They were warrior monks, dedicated to the protection of pilgrims in the Holy Land -- until an avaricious king who wanted their wealth savagely destroyed the order. One knight, however, escaped the stake, vowing justice for his innocent murdered brothers.

The arrival of the eminent Bishop of Exeter to the small Devonshire town of Crediton -- coupled with the unwanted appearance of a particularly unsavory band of mercenary soldiers -- has made life exceedingly difficult for Simon Puttock, bailiff of Lydford, and ex-Knight Templar Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace. But it is the grim discovery of the body of a young girl hidden in a chest that unleashes a village-wide plague of fear and suspicion. Stemming the chaos may be beyond the powers of two dedicated upholders of the law. For the Crediton killings have only just begun -- and each murder to follow threatens to be more heinous and baffling than the one before.