Kirkus Reviews

Outstanding ... Doherty keeps the action brisk, the crimes baffling and the deductions and solution fair

Publishers Weekly Starred Review of The Godless

Doherty displays exceptional narrative flair as he brings the often-squalid sights, sounds and smells of medieval London to life in another artfully crafted and plotted historical mystery

Booklist on The Godless

Conjuring up medieval London in all its grime and glory, Doherty keeps readers guessing and the pages turning with another intricately plotted whodunit steeped in history

Booklist on The Mansions of Murder

A clever mystery neatly woven into a historically accurate rendering of life in a truly hellish London

Kirkus Reviews on The Mansions of Murder

Paul Doherty

Paul Doherty has written over 100 books and was awarded the Herodotus Award, for lifelong achievement for excellence in the writing of historical mysteries by the Historical Mystery Appreciation Society. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages and include the historical mysteries of Brother Athelstan and Hugh Corbett.

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Editions

The Stone of Destiny by Paul Doherty is available in the following formats

Hardback97817802911472nd March 2021147 X 224mm224$28.99
Hardback978178029114731st December 2020147 X 224mm224£20.99
Ebook97814483048821st February 2021N/A224$14.99
Ebook97814483048821st February 2021N/A224£12.99
Hardback - Large Print978144830702924th February 2022145 X 225mm320$36.95
Hardback - Large Print978144830702930th December 2021145 X 225mm320£22.99
Paperback978178029750727th September 2021140 X 216mm224$17.95
Paperback978178029750729th July 2021140 X 216mm224£13.99
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