Shroud of Dishonour (Templar Knight Mystery Series #5) »

Maureen Ash was born in London, England, and has had a lifelong interest in British medieval history. She now lives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

Templar Bascot de Marins is preparing to rejoin the Holy Wars when he is called upon to investigate a gruesome murder in the Order's own chapel...

The shocking discovery of a strangled prostitute in the Templar chapel throws the Order into disarray. Alongside the corpse is a purse containing thirty pence-the same amount of silver Judas received for betraying Christ.

Is the murder revenge for a Templar brother's betrayal? Has one of their own broken his vow of chastity? The Order's preceptor turns to Bascot to determine whether an outsider is seeking to dishonour the Templars or a murderer walks among their ranks.

Publishers Weekly

When the strangled body of a young woman turns up in a Templar chapel, hidden in a garment chest, near the outset of Ash's gripping fourth Templar Knight mystery (after 2009's Murder for Christ's Mass), Sir Bascot de Marins and the sheriff of Lincoln investigate. By committing such an abominable crime, the killer evidently meant to defile not just a chapel but a Templar one in particular. The Templar knight and the sheriff soon discover the victim was a prostitute. When a second prostitute is likewise garroted, the murderer carves a familiar emblem into her left breast: the cross pattée of the Templar Order. The rules of obedience and secrecy Sir Bascot has sworn to the Templar Order test the loyalties of the knight, who's not bound by the king's law. Ash paints a lively picture of early 13th-century Lincolnshire society. (Oct.)