York, England, October of 1371. A series of accidents is making William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester, more paranoid than usual. Terrified that the family of a wealthy knight wants to assassinate him, he requests the aid of Owen Archer, the master spy. But Archer's concerns are for his own wife, Lucie, who recently lost the child she carried. Then a fire breaks out at the bishop's town house...and the body of a murdered woman turns up in the charred ruins. Now forced to investigate Wykeham's case, the one-eyed agent soon finds himself entangled in a dark scheme that involves knights, bishops, even kings. This plot can bring death into his very home-unless Archer sets a trap so cunning that no killer, no matter how influential and powerful, can ever escape.