THE SERVICE OF THE DEAD

Bestselling historical mystery writer, Candace Robb expertly recreates the
social and political upheavals of late medieval Europe and the increasing
power of the wealthy merchant class, in a new series starring Kate Clifford, a
woman forged on the warring northern marches of fourteenth century
England.

Political unrest permeates York at the cusp of the fifteenth century, as
warring factions take sides on who should be the rightful king--Richard II or
his estranged, powerful cousin in exile, Henry Bolingbroke. Independent
minded twenty-year-old Kate Clifford is struggling to dig out from beneath
the debt left by her late husband. Determined to find a way to be secure in
her own wealth and establish her independence in a male dominated society,
Kate turns one of her properties near the minster into a guest house and sets
up a business. In a dance of power, she also quietly rents the discreet
bedchambers to the wealthy, powerful merchants of York for nights with their
mistresses. But the brutal murder of a mysterious guest and the
disappearance of his companion for the evening threatens all that Kate has
built. Before others in town hear word of a looming scandal, she must call
upon all of her hard-won survival skills to save herself from ruin.