"Geoffrey returns home to find his father gravely ill and his older brothers and sister each determined to inherit the Mappestone estate. And they are not the only claimants for the lands that will soon fall vacant - the powerful and sinister Earl of Shrewsbury has an acquisitive eye on them, as does their volatile Welsh neighbor. Geoffrey's father claims he is being poisoned by one of his own children, a claim no one takes seriously until he is found murdered with his own knife in the dead of night."--BOOK JACKET. "Geoffrey's investigation of the murder, however, takes him far beyond a family quarrel. Accusations are flying, and Geoffrey must prove his own innocence in the face of greed and fear."--BOOK JACKET.