It is 1833, and you are invited to enter the quaint, quiet world of Bellminster, a pretty cathedral town in the English countryside with secrets and shadows around every corner. Venture into a world of petty politics and malicious gossip, a world of surprises and betrayals, a world held together by the suffering soul of a simple man - the good Reverend Tuckworth. Someone is preying on the good people of Bellminster, and only their vicar can save them. But Tuckworth has a dark secret of his own, a deadly secret, a secret he must keep hidden from everyone: from his loving daughter, Lucy; from the rash young painter Raphael Amaldi; from the supercilious rector, Mr. Mortimer; from Detective Inspector Myles of London; and most of all, from the murderer himself. Join the vicar as he sifts through the stones of Bellminster Cathedral, drawing from its cold heart the secrets behind the string of grisly murders that is plaguing this picturesque little town. The Devil runs free in Bellminster, and only Tuckworth can stop him.

A dark tale of murder and intrigue in a small 19th century English town.

In an attempt to procure funding for the rebuilding of his beloved cathedral, Dean Tuckworth finds himself traveling to London with his obnoxious colleague, the self-serving Reverend Mortimer. If that is not troublesome enough, when a disfigured corpse is discovered at a dinner party hosted by mysterious philanthropist Hamlin Price, Tuckworth is thrown into the role of detective once again. The Bow Street inspector in charge of the investigation wants to pin the crime on Price's vanished secretary, but Tuckwell is not convinced. With the help of maverick poet and writer Leigh Hunt, Tuckworth sets out to discover the identity of the dead man and in the process stumbles on a secret so horrifying it threatens to destroy all that he stands for.

By identifying similarities in various books, this annual selection guide helps readers to independently choose titles of interest published in the last year.Each entry describes a separate book, listing everything readers need to know to make selections. Arranged by author within six genre sections, detailed entries provide: Title Publisher and publication dateSeriesNames and descriptions of charactersTime period and geographical settingReview citationsStory typesBrief plot summarySelected other books by the authorSimilar books by different authorsAuthor, title, series, character name, character description, time period, geographic setting and genre/sub-genre indexes are included to facilitate research.

By identifying similarities in various books, this annual selection guide helps readers to independently choose titles of interest published in the last year.Each entry describes a separate book, listing everything readers need to know to make selections. Arranged by author within six genre sections, detailed entries provide: Title Publisher and publication dateSeriesNames and descriptions of charactersTime period and geographical settingReview citationsStory typesBrief plot summarySelected other books by the authorSimilar books by different authorsAuthor, title, series, character name, character description, time period, geographic setting and genre/sub-genre indexes are included to facilitate research.

Vols. 8-10 of the 1965-1984 master cumulation constitute a title index.