This is a medieval mystery set in the year 1200, when John was on the throne. It centres on Alais, a French princess, sister of King Phillipe of France and one-time betrothed of Richard the Lionheart.

Asked to undertake an errand by the aging Eleanor of Aquitaine to retrieve some letters hidden in Canterbury Cathedral, Alais is drawn into an old family secret as well as her own past and future.

This promised a lot, but sad to say didn't deliver for me. I got the feeling that the author had done lots of research, but her writing still managed to be jarringly anachronistic at times - the characters would speak in a 'olde worlde' way, and then a few pages later would be speaking in colloquial modern slang (one character refers to 'my mum', for instance).

And William of Caens has to be the most arrogant, bossy and patronising 'hero' figure ever. Grrr.

As I'm down in Canterbury for Christmas, I'll be releasing this for another person to find, and hopefully enjoy more than I did!

RELEASE NOTES:

On the steps on the city wall side, opposite the war memorial.