Mysterious murders make the pilgrims on the Way of St James shudder from the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela. By chance, one of the pilgrims, the German chief detective Raschke from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, witnessed an act. At first, the encounter seems random. Then, however, a series of murders begins, which takes place parallel to the pilgrimage of the police officer. Attacks are also committed on Raschke, who is apparently to be eliminated as an annoying witness. For the Spanish police, the German becomes a decoy who should lead them to the perpetrators.
Mackellan Kirby, professor of Ancient Religious Studies, with some ongoing connection to the British SAS, is enjoying retirement in Ireland, when he discovers an anomaly in the Dead Sea Scroll he has been entrusted with translating. Always ready to solve any mystery, he enlists the aid of his American niece and nephew. Their search takes them to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in northern Spain, the goal of thousands of pilgrims every year. But their holiday jaunt immediately turns deadly when other factions become interested in their search. The artifact they recover, in the cellars of the cathedral, brings together writings from the first century A.D. about a charismatic leader who escaped from Judaea with his wife Mary; the story of the eleventh century bishop entrusted with the construction of the cathedral; and the truth of the Conspiracy of St. James--a cover-up of a secret so significant that its exposure could rock the modern Christian church to its knees. If only Kirby and his young relatives live long enough.
The turning of the wheel by the tilling of the wheat. With these cryptic words, a conspiracy is set into motion that threatens the new translation of the Bible ordered by King James I, and the lives of the scholars working on it. In 1605, in Cambridge England, a group of scholars brought together to create a definitive English translation of the Bible finds one of its members savagely murdered by unknown hands. Deacon Marbury, the man in charge of this group, seeks outside help to find the murderer, to protect the innocents and their work. But the people who offer to help are not who they claim to be and the man they send to Marbury—Brother Timon—has a secret past, much blood on his hands, and is an agent for those forces that wish to halt the translation itself. But as the hidden killer continues his gruesome work, the body count among the scholars continues to rise. Brother Timon is torn between his loyalties and believes an even greater crisis looms as ancient and alarming secrets are revealed—secrets dating back to the earliest days of Christianity that threaten the most basic of its closely held beliefs.
The first modern history of St James's Palace, shedding light on a remarkable building at the heart of the history of the British monarchy that remains by far the least known of the royal residences In this first modern history of St James's Palace, the authors shed new light on a remarkable building that, despite serving as the official residence of the British monarchy from 1698 to 1837, is by far the least known of the royal residences. The book explores the role of the palace as home to the heir to the throne before 1714, its impact on the development of London and the West end during the late Stuart period, and how, following the fire at the palace of Whitehall, St James's became the principal seat of the British monarchy in 1698. The arrangement and display of the paintings and furnishings making up the Royal Collection at St James's is chronicled as the book follows the fortunes of the palace through the Victorian and Edwardian periods up to the present day. Specially commissioned maps, phased plans, and digital reconstructions of the palace at key moments in its development accompany a rich array of historical drawings, watercolors, photographs, and plans. The book includes a foreword by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Published in association with Royal Collection Trust
