In thirteenth-century York, the wealthy merchant Humphrey Porrock is stabbed and left to die in a narrow alley. His death exposes a legacy of unpaid debts and angry creditors, leaving his wife and children penniless. At the same time, elderly widows are dying in their homes. King’s Coroner Matthew Cordwainer is convinced the deaths are murders, but neither Sheriff de Bury nor the inquest juries agree. Charged with finding Porrock’s killer, Cordwainer must also discover who is killing the women before another woman dies.