* A TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR ** A SUNDAY TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION PICK OF THE MONTH *'A splendid romp from a wonderfully clever historical novelist' - TELEGRAPH'An exhilarating voyage into another era' - FINANCIAL TIMESHe looked as if he had just received some very bad news.In that he was certainly right, for he was perfectly and incontrovertibly dead... London, 1774. Susan Bell - daughter of the kindly Dean of Westminster - enjoys a pleasantly uneventful life within the confines of the abbey.That is until a group of scholars from the Society of Antiquaries comes armed with a letter from King George III, giving them permission to exhume Edward I and examine his body. As they prepare to open the tomb, a ghostly figure is seen wandering the cloisters, wearing the crown of the dead king.Then one of the Antiquaries is found viciously murdered, and the corpse of Edward I is stolen.With the abbey in uproar and her father's position under threat from the scandal, Susan feels bound to investigate.Could one of the Society's members be harbouring a deadly secret, or is one of the abbey's own a killer?The new historical mystery from the bestselling author of Black Drop, Blue Water and Scarlet Town.Perfect for readers of Andrew Taylor, Laura Shepherd-Robinson and S.J.Parris.