Description
Book SynopsisArchaeologist Sage Westfield has been called in to excavate a sixteenth-century well, and expects to find little more than soil and the odd piece of pottery. But the disturbing discovery of the bones of a woman and newborn baby make it clear that she has stumbled onto an historical crime scene, one that is interwoven with an unsettling local legend of witchcraft and unrequited love. Yet there is more to the case than a four-hundred-year-old mystery. The owners of a nearby cottage are convinced that it is haunted, and the local vicar is being plagued with abusive phone calls. Then a tragic death makes it all too clear that a modern murderer is at work...
Trade Review“Alexander fuses the secrets of Renaissance-era alchemy and the knowledge wielded by modern archeology . . . keeps the stakes high throughout.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Readers who favor historical mysteries as well as those who enjoy modern forensic science will enjoy this one. Fans of Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway series will definitely want to meet Sage, as will those who have followed Erin Hart’s Haunted Ground, also featuring a forensic archaeologist.”
—Booklist “In a departure from her supernatural crime novels (
The Secrets of Time and Fate), Alexander carefully constructs an intricately plotted mystery that links story lines of madness and murder. Bittersweet and haunting, this suspenseful story is driven by complex, flawed characters. Fans of Kate Ellis’s ‘Wesley’ mysteries and Elly Griffith’s atmospheric ‘Ruth Galloway’ novels will enjoy the combination of archaeology and history.”
—Library Journal, starred review “The mystery deepens at a nice pace, keeping me reading to find out more and trying to guess who was behind it all . . . one of my favorite reads of the year.”
—Criminal Element
