Ritual Murder Hardcover – November 1, 1982
by S. T. Haymon
 
A blasphemous inscription spray-pointed on its ancient, hallowed walls was the first sign that something was amiss at Angleby Cathedral. Then came the body in Little St. Ulf's tomb: a murdered and mutilated choirboy, his wounds forming the Star of David, in grotesque parody of Little St. Ulf's himself, a child murdered 840 years before. Already the malignant strains of anti-Semitism are stirring in the tiny town of Angleby. "Ritual murder!" trumpets the rabble, into the media maw. Pressed by explosive circumstance, Detective Inspector Ben Jurnet first looks to the victim for answers: a quiet boy with a paper route and secrets to burn. Even the cathedral's august Dean seems more concerned with the holy sanctuary than with the devil's work below. And the choirmaster himself does not believe in the reality of evil. But within these sacred precincts, evil has indeed found purchase. And Jurnet must act quickly-before murder stains the cathedral again . . .

Winner of the CWA Silver Dagger Award in 1982, Ritual Murder is S T Haymon at her best.

'Shrewdly psychological, elegantly layered, yet unflagging in suspense and wit: a quiet triumph.' Kirkus Reviews

'Ritual Murder is a brilliantly crafted novel.' Washington Post Book World

'The author doesn't put a foot wrong . . . Solidly put together and elegantly written, at the same time it achieves - without pomposity - a degree of seriousness beyond most examples of the genre.' Times Literary Supplement
 
3.7