The Salisbury manuscript - Philip Gooden

In the fog-shrouded autumn of 1873 a man dies violently while searching a burial chamber on the outskirts of the city of Salisbury.

At the same time Tom Ansell, a young lawyer, arrives from London to receive a manuscript from one of the Cathedral Canons. Felix Slater wants the compromising memoirs of his late father to be locked away until after his own death. But Slater's death comes much sooner than expected, and it is Tom who discovers the clergyman's body and comes under suspicion for his murder.

The manuscript has disappeared. To clear himself, Tom must go in search of the real culprit among the strange members of Slater's family and others who dwell in the shadows of the great cathedral and the ancient earthworks of Salisbury Plain. He is helped by his fiance, Helen Monroe, a young woman who is proving her independence by writing a 'sensation' novel. Before the search concludes, Tom and Helen's own lives will nearly end at the hands of an ingenious and elusive killer.

Praise for Philip Gooden:

'The witty narrative, laced with puns and word play so popular with this period, makes this an enjoyable racy tale' Sunday Telegraph

'The book has much in common with the film Shakespeare in Love - full of colourful characters . . . but the book has an underlying darkness.' Crime Time