Litchester Cathedral, usually an oasis of cloistered calm, suddenly finds itself at the centre of an acrimonious dispute over the proposed sale of its 1225 copy of the Magna Carta.
Merchant banker Mark Treasure is invited down to sort out the squabbling cathedral chapter. But even as he journeys down to Litchester a fire destroys the ecclesiastical library – Magna Carta and all – and a body is discovered in the debris.
But it wasn't fire that killed the Dean's verger. And as Treasure's murder investigation unravels evidence of some most unholy mayhem and dark skulduggery, he realises that Litchester is a place where sins and secrets abound . . .
'Mr Williams in knowledgeable and delectable top form' Sunday Times
'An engrossing tale . . . all the elements of a classic mystery.' Library Journal Stuart David Williams was a writer best known for his crime novel series featuring the banker Mark Treasure and police inspector DI Parry.
After serving as Naval officer in WWII, Williams completed a History degree at St Johns College, Oxford before embarking on a career in advertising. He became a full time fiction writer in 1978.
Williams wrote twenty-three novels, seventeen of which were part of the Mark Treasure series of whodunnits which began with Unholy Writ (1976). His experience in both the Anglican Church and the advertising world informed and inspired his work throughout his career.
Two of Williams' books were shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award, and in 1988 he was elected to the Detection Club.
