In 1373 Archbishop John Thoresby is dying at Bishopthorpe, and Owen Archer hopes to protect his final days from political disturbance. That hope ends when Joan, Princess of Wales, arrives with a royal party and one of her attendants is murdered almost immediately.
A messenger carrying urgent letters for Thoresby is later found hanged in the woods, suggesting that the first death is part of a larger attempt to intercept information. Owen must investigate within a guarded household, identify which of his own men has been compromised and prevent the visitors' private rivalries from placing the archbishop and everyone around him in further danger.