The Butcher of Marseille

The year is 1211. A young woman is brutally slain in Marseille - the first in a series of killings which will terrorise the city and create a difficult challenge for the new castellan of the castle, Sir Orvin de Villeneuve.Unrelated to these events master carpenter and building designer Gervase Pitt, his wife and apprentice son are sent to the French city at the behest of Father Alain, Master of the Knights Templar in England. Their ostensible role is to accompany Lady Eleanor de Braose to Marseille to her betrothed (Sir Orvin) - although Gervase must then travel to Toulouse, to complete a commission for Count Raymond VI.On the way, Eleanor and her younger sister Flandrina want to see their exiled father, Baron William de Braose, who fled to Paris after rebelling against King John, alongside Llywelyn the Great of Wales. Unfortunately, they are followed by an assassin, in an official attempt to locate de Braose.After seeing the baron, the party carries on to Marseille, where they become embroiled in the investigation to discover the killer. Developments there delay Gervase's onwards journey ...What readers say about the Pitt Family Saga series: "The story was entertaining and I was just as eager to solve the mystery and capture the real murderer as were the characters." Roses are Amber on The Goldsmith's Apprentice."As always, there is plenty of the everyday details which make the narrative rich with interest." Tom Little on The Goldsmith's Apprentice."An interesting book, with well-researched and little-known information on the Templars in England, and mediaeval carpentry and building. Well worth reading." M.E. Jasper on The Templar Pitt."Really good read. I could not put it down. Full of information but easy to read. Can not wait to get next one." Nikki Mackenzie on The French Carpenter.