Sylvian Hamilton

The Bone Pedlar

It is1209 and holy relics are big business. they are bought and sold and stolen for kings, abbots and priors and no part of the Bishop of Hallowdene will go to waste. Instead he will join the long list of holy artefacts on the market: there's the girdle of the Blessed Virgin, the Holy Foreskin, the ear of Saint Marcellinus and the rib of Saint Cecilia, to name but a few...

Sir Richard Straccan, ex-crusader, makes his living dealing in these divine body-parts. Being a bone-pedlar, he leads a dangerous life retrieving stolen relics, negotiating deals and locating new artefacts. But when he is asked by the Prioress of Holystone to help solve a mystery, he takes on a job more dangerous than ever before. A dying man has been brought to the Priory carrying with him a rare and precious icon but nobody knows what it is or where the man was taking it.

Straccan soon becomes embroiled in a web of treason, espionage and evil. His young daughter is kidnapped and following her takes him and his company down a path beset with danger and risk. On their journey they meet monks, lunatics, pilgrims, whores, saints and thieves; but it is when they come up against Rainard, Lord Soulis, on the eve of the Summer Solstice, that Straccan must face his biggest challenge yet.

First published in the UK by Orion, 2000
Paperback published by Orion, 2001