THE CROSS BEARER

After being upstaged at the opening of the exhibition of the forged medieval relic he discovered in A Secret Dying (1992), museum official Arnold Landon is doubly surprised when he's invited by Colin Bannock, the smooth politico who spoke in his place, to join the Ancient Order of SangrÇal, which has ties to the Knights Templar. Landon declines the offer but, his curiosity stirred by a talk with a mysterious informant named Sinclair, can't resist poking about for the remains of David Seton, the Templars' legendary Man of March, who may or may not have rescued some treasure for the Knights from Philippe IV's raiders back in 1310. Meanwhile, Landon's not-quite-friend Inspector John Culpeper, yanked from his one-man crusade against unarrested petty crook Frank Manley, is dragged into a parallel investigation when Bannock is fished out of the Tyne, and when he discovers (joyous day) Manley's name in Bannock's address book. Will Culpeper buck official pressure to leave Manley alone in time to put the pieces together and rescue Landon from Seton's secret tomb? The answer just might surprise you. Two sturdy enough tales—the modern investigation especially crackles with conflict—marred by disappointing joiner's work: The cop's case and the historian's never come together as satisfyingly as you'd expect.