• The Sheen on the Silk

    The Sheen on the Silk

    The Sheen on the Silk is an epic historical novel with a heart-stopping love story at its core, and a deep spiritual quest.

    It’s set in the gorgeous, cosmopolitan and enlightened city of Byzantium, in the twilight years of its Empire. Surrounded by the fierce Ottomans to the East, Saladin and the infidels to the South, the barbarian European tribes to the North and the powerful Venetian Empire to the West, Byzantium’s Emperor badly needs an ally. The city has never recovered from its sack by the Venetians in 1204, and now, in 1272, it’s in acute danger. Another Crusade is being mounted, and Byzantium is in its path.

    This is the city into which Anna arrives. A handsome woman with an unhappy past, she has just learned that her brother has been imprisoned for murder. Unable to believe that he’s guilty, she will stay in Byzantium until she can find out the truth and secure his release. However, she needs a way to move freely in all levels of society. This isn’t something she can do as a woman and as a stranger. She will pose as a eunuch; this cadre, while past its heyday, still has power and influence. And she will work as a doctor.

    As the future of Byzantium grows ever darker, Anna struggles to navigate the complex truths of her brother’s guilt or innocence, the intrigues of the powerful, long-simmering revenge plots… and the even more perilous currents of her heart and her spirit. Only in Byzantium’s darkest hour does she discover the truths that will lead to salvation for Byzantium and the soaring path to the forgiveness and love of God.

     

  • 16 Execution Dock

    Execution Dock

    1864 and, once again, Inspector William Monk, now of the Thames River Police, must face a dangerous foe. After a game of cat and mouse, Monk has finally captured Jericho Philipps, main suspect in the brutal slaying of mudlark Water ‘Fig’ Figgis. In doing so he believes that he has taken the first step in bringing to justice the man responsible for running an evil child prostitution ring and avenged the memory of Durban, his old commander, who was convinced of Philipps’ guilt. When Philipps comes to trial however all does not run smoothly. Oliver Rathbone, Monk’s friend, is hired anonymously to represent Philipps and he immediately casts doubts over the police case. The result is that Philipps is swiftly freed. Monk, determined to prove Philipps’ guilt, begins the investigation again. But as he ventures deeper into London’s murky underworld, he realises that Durban may have had another reason for pursuing Philipps and, even more worryingly, that Philipps’ depraved tastes reach further into civilised society than anyone could have ever imagined…
    * No. 10 in the New York Times Best Sellers list (fiction) *