Friday, April 21, 2017

The Templar's Cross

It is 1424 and Sir Law Kintour has returned to Stirling in hopes of securing service with Archibald, Earl of Douglas.  However, he is sure that his badly wounded leg will prevent him from gaining employment.  The earl rewards him with a small purse for bringing news of the battle of Verneuil, and then sends him on his way.  Kintour and his friend, Duncan, head for Perth.

There a Lord Blinsele comes to him to ask Kintour to search for his missing wife and the man she disappeared with.  That night Kintour's friend Duncan is stabbed to death while doing his part in the quest.  Kintour later finds out that Lord Binsele is no lord after all, just an ordinary man in search of property belonging to the Knights Templar.  He is also not very trustworthy.

The sheriff tells Kintour that if he doesn't find the killer, he will hang him instead.  Kintour begins his search.  Along with a minstrel friend, Cormac, Kintour finds the object Binsele was looking for; it is a gold cross.  When Kintour is attacked and stabbed, he begins to wonder if there is another party involved.

Author J. R. Tomlin's mystery ends rather bluntly.  Although she built up the mystery well, the method in which she concluded it was unappealing.  A fair read otherwise.

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